EDITOR'S NOTE
The year 2003 marks the 125th anniversary of The Rough Notes Company. Beginning with last month's issue and continuing the rest of the year, Rough Notes magazine will commemorate the company's service to the insurance industry through decade-by-decade accounts (see insert after page 32 for this month's photographs and vignettes.)
The Rough Notes Company was founded in 1878, when Henry C. Martin, a special agent for Northwestern Mutual Life, was covering the rugged territory of the Midwest. He took "rough notes," jotting down his experience in an unregulated industry and began to publish his field notes in newsletters for his agents. The agents' response was overwhelmingly positive and these newsletters quickly became Insurance Rough Notes.
Since Henry Martin began publishing what is now called Rough Notes magazine, The Rough Notes Company has diversified to serve the full spectrum of the independent agency's needs. In addition to Rough Notes, the company publishes an annual directory, The Insurance Marketplace, a complete guide for specialty coverages. Additionally, the company offers technical and educational products for training, reference and sales operations, many of which are now packaged through an online product called "The Agency OnLine." The Rough Notes Company is also a resource for record keeping forms.
We are proud of our history and tradition of helping independent insurance agents achieve success, and invite you to join us in this year-long celebration.
CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUS
Today's customer service representative (CSR) plays a pivotal role in every agency's success. As the "go to" expert in the agency, the CSR has a job that is multi-faceted and constantly expanding. To support the professional growth of CSRs, this month Rough Notes premiers a column just for CSRs--"Customer Service Focus" (see page 88).
This column represents Rough Notes' collatoration with The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research (The National Alliance). Experts in the area of customer service from The National Alliance will contribute articles for the column covering a variety of CSR management, technical and service topics.
BOOSTING SALES EFFICIENCY
Beginning in March, Rough Notes will feature a column titled, "Boosting Sales Efficiency." In an era of constantly changing technology and economic uncertainty, yesterday's effective selling techniques are not necessarily today's effective selling techniques.
The new column is designed: to help agents make the most of their time--especially in the sales arena; and utilize technology and the Internet more effectively in sales. It will be written by Michael Jans, president of Insurance Profit Systems.