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NAILBA Now!
April 29, 2008

FOCUS 2008 Pre-Registration Ends Thursday. Register Today!
If you have not yet made your arrangements to attend FOCUS 2008, it just got easier!

NAILBA’s FOCUS 2008 online registration system is now available. Just click here to register for FOCUS in a secure online environment. Don't forget! Pre-registration ends Thursday, May 1st.

REGISTER TODAY

View the exhibitor list
See the schedule of events
Make your hotel reservations

Questions? Contact Michele Liston at (703) 383-3081 or e-mail mliston@nailba.org

Act Fast to Secure Access to Top BGA Sales Teams, Become a FOCUS 2008 Exhibitor and Sponsor
Get instant access to sales teams from the top BGAs in the country and turn your sales team into top performers all in one place - FOCUS 2008.

With this year’s FOCUS designed to focus on sales—sales basics, tools and techniques to increase sales and make a difference to the bottom line, it’s an opportunity for you to grow your business two-fold with access to BGA sales teams as well as training for your sales team.

Becoming an exhibitor/ sponsor is a sure fire way to guarantee that you and your sales staff:

Get valuable face time with BGA staff members to familiarize them with your company’s products and services. You'll receive:

Two free registrations to attend the event ($600 value)
An opportunity to be get expert training in sales
An opportunity to maximize your company’s exposure at a measurable discount

By participating in the workshops, YOUR sales team can benefit from sessions on:

Making Every Call Count
POS Training
Strategic Alliances with Professional Advisors

Don’t miss out on your chance to get noticed by BGA staff and to provide your sales staff with valuable training!

There are just five booths and few sponsorship opportunities still available for this event. If you act fast, you can still sponsor one or more of five events within FOCUS as well as get your company name placed on email kiosks, signs and banners.

Sign up to become a FOCUS 2008 exhibitor/sponsor and register your staff today!

Click here to download the registration form.

Questions? Contact Susan Haning at (703) 383-3081 or shaning@nailba.org.

Reap the Rewards of Referrals with NAILBA’s Discounted Agent E&O Insurance Program
NAILBA recently distributed $4,000 in referral fees to members for spreading the word about one of our premier member benefits-discounted E&O insurance through Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Are you getting YOUR share?

Encourage your producers to sign up for or renew their E&O insurance with NAILBA's program and reap the rewards of your efforts. Collect referral fees to the tune of $50 for new clients and $25 for renewals.

For your convenience, NAILBA has created an easy-to-use tool kit to help you promote this benefit to your agents. Visit NAILBA’s Web site to learn how! Click here for details.

Streamline Underwriting at Your Agency with NAILBA’s Field Underwriting Guide 2.0
Uniquely developed by the brokerage industry, The NAILBA Field Underwriting Guide is an interactive resource designed to get right at those “weak spots,” so that applications can be completed right the first time.

The Guide can be used to:

highlight key points of the application for faster underwriting
check applications to make sure they are complete
set and manage expectations with the client
ensure the right information is gathered for every case
educate producers about risk factors and how to optimize the medical assessment process.

In addition to its primary function of improving efficiency in underwriting, the Field Underwriting Guide 2.0 canbeused as a marketing tool for your agency. NAILBA has come up with several ways that you cancustomizethis resourcewith your agency logo. The available customization options help remind your agents how much you care about their efficiency and productivity every time they use it!

Learn more about the Field Underwriting Guide 2.0

In This Issue of Perspectives...

Passing the Torch
The next generation of life insurance professionals--in a classroom near you?

5 Steps to a Better Educated Staff-and a More Successful Business
By making a few key changes to your business model, you too can build a loyal, productive, well-educated staff.

In the business world, leaders refuse to lead with their hearts because they perceive it as a weakness. Leading with the heart, however, simply shows that you care. Caring does not mean that executives must shed their hardened exterior, transform into a “softy” in the boardroom, or start hugging the staff. Rather, caring translates into dedication, commitment, and accountability. Leaders must care enough about the success of their company and the careers of their colleagues and workforce to offer clarity and consistency all the time. In essence, leaders must embrace the fact that in true leadership, caring is the heart of the matter.

Let’s begin by deconstructing the word care and rebuilding it into the language of business. First, leaders need to stop equating caring with mushiness. You can care deeply about the success of your organization and the people that make it operate without being a softy. In the context of leadership, to care means to accept responsibility for your staff. Take pride in your role as a leader instead of the power that the title bestows. Caring leaders mentor employees rather than just manage them. Caring leaders employ tough love but graciously forgive their people’s mistakes. Caring leaders offer positive feedback because they appreciate a job well-done, not to get more and more hours out of their staff.

Hardships befall executives and business-owners who lead only with their heads. Retention issues cap the list of hardships. Most top talent enter the business world anticipating long hours and high stress. They willingly put in the time in the hopes of advancing their careers but all the effort is not without expectation. Good workers want job satisfaction, which comes from knowing what is expected of them and having mentors to light the road ahead. When team members cannot find happiness within their job they either begin to job hunt or they reach burnout. Burnout is an issue closely aligned with retention because overworked and underappreciated staff will tire of the exhausting routine. Productivity will decline right along with the enthusiasm.

Leaders can prevent such dire consequences by learning to lead with their hearts. Leading with the heart projects a genuineness that encourages staff to work harder. This means that leaders must take an active interest in the careers of their staff members by offering guidance and delegating responsibility, and at the same time retaining accountability for the successes and failures of their mentees. Ensure that employees mostly have doable tasks. Give your young workers a chance to shine the majority of the time so that they learn to see failures as growing pains instead of as mistakes that will impede their career. When you must feed your employees to a pack of wolves, be sure to leave them a lifeline. Dejected staffers will recoup faster when someone takes the time to explain what went wrong.

You cannot pretend to care because colleagues and employees can read through the facade. Your people will know if you view them as a pawn in your organization; as a means to an end. Indeed it is hard to mask your feelings when you throw a project on an employee’s desk and demand a memo by close of business. The bottom line is that you actually must care and show that you care. If you do not care, well, then that is a discussion for another day. In the meantime, adjust your attitude and approach towards your staff.

Being aloof is easy, but caring takes work. Take the easy road only if you want to face a slew of resignations or dissatisfied employees. Take the easy road only if you want to push your people to burnout. But steer away from the path of least resistance if you want to retain a top notch staff. After all, a little time and effort is all it will take for you to reap the rewards of productive, efficient, and enthusiastic workforce.