The Nuts and Bolts of InsuranceMost people forget that they even have insurance. With the exception of an occasional doctor’s visit, it’s an insignificant benefit for which we pay an arm and a leg. However, being seemingly inconsequential matters such as being underinsured or paying high interest rates can be immensely damaging to your financial profile.Tending to your insurance generally consists of monitoring two key ingredients: rates and coverage. If you do not recognize either of these words, the first step is to call your insurance agent. Although you might hesitate to inconvenience him, think of all the money you could be hemorrhaging on exorbitant rates and insufficient coverage.Most agents receive commissions based renewals and new sign ups, not for updating you on rates that complement your changing lifestyle. Request a review of your policy once a year to ensure that you are receiving full coverage, earning applicable discounts, and staying informed about changing. Having this awareness will supply you with tools to shop for a better package. Also remember to keep an eye on your credit score as it can adversely impact your insurance rates.Take Control of What’s YoursYou have to know who is in control of your investments. It doesn’t necessarily have to be you, but it should be someone you trust and can consult with conveniently. The worst scenario is not being aware of your finances. If you need help to track your investments, hire a financial consultant or advisor through a trusted source. If you’re not sure of what your finances look like, find out whether you funds are depleted or you’re actually holding onto sound capital.Once this question is answered, reconsider your risk tolerance, a measurement of your comfort level with certain investments. Depending on your income, experience in the market, age, years to retirement, monthly expenses, and long term goals, some stock commitments can be perceived as jeopardous. Choosing items that match your degree of risk tolerance will decrease the likelihood that you will ignore your investments. Instead of steering clear from disappointing news, you’ll be curious to see what happens with your stocks.Losing Control of What’s YoursIdentity theft can happen to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime. It can tarnish your credit history and can take years to rectify. Because it’s such an invasive act, a common misconception is that the perpetrator must always be a stranger. More times than not, you already know that thief. Family members, employees, office mates, and friends can all steal away your financial identity. Moreover, thieves are capable of accessing your information in numerous ways, from fishing through your trash can to hacking your computer.You can prevent identity theft by being cautious with your financial information and frequently reviewing your finances. By checking your monthly statements, you can avoid false charges being applied to your credit cards and immediately report suspicious activity to creditors. Any document that contains your social security number, date of birth, online account information, or credit card information should be shredded to avoid this predicament.Also, check-in with your bank manager about identity theft policies. Even if an account is insured, it can take a substantial amount of time to replace stolen funds. This window of time could lead to bounced checks, late payment fees, and deficiencies on your credit report. Finally, enlist the services of a credit monitoring agency. Even though you are asked to pay a sign-up fee, it’s worth the peace of mind. Be sure to select an agency that agrees to assist you with problems as they arise.In the event that your identity is stolen, cancel all credit cards instantly. Even if you aren’t making the purchases, you might be found culpable if you hesitate to inform the companies. Next, file a police report. Although, you’re not necessarily asking them to frisk the thief, documenting identity theft with them validates the crime and enables you to file a subsequent report with each of the three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Hereafter, you can take steps to have criminal activity erased from future credit reports.

What are you doing to track your sales force? Are you simply adding numbers for activity? As managers, we often get excited when a sales team is having a great week out in the field. We might bend the rules a bit, be more flexible, we all have fallen to the “great post sales week blues”. While the bells were ringing in the office, the darkness was upon us on Monday. Typically when a company generates high volume of sales there is no time dedicated to prospecting to make sure the funnel stays full the following week. Monday morning arrives and the meeting starts off with a bang. Then the darkness arrives, “So team, what you all have lined up for the week?” The room becomes dead silent. What now?Panic usually sets in and then you start implementing some actions to take. Is it the reps or is it my fault? Both are to blame, the sales reps for forgetting the funnel and yours for not keeping the reps accountable. It is important to set targets with each individual rep. Not one rep is the same. We would love to have the ability to clone one or two on the team. That won’t happen so we have to spend time with each rep, go out in the field to observe, etc. With this information we tailor a plan based on his or her performance / skills. For example, you need to hit 15 doors per day; this will give you 4 appointments and generate one sale. Based on this, you will have 5 deals per week. You have to stay with them and don’t wait for a week end report, request a 5 minute end of day meeting with the reps. It can be in person, on the phone or they can send a report via email. Create a report designed for each individual. Included in the report are businesses contacted, result (appointment made or not), and plan moving forward. This will keep them accountable and productive, everybody wins. Ok, I can track their activity but what about during the process?Two invaluable tools for monitoring a sales force are inbound call tracking and outbound call tracking. How are my reps behaving on the phone with their prospects and customers? Recording their calls will give you a world of new information to use for staff improvement and training.If your staff is using company cell phones, you can use local or toll free inbound call tracking numbers and forward the call to their cell. Each incoming call will be recorded and include information such as caller ID, if call was answered or not, length of the call, etc. The real time reports available through a web based platform will indicate how the rep is handling incoming calls from prospects or customers. You can review these calls with them during your weekly one on one meeting or share the call with the group if it is a great one. It’s a good idea to consult with the rep before sharing as some people might not feel comfortable with it.If you are managing an inside sales team or working with sales and marketing consultants, outbound call tracking would be a great solution for you. Each member of your staff would be assigned a 4 digit code which identifies them as the caller. With the outbound tracking number programmed in your phone system, the rep would simply press the assigned line, enter their 4 digit code and dial the 10 digit telephone number they want to call. You will have a detailed report of each reps activity for the day, including the recording of the call. Also, with the ability to listen to live phone calls in progress, you can help your sales team increase their closing ratio, book more appointments and spend less time on the phone.Whether you are a small company with 3 sales representatives or a large one with 200 reps, make sure to include call tracking to help evaluate the performance of your sales team. Keep your staff accountable and productive with daily reporting on activities and inbound and outbound call tracking.