Education

​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development Many, many years ago, I had a manager whom I admired a lot.  He seemed to have great relationships with all involved- peers, employees, carriers and clients. As my career progressed and I started to manage more and more people, and I had to deal with all of the responsibilities, challenges, rewards and, yes, silliness that comes with management, I often reflected back to what he once told me about the Three F's. He said, “Jim, you must always be Firm, Fair and Friendly!" To this day, I think that might be one of the…

​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​ According to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 24.9% of the U.S. population over the age of 16 volunteered at least once in the past year. In 2011, this percentage was 26.8%, and in 2005 it was 28.8%.  I have personally experienced this with a local insurance industry group- The Utica CPCU Society. For the past few years we have had the same small group of people volunteering to be officers and to help with events and activities. We have also experienced a decrease in attendance at our regularly scheduled meetings. This is both…

​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​ According to Wikipedia, the definition of “customer service" is : the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. The perception of success of such interactions is dependent on employees "who can adjust themselves to the personality of the guest". Customer service concerns the priority an organization assigns to customer service relative to components such as product innovation and pricing. In this sense, an organization that values good customer service may spend more money in training employees than the average organization or may proactively interview customers for feedback. Now what I find funny about that…