Hi ~Contact.FirstName~,

Over the years I’ve received many questions on how to get the best results from team members. One of the best ways is to keep them motivated!

Motivation is hard to find these days. Most of us are burned out not just from work but from everything going on – the pandemic, wildfires, civil unrest, election politics and more.

Most people do not think of Customer Service as a form of marketing but … it is!

When the majority of people think of marketing they think of direct response marketing, email marketing, advertisements – radio, tv, online, etc.

In reality, anything that draws clients to you or helps you maintain your current clients is marketing.

You may remember the blog post from 2 weeks, “Why Really Awesome Team Members Quit.” Since that post my team and I have heard from many of you asking for examples and ideas for showing appreciation.

First, let’s start with a few really good reasons for why you should always show your team appreciation – other than just to keep them from quitting.

If you have been a part of the BGI world for any amount of time, you know I am a huge believer in systems and processes.

Something very disturbing will occasionally happen in business. You may have even experienced it yourself …

Really awesome team members quit.

I’m not talking about part-time folks or college kids doing repetitive, entry level tasks.

I received an email last week about how to take care of an upset customer. This email reminded me of a great article my VP of Operations, Amanda McFall wrote a few years about on Handling a Hostile Customer.

Working in insurance, I know you have received hostile calls and have had very upset customers in your agency.

A big THANK YOU to everyone for your feedback and topic requests! This week we are starting a new series, Agency 101. Even the most basic tasks in an agency need to be reviewed from time to time. When you have a proven process, these tasks are gold!

This week I am returning to the popular Marketing 101 series. This week let’s talk about Direct Mail. Even the most basic tasks in an agency need to be reviewed from time to time. When you have a proven process, these tasks are gold!

About two weeks ago I was speaking with a group of local business owners about current interest rates. As I am sure you know interest rates have taken a nose dive since the beginning of the pandemic due to the dramatic unemployment increase.

The most surprising part of our conversation was that about a third of these very smart business owners were unaware that you can do a modification on a personal or business loan.

This week we start a short 2 week hiatus on the Marketing 101 series to bring you important, timely, information. I just finished the new bestselling book, “Countdown 1945” by Chris Wallace. It’s excellent. Especially if you’re a history fan like me.