Page 222 - The UnCaptive Agent

GLOSSARY 195

hundred fifty percent more new business than similarly
situated agents without the training.
BLS: Bureau of Labor Statistics. A federal agency
charged with developing an enormous amount of day
on the economy.
Captive Agent: An agent under the employment
and control of a single insurance company.
Cluster: A formal or informal aggregation strategy
adopted by smaller agencies in order to support the
production requirements of one or more insurance
companies. Clusters are usually formed in a restricted
geography, concentrating risk, usually have no formal
management structure, generally expose all members
of the cluster to the risk of loss of profit sharing and
company representation due to the actions of another
member in exchange for the opportunity to write busi-
ness with a given carrier, and potentially receive profit
sharing. Clusters raise insurance company expenses in
the same way aggregators do.
CRM: Customer (Client!) Relationship Management.
A software product that allows you to track interac-
tions with clients and prospects, as well as automate
marketing, communication, and cross-selling. Agency
automation systems may have some of these capabilities,
but they are generally not adequate.
Direct Writer: An agent under the employment and
control of a single insurance company.
EA: Exclusive agent. An agent under the employment
and control of a single insurance company.
EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes,
Depreciation and Amortization. A term used to describe
the net income of a business adjusted for the items
listed in the acronym. Adjusting for these items allows
comparison of a business’s profitability against others
with different financial structures.