Consulting Resources
By Scott Simmonds, CPCU, ARM, CMC

Here are a few tools and tricks I've found helpful in my insurance consulting practice.

E Fax – www.efax.com– Your faxes come to you as email messages. This tool allows you to pick up your faxes anywhere you get your email. No need to have a separate phone line or a fax machine. Great tool. I’ve used the service for 5 years with no trouble at all.

Backup Solutions - www.backuphelp.com– Backup your hard drive automatically over the Internet. Fast, uncomplicated and economical. Assures off-site backup of your data. I've used their service for over a year. Flawless.

PDF Factory - www.fineprint.com– Convert any printable document into a PDF (Adobe) file. Eliminates the problem of emailing attachments that can't be read by clients. I use it every day to email proposals, documents, and contracts. I can take a fax (from efax), convert it into a PDF file, and email it to ten people. I also use this program for document storage. Four years without a hitch or glitch.

Google Toolbar – www.google.com – Makes web searching easier. Try it, you’ll like it.

Alan Weiss – Read Alan’s best-selling book, Million Dollar Consulting, available at Amazon or any decent book store. It’s the bible of consulting as far as I am concerned. After that, go to his books on proposals and value-based fees. Take a look at his website, www.summitconsulting.com.

Seth Godin – His book Permission Marketing and Purple Cow are his best. His ideas of how people buy products and services are thought provoking and fun to read. Check out his blog, www.sethgodin.com.

EBay – I have purchased all kinds of business equipment from EBay – postage machines, phones, telephone headsets. Great source of stuff. www.ebay.com.

Phone Company Voice Mail – If you work from home, this is vital. Using the voice mail offered by your phone company will allow you to get messages while you’re on the phone. This keeps your clients from hearing busy signals. You never run out of tape and you can pick up messages remotely.

Call Forwarding – While I'm talking about phones… When I leave my office for appointments, I put my office line on forward to my cell phone. My clients can always reach me, regardless of if I'm on the road or in the office. Clients only have to remember one number, too!

FC&S On CD – Reference materials are necessary. I have worked with many different services. I like National Underwriter’s FC&S bulletins the best. I like the CD version so I can take it with me on a laptop or have it on my desktop computer. Monthly updates. Solid information. Great reputation. www.nationalunderwriter.com

Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America’s Virtual University – Every month a panel of experts discusses coverage issues or problems. Interesting comments and discussions from a wide perspective. Very well done. www.iiaba.net

Send me your hints, tips, and tools! I'm always interested in new and useful ideas. Send them to Scott@ScottSimmonds.com.