25 Quick Tips To Get Started With Your Risk Management Planning (Part 4/5)

This is the fourth installment of five blog posts that summarize the 25 quick tips from my eBook, “Insurance Premiums Are Killing My Business.”  This risk management ebook is a great start for small to medium-sized business owners that are curious about starting the risk management planning process.

Click here if you want to review risk management tips 1 – 5  before going on.

Click here to read risk management tips 6 – 10.  

Or, click here to read risk management quick tips 11 – 15.

The tips below have been written with small to medium-sized businesses in mind, although the same principles should be employed by very large businesses.

16. Implement and follow formal written policies.

Policies and procedures are a very effective way to defend against claims and lawsuits. Policies must be strictly followed to be effective. 

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Using Risk Management to Open Doors, Win, and Retain Business!

With changes in consumer behavior and challenging economic conditions, sales professionals everywhere are struggling to differentiate themselves and grow their business.  The insurance industry is becoming increasingly competitive, making it very difficult for brokers to win and retain clients.  Brokers often struggle to get their foot in the door with new prospects.  In this environment, brokers need to be innovative to stand out.

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Best of @ClearRisk – Our Risk Management Twitter Feed (Part 3)

This is the third installment of our Best of @ClearRisk series. Start with the first Best of @ClearRisk post to catch up, and move onto the second installment of our risk management Twitter feed to discover valuable content and users on Twitter. 

Twitter has always been an excellent source of information, expertise, and conversation for ClearRisk. Using the hashtags #riskmanagement and #insurance, the ClearRisk team is kept up-to-date on news and events in the risk management and insurance industry. I would like to share some of our favorite Twitter contributors so that you can stay informed, too!

As 2011 comes to a close, the ClearRisk team reflects on some of the most active and influential Twitter users for the risk management and insurance industry this year. Though this is not an all-inclusive list, here are ClearRisk’s top 5 Twitter users for risk management:

Top Twitter Users for Risk Management and Insurance

8 Risk Management Points Every Broker Should Know

Mid-market is the most profitable and coveted segment, and therefore the most fiercely competed over. Medium-sized companies have the same problems as Fortune 500 companies, just on a smaller scale.  The problem lies in risk solutions; these solutions don’t scale and small companies are unsure of where they can turn for help. As a result, medium-sized businesses do not benefit fully from risk management.

Insurance brokers deal with these companies every day, sharing advice on one important aspect of risk: their insurance. Brokers specialize in helping these same companies use broader risk management resources, tools, and services. If the brokers do not provide risk management services, others will: accountants, lawyers, and OHS and WCC consultants.

Insurance brokers should talk to their clients and prospects about risk management in a way they understand.

Here are 8 points every insurance broker should discuss with their client:

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25 Quick Tips To Get Started With Your Risk Management Planning (Part 3/5)

This is the third installment of five blog posts that summarize the 25 quick tips from my eBook, “Insurance Premiums Are Killing My Business.”  This risk management ebook is a great start for small to medium-sized business owners that are curious about starting the risk management planning process.

The tips below have been written with small to medium-sized businesses in mind, although the same principles should be employed by very large businesses.

Click here if you want to review risk management tips 1 – 5  before going on.

Click here to read risk management tips 6 – 10. 

Risk Management Tips 11 – 15

3 Steps You Must Take TODAY to Reduce Your Software Risks

It’s a normal human tendency to stay optimistic and believe that you are immune from disaster. We say, “that’ll happen to other people, I’ll hope for the best and focus on my day-to-day activities.”

Here are 3 things you can do TODAY to reduce your software risks:

1. Create a Crisis Phone Tree

Risk Conversation: Launch of a Risk Management Community

Chubb Insurance recently launched its new interactive resource and community addressing risk management challenges for businesses and individuals, Risk Conversation.  I think this is an important step in the right direction for the insurance industry! 

This industry is not well known for being innovative, so it is very encouraging to see Chubb leading the way.  The Risk Conversation website includes loss prevention information, blogs, and risk assessment tools that help users identify, understand and mitigate risk.

The Risk Conversation site features:

• Risk assessors that help users identify potential loss exposures and test their risk management know-how;

• Blogs that provide risk management insights, observations and tips from Chubb’s underwriting and residential & commercial loss prevention specialists, as well as from other risk management professionals who join the conversations;

• Risk Management polls that gauge the public sentiment on timely risk issues; and

• News commentary and analysis of current events that impact the risk management landscape.

There is a real need out there for good quality risk management resources as well as a general need to raise awareness about the importance and value of formal risk management.  I like this site because it has a lot of practical tools and information for everyone.

Check it out here http://www.riskconversation.com/

11 Reasons Your Laptop Will be Hacked and How to Immediately Prevent it.

John Downey is the Vice President of Software Development at ClearRisk Inc. The ClearRisk team is excited to share John’s technical expertise to help you manage technology risk at your organization. 

It seems like every day now that we hear about another company’s network or laptop being hacked, or a business accidentally revealing confidential files. From Stanford Hospital exposing 20 000 patient records to the hacker attack on Sony that compromised 71 million accounts, even the largest and most seemingly secure organizations are susceptible to data insecurity.

Collaborating with the IT security experts here at ClearRisk, I’ve created a list of 11 easily preventable mistakes almost everyone unknowingly makes. I’ve also provided information security tips that are necessary to help prevent data insecurity as a result of these common mistakes.

Top 11 Easily Prevented Information Security Threats:

1. Using the same password for multiple account.

Never use the same password for two separate accounts. This is especially important for your email; if a hacker can gain access to your email, it’s likely that they can also get into other important accounts from your email, such as your online bank account. Think about this: if you sign up for a service, providing your email and creating the same password you use for your email, this is the only information the wrong person needs to gain access to everything else. 

At the very least, you can create different groups of passwords. For example, create one password to be used for your email, one to be used for your banking, and another for all low security accounts. Ideally, you should use a password generator or manager that allows you to create passwords that are impossible to guess.

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10 Ways Risk Management Will Recession-Proof Your Brokerage

We aren’t technically in a recession (that we know of), but it’s not looking good!  Troubled economic times make your clients and prospects price shop; that increased competition is the icing on the cake for brokers who are also struggling with the economy.  A slight change in approach can go a long way towards growing brokerage revenues and weathering the economic storm. 

I once gave a presentation to a large regional brokerage on risk management, how they could use it to help them attract and retain clients and, of course, make more money.  Everyone in that room nodded at the right time, laughed at the right time, and said all the right things – my presentation seemed to be on track.  However, when I was done, a senior partner in the room piped up and said, “That all sounds really good, but we make money by selling insurance policies.”  That was back in 2004 – things have changed since then.

Now, risk management is a value-added service that is often considered essential by insureds. I’ve discussed this topic in many posts before, including the post Using Risk Management to Increase Brokerage Revenue.

As a trusted advisor, your clients already expect you to help them manage risk.  In fact, many of your insureds, if asked, would tell you that their insurance broker is their risk manager.  You already have their confidence in dealing with risk, so why not take it to the next level?

10 Ways Risk Management Will Increase Brokerage Revenue:

1. Satisfy your customers

Make no mistake, in these especially trying times, risk management has become the single most critical issue in the mindset of your target customer – if you don’t offer your customers a more robust and personalized service, by finding ways to minimize the cost of risk, they will find a broker who does.

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How Steve Jobs Changed Technology, Business, and the World

The overwhelming sentiment I am noticing today is that so many people feel a profound sense of loss for someone they have never met.  Steve Jobs changed everything!

How many business leaders in history can we truly say changed the world?  Not only did he revolutionize personal computing, mobile phones, the music industry, and the way people read, play and work, he also inspired a generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

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