UC-NRLF 
 
In The Front Office 
 
 Plans and Suggestions for 
 Writing More Fire Insurance 
 
 Effective Means for Advertising 
 the Fire Insurance Business 
 
 Schemes for Making the Office 
 More Productive at Less Cost 
 
 / -. : :*.*:":* :'.'!/ 
 
 Published and Printed by 
 
 THE ROUGH NOTES COMPANY 
 
 INDIANAPOLIS, IND 
 
Copyright, 1910, by 
 The Rough Notes Company 
 
 Second Edition 
 
The House Built on the Sand 
 
 "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the 
 winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and 
 great was the fall of it." 
 
 The House Built on a Rock 
 
 "And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the 
 winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: 
 for it was founded upon a rock." 
 
 241557 
 
Low Bridge!" 
 
 The brakeman on top the slippery, bumping freight 
 car does not stop to say, "All bodies continue in a straight 
 line of motion until stopped by a superior force." He just 
 knows it by experience, and bends his knee and inclines 
 his body mechanically while his mind is attending to other 
 things. 
 
 The man who has to stop to think every time an 
 emergency arises had better look out there is a low 
 bridge ahead and the necessity of having to work out all 
 of the daily repeating details or to learn a lesson over and 
 over is the signal of decapitation. 
 
 Some day he will lose his head. 
 
 Study the fundamentals, know the right way, make 
 the repeating things your burden bearers to carry your 
 line of action to success ! 
 
 Nothing about insurance in that. 
 
 No ? What is the difference between the Co- Insur- 
 ance Clause and the Reduced Rate Average Clause ? 
 
 Would your answer cover the ground or would it 
 serve as an advertisement for some other agency where 
 the details of the business are not stumbling blocks but 
 mounting steps. 
 
In .The . Front . Office 
 
 If you knew there was going to be a meeting over in 
 the next county of one hundred of the most progressive 
 insurance men in America, called together for the pur- 
 pose of discussing ways and means for getting more busi- 
 ness, at less expense and with less worry over details, you 
 would shut up the office, if necessary, in order to attend; 
 so would every active insurance man. 
 
 And every one would go home with a pad of memo- 
 randa and a head full of ideas that, if put into practice, 
 would mean constantly increasing gains at decreased cost 
 of production. 
 
 A little over a year ago we decided to organize a body 
 of insurance men to meet once each week for the express 
 purpose of gathering new ideas on questions that directly 
 affect the dollar and cents end of the insurance business. 
 The convention meets each week in the "Front Office" 
 page of ROUGH NOTES and as these words are written 
 this week's convention is being attended by an audience 
 that would get first page display in the daily press, if its 
 members were meeting face to face. 
 
 This volume is made up of some of the matter that 
 has been presented for consideration during the period of 
 a year. It is confined to suggestions of interest to the local 
 Fire Insurance Agent. 
 
 Should you desire additional light on any of the sug- 
 gestions, either as regards points involved or information 
 as to the supplies needed to put a plan into operation, 
 your request will be answered promptly and in detail. 
 
 THE EDITOR. 
 
General Thoughts 
 
 With Specific Applications 
 
 SUNLIGHT IS THE ONLY KIND NOT MEASURED BY A 
 METER. BESIDES LIGHT, THE SUN GIVES LIFE TO THE 
 WORKERS. 
 
 Would a sash, a few panes of glass and a day's 
 pay to a carpenter cut down the light bill, relieve 
 headaches and put vigor into the details ? 
 
 UNCERTAINTY ROBS RELIABILITY. TRY THE DOOR 
 A SECOND TIME EACH NIGHT TO SEE IF IT IS LOCKED 
 AND INSIDE OF A WEEK YOU WONT BE ABLE TO GO 
 YOUR WAY WITH A SATISFIED MIND UNTIL YOU 
 HAVE SHAKEN IT A SECOND TIME. 
 
 Experts have worked out a system for your 
 business a system that not only takes care of every 
 detail, but checks one against the other so that when 
 the thing is done it is done right. Up-to-date 
 systems besides producing better results usually do 
 so at a saving in time and cost of material. Once a 
 man added ten tens to get the multiple. Today he 
 multiplies. 
 
 PLANT AN ACORN FOR AN OAK A FENCE POST FOR 
 DECAY. 
 
 If the stationery is just an expense and the 
 notices only notify there is omitted a most excellent 
 opportunity for advertising to advantage at practically 
 no cost. 
 
An Automatic System 
 
 For Handling the Follow-Up of 
 
 Every Detail 
 
 A Plan that Frees the Brain for Managing and Working 
 and Relieves it of Storehouse Duties 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The great thing in the business world is the following-up of 
 things begun. "To be or not to be" is perhaps more often set- 
 tled by the ability of the individual or the office to make the most 
 of every opportunity, through the following-up of the details at 
 the psychological moment, than through any other one cause. 
 
 We present in outline, with illustrations, a means for auto- 
 matically taking care of any follow-up. The plan will remind you 
 of an appointment; bring to attention letters from which replies 
 have not been received; suggest action in a personal affair, and 
 follow-up any detail in any department of the work. 
 
 Simple and Elastic 
 
 The plan is simplicity itself, and may be put into immediate 
 operation by any office. 
 
 To be sure, the peculiar needs and demands of different con- 
 ditions will have the effect of making minor changes, but the 
 same principle will govern under the most trying circumstances. 
 
 The things needed to put the plan into operation are found 
 in almost every up-to-date office, and if the office does not contain 
 files which may be used for the purpose, the cost of purchasing 
 them will be found to be nominal. 
 
 7 
 
8 AN AUTOMATIC FOLLOW-UP 
 
 The Outfit 
 
 First Take a small 3x5 card box with a capacity of at least 
 three inches, and into it place an alphabetical set of guides. 
 Then, on the typewriter, prepare ten slips for each letter, num- 
 bering the slips "B-l," "B-2," "B-3," and so on up to "B-10." Re- 
 peat the operation for each letter, placing the slips as prepared 
 in front of the guides. 
 
 The box, showing the guides in place. 
 
 B~ 8 
 
 A slip ready for use, and showing a date marked thereon as 
 later explained. 
 
 Then Into a 3x5 card index drawer, put a guide card for 
 each month followed by a guide for each day. 
 
 Next Put a set of alphabetical guides (of the same sub- 
 division as used in the box) into a letter-size vertical file drawer. 
 
An Automatic Follow-up 
 
 A drawer like this for much business- 
 
 Or just a vertical 
 letter file box like 
 this to keep on 
 the desk for a 
 small volume of 
 business 
 
 Now you are ready to put the system into operation. 
 
AN AUTOMATIC FOLLOW-UP 
 
 The Monthly and Daily Guides as they should appear in the 
 drawer. 
 
 How It Works 
 
 Suppose that you receive a letter from John Brown & Co., 
 to which an immediate reply is made and which you desire to 
 follow-up with another letter on April 1st. 
 
 You would fasten the carbon copy of your reply to the face 
 of the letter from John Brown & Co. and from in front of the 
 letter "B" in the little box, take out a slip and on the top of the 
 carbon copy of your reply put the slip number as "B-8," followed 
 by "4-1" (April 1st) and at the same time put on the little 
 slip "4-1." 
 
10 AN AUTOMATIC FOLLOW-UP 
 
 File the correspondence in the vertical letter file in front 
 of the letter "B" and put the slip in the card index drawer in 
 front of the daily guide marked "1" in the "April" division 
 (April 1st). 
 
 The first thing in the morning of each day take from in 
 front of the guide card for that day of the year all of the slips 
 there found and draw from the vertical file the correspondence 
 called for by the slips. 
 
 The same operation would be repeated as many times as you 
 keep following-up the letter. 
 
 It is not necessary to destroy the little slip each time, for, 
 after crossing out the date, it may be refiled in the little box 
 and used over and over, again. 
 
 Meets All Requirements 
 
 The above describes a simple operation that may be applied 
 to any case or condition. But the thinking man immediately 
 says: "What would happen if John Brown & Co. should reply 
 to my letter before the date I have set for the follow-up? Would 
 that not interfere with this scheme?" 
 
 Suppose that on March 28th you get a reply from John 
 Brown & Co. You know that the original correspondence has 
 been filed in front of the letter "B" in the vertical file, so you 
 simply take the original correspondence which, with the replies, 
 is all fastened together, out of the file from in front of the guide 
 card "B" and as the information is given to you at the top of 
 the letter as to where the little slip is located, you would simply 
 reach into the card index drawer in front of "April 1st" and 
 withdraw the slip marked "B-8" (the designation you have al- 
 ready marked on the top of the letter) . The scheme works both 
 ways. 
 
 Provides for All Details 
 
 All this may sound complicated, but it is no more com- 
 plicated than a dozen things every normal man does every day 
 
AN AUTOMATIC FOLLOW-UP 11 
 
 no more complicated than going home to dinner. The plan works 
 so smoothly and so definitely that once put into operation it will 
 seem curious to think of the office having gotten along without 
 such a plan before. 
 
 The same equipment provides for handling future details of 
 every character. You have an appointment to meet a man at 
 2:00 o'clock on the afternoon of March 29th. On a memorandum 
 slip of paper you would simply note the nature of the appoint- 
 ment with the hour and file the slip in front of the guide for the 
 29th of March. 
 
 The system is democratic and faithful without regard to 
 the intrinsic value of the matter it is carrying works as well 
 on a memorandum to buy a birthday present for your wife as it 
 does to call attention to a $10,000.00 policy that may be secured. 
 
 Red Tape is often ruin System is Success. 
 
 Imagine the stars without system! 
 
 Right tools in the office are like right tools anywhere. 
 
 The kite with a loose string falls; so does the busi- 
 ness with a loose system. 
 
 If you are spending the powder to hit the target, why 
 not hit the bullseye? 
 
 Plan largely; work closely. The engineer has faith 
 beyond the headlight, but keeps his eye upon the rail. 
 
 The most wonderful file is the brain, but it asks to be 
 relieved of wooden duties and to be permitted to do 
 its share of the world's work. 
 
Little Leaks 
 
 A five-cent leak oft repeated may ruin results. 
 
 Large mercantile houses employ at fat salaries men 
 whose sole duty it is to look out for leaks. 
 
 Don't cut down expenses by cutting down the number 
 of employes to the danger point. It pays to have sufficient 
 help, and it pays to have thoroughly efficient help. But 
 it does not pay to hire idle moments nor to pay two clerks 
 to do what one might do with proper equipment. 
 
 If the force and you are a part of it wastes time in 
 the ordinary way, there is no point in discussing the rem- 
 edy. But there is more time lost in aimless or misdirected 
 effort than in laziness. 
 
 It would pay to go carefully over every bit of regular 
 work each one does and to see if there is not either a 
 shorter or more productive way to do it. 
 
 It would pay to take the cash book for the past year 
 and in the light of experience look for waste that might be 
 repeated if not checked. 
 
 It would pay to have a series of half-hour discussions 
 for the next two weeks on shorter methods for handling the 
 business and better plans for securing new business. 
 
 If only forty-five minutes should be saved each day by 
 each person, that would mean that the office would be mak- 
 ing as CLEAR EXTRA PROFIT, THE FULL AMOUNT OF 
 ONE WHOLE MONTH'S BUSINESS EVERY YEAR. 
 
 The outside work will be influenced by the office effort. 
 
 But there should be more than a reflected influence. It 
 is quite likely that study and planning will make it possible 
 to save and profitably to spend much more than forty-five 
 minutes a day in the work of getting business. 
 
 The heat, the rent, the telephone and all fixed charges 
 are the same for a part time office as for one running full 
 capacity. 
 
 Better turn on the search light it will reveal dollars in 
 the cracks. 
 
 12 
 
Keeping the Expiration Record 
 
 A Series of Three Articles on Different Methods of 
 
 Handling the Most Important Information 
 
 in an Agency 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 We have kept a careful record of inquiries, and from the 
 result find that outside of the ones regarding the plans of our 
 Promotion Department the greatest number has been relative to 
 Expiration Systems. There is good reason for this. The record 
 of expirations is more than a private memorandum of the next 
 time a premium is to be collected from Jones it is the story of 
 future business to be done for the companies and of a trust im- 
 posed by the assured, for there are two things that the average 
 person leaves to the agent one is the stability of the company, 
 the other is the renewal. 
 
 The law of the courts would not hold an agent liable for loss 
 to property on which the policy had lapsed, but business honesty 
 impels the use of every safeguard to prevent lapses through care- 
 lessness. 
 
 Three Systems 
 
 There are three general systems for handling expirations 
 the bound-book, loose-leaf and card methods. No particular one 
 is the best; each one is the best for particular conditions. Of the 
 bound books we divide the ones of our manufacture into three 
 classes: The Solicitors' Pocket Expiration Books, the presenta- 
 tion souvenirs or Customers' Expiration Books, and the Agency 
 Expiration Records. Three styles of the agency record are man- 
 ufactured, each style in two sizes. In detail they may be thus 
 described : 
 
 13 
 
14 A BOUND EXPIRATION RECORD 
 
 A Popular Bound Book 
 
 No. 270 is a popular form for medium sized agencies. It has 
 a complete alphabetical index in front and is also indexed by 
 months with marginal tabs distributed throughout the book, pro- 
 ducing a complete cross index system, making it easy to look up 
 the record from any data at hand. The binding is substantial, 
 cloth sides with leather back and corners. The smaller size con- 
 tains 60 pages, accommodating 250 expirations per month, and 
 the other contains 85 pages, accommodating 350 expirations per 
 month. These books, when closed, measure 14% inches long by 
 8% inches wide. The ruling provides for a period of ten years. 
 
 The Simplex Form 
 
 No. 250, commonly called the "Simplex Form," is a complete 
 index to any detail regarding a policy, whether it be the form, the 
 name of the customer, broker, expiration or line. 
 
 Renewals, instead of being carried forward by years, are in- 
 dicated by substituting in the marginal column the new number 
 of the policy, and the date of expiration for the original entry, 
 which is entered in lead pencil, keeping only the permanent data 
 in ink. 
 
 For the purpose of indexing individual lines of such cus- 
 tomers as place several policies, there is a supplement, indexed 
 as "Individual Lines," where a complete apportionment of the 
 lines can be recorded. Names of such customers are alphabet- 
 ically indexed. 
 
 The smaller size contains 175 pages, accommodating 315 ex- 
 pirations per month. The larger size contains 250 pages, accom- 
 modating 450 expirations per month. Both sizes measure, when 
 closed, 15% inches 'ong by 12 inches wide. 
 
 A Day to a Page 
 
 No. 260 is the largest bound expiration record we carry in 
 stock. It contains 480 pages, numbered in consecutive order, and 
 
A Bound Expiration Record 
 
 For the Office 
 
 For the Pocket 
 
 The Record of Trust, 
 
 The Life of the Agency. 
 
A BOUND EXPIRATION RECORD 15 
 
 by days of the month from one to thirty-one, classifying the data 
 by year, month and day at one entry. 
 
 All records for any given day are made on a single page, the 
 columns so arranged that the renewals of the same policy can be 
 indicated on a single line for a period of ten years. 
 
 The months are indicated at the top of each page as well as 
 on the side marginal tabs the latter are permanently gummed 
 on seperate inset pages of heavy stock and not on the regular 
 ruled form. 
 
 An additional feature is the extra number of pages provided 
 at the end of each month in case any one page should be insuffi- 
 cient to accommodate all entries of a certain date. The binding 
 is of a grade and character that will stand the severe test such a 
 register is usually subjected to during a period of ten years. 
 
 The larger is ruled for 24,000 expirations, 50 lines to a page. 
 
 The small size is ruled for 12,000 expirations, 50 lines to a 
 page, but for two days to a page instead of one, making 240 pages 
 to the Register. The books, when closed, measure 17*4 inches 
 long by 15 inches wide. 
 
 In the next article we shall outline the Loose-Leaf Expiration 
 Record and present illustrations of the sheet and binder; follow- 
 ing that we shall go into details regarding the card systems and 
 the manner of handling them. Our theory is that you are ac- 
 quainted with your own agency conditions, and that with a clear 
 conception of the different systems you will be in position to 
 select the best for your needs. 
 
 "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute" is 
 as good a slogan today as it was the hour it was first 
 uttered. Paraphrased, it might read, "Any amount 
 for business betterment, but not a smootchen for de- 
 cay." 
 
1 WORKING TO A PLAN 
 
 Reserve in the Individual 
 
 Don't Crowd. You deplore the lack of reserve In a company 
 but how about yourself? Reserve in spiritual, mental, moral, 
 physical strength, reserve in time, reserve in preparations are as 
 important to success in life complete success as proper finan- 
 cial reserve is for an insuring company. 
 
 Along with other things, it is worth while to avoid crowding 
 the office records. A new book or a new system may act as an 
 ounce of prevention against crowding that may cost a pound to 
 cure and still leave the scar. 
 
 On Winning 
 
 Getting Your "Ruthers." What is the use in just wishing. 
 A poor old woman at one of the fresh air camps this summer was 
 asked on the occasion of her birthday as to what she would 
 rather have as a special dish at dinner; tears appeared while 
 she answered, "Oh, I don't know, it's been so long since I got my 
 'ruthers'." Her cupboard was bare; yours is not. Why wish 
 for the things you could do with the salaries of others it is un- 
 wise as well as prohibited to envy the good things of your neigh- 
 bors. It is wise and expedient to secure like good things by the 
 wise use of the right tools fair, square and aboveboard. 
 
 Planning Prosperity 
 
 Two Men a Day. Talk to two new men, carefully selected, 
 during your saved forty-five minutes each day; carefully follow up 
 these six hundred interviews and at the end of the year the com- 
 pany will take notice, so will your banker; and while money 
 won't buy happiness the saved-time interviews will buy a house 
 to shelter "her" and the effort in itself will spread a flower- 
 bordered pathway down the future. 
 
The Loose-Leaf System 
 
 The Second Article on Keeping the 
 Expiration Record 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The loose leaf is related to both the bound book and card 
 systems of keeping records, and in the judgment of many is su- 
 perior to either. It has all the elasticity of the cards, though not 
 quite so readily changed, and while the bound book affords pro- 
 tection which the ordinary loose-leaf binder does not, against the 
 purloining of pages, the loose-leaf scheme, on the other hand, 
 provides the same writing conveniences as the bound book. In 
 addition, it gives unbounded opportunity for the insertion of new 
 page forms, removes the constant annoyance caused by the neces- 
 sity of entering the record in an index or worse, forgetting to 
 enter and the loss of time in referring to the index the whole 
 index worry the bane of the old system, and which in many 
 offices requires the assistance of an extra bookkeeper to index 
 the records so the regular bookkeepers may post without delay. 
 
 Self-Indexing 
 
 The loose-leaf system is self-indexing, and the record is as 
 easily found as is any page in a bound book. The loose-leaf 
 method is perpetual and is always alive; no dead records are to 
 be handled each time an entry is made. The things of the same 
 class are kept together, and when reference is desired to closed 
 accounts or the accounts of former years, it is not necessary to 
 take down volume after volume and to find the volume index, only 
 to find the record is not there. The index is perpetual, whether 
 the record be open or closed. 
 
 17 
 
18 AN ELASTIC EXPIRATION RECORD 
 
 Uniform with Complete System 
 
 The "Expiration Record" sheet illustrated in the etching Is 
 a part of the Rough Notes Loose-Leaf System for Fire Insurance 
 Agencies, and while it dovetails in as a part of a complete sys- 
 tem that interlocks and prevents the omission of entries of any 
 kind, yet it can be used as an independent sheet, and, for the 
 purpose of this explanation, will be so considered. 
 
 The sheet is of standard ledger stock and measures 8%xl4 
 inches. The sheets are bound together in a binder of the proper 
 size, which admits of instrting or removing a sheet at will, at the 
 same time holding the contents as tightly together as if between 
 the covers of a bound book. 
 
 Very Simple 
 
 The operation of the record is simplicity itself. A sheet is 
 used for each day in the year; the record of expiration is entered 
 on the sheet of the day the policy expires, and the column desig- 
 nating the year in which the policy will run out is checked. That 
 is all there is to it, and yet the office always has together all the 
 expirations for the same day and plenty of room for any number 
 of entries, for sheets for any day may be added indefinitely, and 
 the bookkeeper can always find the sheet for any day by simply 
 throwing the book open to the proper month, as shown on the 
 tab, and bringing to view the day of the month, chronologically 
 arranged. 
 
 No Time Limit 
 
 Each sheet is ruled to care for a period of ten years, and as 
 the years roll around the new sheets keep extending the years 
 there is no time limit. There are columns for the name of 
 Assured, Policy Number, Company, Amount, Rate, Term and Ex- 
 piration, with a marginal column for Remarks. The sheet admits 
 of entries on both sides. 
 
An Elastic Expiration Record 
 
 r! 
 
 6 j 
 
 s 
 
 .S 
 
 cc 
 
 fl 
 
Card Systems for Expirations 
 
 The Third Article on a Subject that Concerns 
 Every Agency 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The true theory of card-index records is to keep one record 
 on a. card and so to classify the cards that every record may be 
 immediately found when wanted, and so that it will always be 
 found among all other records of the same class. By means of 
 tabs and guides the classifications may be many times multiplied. 
 There is no other system that is so easily nor so economically han- 
 dled (both as to time and money cost), none more accurate, and 
 none as self-acting providing the cards are handled properly. The 
 card system is accuracy itself, but to be a success it must be 
 handled only by persons who understand the system and stick to 
 it. In an agency where conditions seem to make it necessary to 
 let everybody look up expirations, the sheet system is to be pre- 
 ferred, but where one or two persons take the responsibility the 
 small agency where the agent himself handles the records or the 
 large agency with a bookkeeper the card system is a great time 
 saver and a most convenient method. 
 
 A Popular Form 
 
 One of the Expiration form cards is ruled so as to admit of 
 the entry of five policies and to show the amount carried on 
 Furniture, Building, Stock and Machinery but unless all of the 
 policies are certain to remain in full force for the term and un- 
 less each one is to expire on the same day a form ruled for the 
 
 19 
 
20 A CARD EXPIRATION RECORD 
 
 entry of but one policy is to be preferred. Such a ruling is shown 
 in the illustration, and is known as Card Form F-l (first card in 
 Fire series). 
 
 J .JUNE V 
 
 Form Fl 
 A popular form. 
 
 How to Use It 
 
 Provision is made for entry of Month, Day and Year of Ex- 
 piration, Name of Assured, Address, Policy No., Company, 
 Amount, Term, Rate, Premium, Register Folio, and Description 
 of Property. The card measures five inches long by three inches 
 wide. The cards as soon as made out should be filed in a card- 
 index drawer equipped with a set of guide cards designating the 
 days of the month between guides designating the months of the 
 year and followed by five guides marked to designate the follow- 
 ing five years. The Expiration card is filed in front of the guide 
 card of the day and month it is to expire if it is a more than 
 one year policy in front of the guide for the year of expiration. 
 If many policies are written for more than a year it pays to have 
 a set of monthly guides for a period of five years so as to file more 
 
A CARD EXPIRATION RECORD 
 
 21 
 
 closely and in a large agency to have daily guides for five years. 
 If daily guides are not provided for more than a year, the cards 
 that are filed in front of the yearly guides are refiled on the first 
 of the year of expiration in front of the daily guides. The illus- 
 tration shows the section of a drawer with cards and guides for 
 a part of the month of June. 
 
 A Necessary Rule 
 
 In operating the card system one rule should be iron-clad and 
 inflexible: it is that NO CARD IS TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM 
 THE FILES AS LONG AS THE POLICY IS IN FORCE. 
 
 There is always a temptation to take out the cards as re- 
 minders of persons to be seen, but there is too much involved 
 and too great chance of a card being mislaid, lost or overlooked 
 to make this wise even with a careful person. The safer, better 
 plan is to copy into a pocket expiration book such data regarding 
 nearing expirations as needed, and to leave the cards in the file 
 as a constant check against work to be done. 
 
 Form 21 8 
 A tabbed card. 
 
 Tabbed Cards 
 
 There is a tabbed expiration card which makes it possible 
 to classify at the same time by name and by expiration, but this 
 
A CARD EXPIRATION RECORD 
 
 form is not as practical for the average agency as the one de- 
 scribed, as it does not admit of the close classification by days. 
 It, however, is found convenient for the very small agencies. 
 
 Small Initial Expense 
 
 The card system costs very little to install, is always free 
 from dead material, always shows coming expirations at a glance 
 and admits of changing the date of expiration, canceling any part 
 of a line or the entering of such additional data as desired with- 
 out in any way disturbing or crowding the record of other poli- 
 cies. The back of the card is very useful. For freedom of opera- 
 tion the card system stands ahead of either the loose-leaf or 
 bound-book records. In its freedom lies the possibilities of dan- 
 ger: the agency that will safeguard the system can use it with 
 great success all other agencies should adopt a more stable 
 method. 
 
 1915 
 
 / (913 
 
 / 1911 
 
 7 
 
 Addres. 3? 
 
 Form Fk 
 
 This form accommodates several policies, but 
 is not practical unless all of the policies expire 
 at the same time. 
 
FILES FOR CARD RECORDS 23 
 
 Files That Build Up 
 
 The unit scheme has recently been applied to card-index 
 drawers, and now an agency may start with a complete "top 
 section" of only two drawers, and as the business grows and the 
 number of cards increase keep adding to the cabinet two drawers 
 at a time. The sections fit into each other and form a nearly 
 solid piece of furniture. 
 
 In the G. O. Summer Time 
 
 Starting Right. To start right it is said one needs to have 
 been born seven times before his present existence. Today is 
 the cumulation of yesterdays. That is good doctrine to live on 
 in preparation for tomorrow, but bad doctrine to mope on today. 
 No man is responsible for the errors beyond his control, but 
 every man is liable for the record of today and responsible for 
 the opportunities at hand. 
 
 Today is the time of all times for shaping up things pre- 
 paratory to the business that must be done this fall. Septem- 
 ber is but four days off. It would pay the normal man to get 
 away from the details of today to lose the rest of August's 
 profits while wrapped in meditation and busy with definite plans 
 for the fall. Remember that you must count the cost of handling 
 the business as well as the cost of getting it. A dollar saved 
 in the office is just as big as a dollar made in the field. But 
 stinginess is not economy. If there be waste eliminate it, keeping 
 in mind, however, that amputations are often fatal and that 
 management does not necessarily mean retrenchment; it always 
 does mean getting the most out of the machinery, be it of iron 
 and wood or flesh and bone. 
 
24 THREE THOUGHTS 
 
 Consider! 
 
 Are you any farther along today than one year ago today? 
 You may be and yet have no worldly thing to show for it. It is 
 a question you alone can answer but the answer is made and 
 cannot be altered. What will the answer be a year hence? Much 
 depends on today. 
 
 Co-Operation 
 
 Co-operation has been the corner-stone of success since the 
 day One. On this rock is built society in general and the meas- 
 urement of the world's achievements is the record of concerted 
 effort. Co-operation has been the flag-word of freedom. Under 
 this banner thirteen co-operative colonies gave a war whoop 
 that caused the British to substitute US for OURS. Co-operation 
 builds homes, businesses, communities and nations. 
 
 Some men do not co-operate even with themselves. 
 
 Making Success 
 
 Success and Chance. Even the success that follows or re- 
 sults from occasional lucky strikes is usually so short lived it 
 only emphasizes the fact that chance is not one of the ele- 
 mental factors in success. Plans well laid on a basis of suffi- 
 cient knowledge, when properly executed, always win out; while 
 a poor plan, carefully followed, usually produces more satis- 
 factory results than a brilliant one that is not strictly adhered 
 to. A plan that is mapped out in conformity with the laws that 
 govern and that embodies the successful experience of others 
 starts off with the goal in sight. 
 
 The wise man looks not so much for original plans as he 
 does for ways of profitably applying proven methods to his work; 
 and of following up the plan to see that it does work. Of course, 
 such men have less spare time than some of their fellows, less 
 time for complaint and less cause for grumbling, and, yet, for 
 some reason, get and give a good deal more out of each day. 
 
How to Analyze 
 The Business Day by Day 
 
 The Cost Per Unit Rule of Big Business 
 
 Successes Applied to the Local 
 
 Fire Insurance Office 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The adoption of this form to insurance accounting was pre- 
 sented at the close of the year and the matter is here reproduced as 
 it appeared. 
 
 IT IS READY!!! 
 
 A simple form sheet that will reflect at a glance a complete 
 analysis of the entire business of a local fire insurance agency. 
 
 Heretofore the systems of accounts for insurance offices have 
 covered all the details, but left them as separate items. 
 
 Every local agent has felt the need of a form that would 
 combine all the essential data and enable him to tell at any 
 time the exact condition of his business. 
 
 Our systems department has been at work for a long time 
 devising a form to meet the requirements. 
 
 The one we are now ready to present has been worked out 
 by degrees, after consultation with expert accountants in local 
 fire insurance offices. 
 
 THE FORM IS READY FOR USE 
 
 The sheet gives at a single reading the net totals of the 
 amount due the agency, the amount the agency owes, the bal- 
 ance on the brokerage accounts, the cash balance, the balance in 
 
 25 
 
26 AN UP-TO-NIGHT RECORD 
 
 bank, the net balance due each one of the companies repre- 
 sented, the amount of commissions earned and the total of ex- 
 penses, together with the net profits for any period of time from 
 one day to one month and by months for any number of years. 
 
 Not only may all of the information desired be obtained at 
 once, but without any reference whatever to the ledgers. 
 
 And, besides, the sheet will make a saving of at least one- 
 third of the bookkeeper's time, as it eliminates a great part of 
 the posting required by the usual methods. 
 
 The form is that of a combined cash record and journal 
 sheet. It is a sheet of original entry for all items. 
 
 This form is illustrated in operation on the sheet in the envelope 
 attached to the back cover of this book. On it will be found the 
 different classes of entries that ordinarily arise in the business of 
 a local Jire insurance agency. 
 
 In the column for the date we have put a row of consecutive 
 figures which will be used as the key for our explanation of the 
 sheet. 
 
 Of course, one day's business might consume 25 or 30 lines 
 or even two or three sheets, and there would be many items of 
 the same general character. 
 
 Entry No. 
 
 The figures entered on this line represent the balances of 
 the different accounts when the new sheet is put into operation. 
 They are necessary in order that the totals may be carried into 
 the business from day to day. 
 
 Entry No. 1 
 
 The agency has issued a Royal Insurance Company policy 
 to the Hamilton Lumber Company, the premium being $90.00. 
 After the policy is written and ready to be charged, an entry, 
 the same as our entry No. 1, (see "Day" column) is made, 
 charging in the "Accounts Receivable" column $90.00, and in 
 the "Royal" column crediting the Royal Insurance Company 
 
ALL THE TOTALS EVERY DAY 27 
 
 with $76.50, its net share of the premium. The balance of $13.50 
 is credited to the "Commission Account." The charge is then 
 posted against the Hamilton Lumber Company account in the 
 ledger, and a check mark made in the debit check column to 
 show that it has been posted. 
 
 Entry No. 2 
 This entry is the same sort of a charge as entry No. 1. 
 
 Entry No. 3 
 
 The Hamilton Lumber Company pays $90.00 on account of a 
 policy. The cash is charged with this amount and "Accounts 
 Receivable" credited. The credit is then posted to the account 
 of the Hamilton Lumber Company, and a check mark placed in 
 the credit check column to show that the posting has been made. 
 
 Entry No. 4 
 
 This represents an entry of a policy for the Sherman Mer- 
 cantile Company that has been brokered to another insurance 
 agency. The assured is charged in "Accounts Receivable" 
 with the amount of the premium, while the Spann Agency 
 (the broker) is credited with the same, less 10 per cent, on ac- 
 count of commission, which is credited to the agency's "Com- 
 mission Account." Post the charge of $36.00 to the Sherman 
 Mercantile Company and the credit of $32.40 to the Spann 
 Agency account in the brokerage column. Make the check 
 marks in the proper columns, to show that the postings have 
 been made. 
 
 Entry No. 5 
 
 This entry reflects the data for the charge of a policy which 
 has been solicited and placed by a sub-agent or solicitor of the 
 agency. Charge the premium of $40.00 to the assured (The 
 Harris Trunk Company) then credit the Phoenix with its pro- 
 portion and the '"Commission Account" with the balance. Now 
 on the next line credit $4.00 to H. Smith (the sub-agent) in the 
 
28 AN UP-TO-NIGHT RECORD 
 
 "Accounts Payable" column, and charge $4.00 in the proper 
 column in the "Commission" division. Post the charge against 
 the Harris Trunk Company and the credit to the sub-agent's 
 account. Finish by making the usual check marks. 
 
 Entry No. 6 
 
 James Doe, the assured, has canceled a policy issued him 
 by the agency. The return premium is $27.90. Credit James 
 Doe in "Accounts Receivable" column with the $27.90, and charge 
 the Sun Insurance Company with its proportion of the returned 
 premium and the "Commission Account" with its proportion of 
 the returned commission. After James Doe's account is credited, 
 the check mark is made completing the entry. 
 
 Entry No. 7 
 
 This is an entry of an expense item, for the purchase of 
 $10.00 worth of postage. Charge the Expense Account with 
 this amount and credit Cash Account. 
 
 Entry No. 8 
 
 On depositing any money or checks in the bank, an entry 
 is made similar to this one. As all money and checks taken 
 in are charged first in the "Cash Account," therefore in making 
 a bank deposit, "Cash" is credited with the amount and the 
 "Bank" is charged with the same. 
 
 Entry No. 9 
 
 This shows the style of an entry where a check for a 
 monthly settlement is sent one of the companies represented. 
 The total for each company is posted at the end of each month, 
 by carrying the net balance to the company's account in the 
 "Accounts Payable" ledger. When settlement is made the entry 
 is made in the "Accounts Payable" column. 
 
ALL THE TOTALS EVERY DAY 29 
 
 Entry No. 10 
 
 This is another expense item, the office pay roll. Charge 
 "'Expenses" with the full amount and credit the "Bank" with 
 the same. 
 
 Entry No. 11 
 
 H. T. Thompson, one of the owners of the agency, has 
 drawn a check for $50.00 on his personal account. This amount 
 is charged to his account in the "General Accounts," and the 
 bank is credited with the same. The charge of $50.00 is posted 
 to the account of H. T. Thompson in the general ledger. 
 
 Entry No. 12 
 
 The Green Insurance Agency, a competitor, places a policy 
 with the agency for brokerage. The Green Agency is charged 
 in the "Brokerage Account" division with the full amount of 
 the premium, and the Aetna Insurance Company is credited with 
 its proportion and "Commission" account with the balance. (See 
 next entry.) 
 
 Entry No. 13 
 
 This entry is made to allow a brokerage commission to the 
 Green Agency for placing the above policy. We make an entry 
 crediting the Green Agency with 10 per cent, of the premium 
 and charging the "Commission Account" with the same. 
 
 Entry No. 14 
 
 This entry represents the settlement by check to the Spann 
 Agency for policies brokered to that company. We charge the 
 Spann Agency in "Brokerage" division and make a posting in 
 the ledger, and credit the bank with the amount of the check. 
 
 Entries No. 15-16-17 
 These are the same sort of entries as Nos. 1 and 2. 
 
30 AN UP-TO-NIGHT RECORD 
 
 Entry No. 18 
 
 This entry is made once a month to charge the different 
 companies with the agency's postage allowance. The "Ex- 
 pense" account is credited with the total of the entry. 
 
 Any Agent Can Operate 
 
 The explanations at the bottom of the etching are written 
 in terms that bookkeepers use if you are not a regular book- 
 keeper just think of "Trial Balance" as meaning the net 
 amount on the particular record. 
 
 The difference between the debit and credit side of each 
 one of the columns to the left of the "Description" column 
 should agree exactly with the difference between the charge and 
 credit sides of the individual accounts in the particular ledger 
 to which the column refers. For instance, the difference be- 
 tween the two sides of the "Accounts Receivable" column will 
 always equal the difference between the charge and credit sides 
 of the individual accounts to which the agency has extended 
 credit so that by subtracting one column from the other one can 
 see at a glance on any day exactly how much is due the agency. 
 
 The same thing applies to the other columns. 
 
 The work of the sheet is simplicity itself. 
 
 The system has been endorsed by leading insurance sys- 
 tematizers who have predicted a ready adoption by all Agencies 
 that conduct their affairs on a business basis. 
 
 For Any Number of Companies 
 
 The illustration shows the sheet reduced one-half in size. 
 The actual measurements of the form reproduced are 14x17 
 inches. This size of sheet will take care of an agency with five 
 companies. An agency with eight companies would require a 
 sheet 14x21 inches; twelve companies, 17x25 inches. For agencies 
 with more than twelve companies we will supply a separate cut- 
 leaf sheet to accommodate six companies. Any number of these 
 cut sheets may be inserted, so that the size of the agency is im- 
 material. 
 
ALL THE TOTALS EVERY DAY 31 
 
 A Constant Source of Profit 
 
 There is money in knowing just where the business stands 
 at all times, and if the sheet could not be made to go further 
 than this the slight cost of the necessary supplies would not 
 only be justifiable in any agency, but from the standpoint of 
 business would be imperative. However, the use of this form 
 means an actual cash saving in the Office Expenses for the form 
 eliminates the Cash Record and the Journal and on account of 
 the fact that all of the columns to the right of the "Descrip- 
 tion" column are posted but once a month and then by totals 
 only, greatly reduces the time ordinarily spent in posting day 
 by day. The only posting called for is of the entries which are 
 made in the columns to the left of the "Description" column. 
 
 No Additional Records Required 
 
 The installing of this form does not necessitate the pur- 
 chase of any additional books, as it will work with loose-leaf, 
 card or bound-book records, with any system now in use. 
 
 Loose-Leaf Binders of proper size for handling the forms 
 will be manufactured in quantities and retailed at our regular 
 stock prices for the different sizes. Only two binders are re- 
 quired, one a sheet holder for the sheets in current use and a 
 binder for holding the sheets permanently. 
 
 An Expiration Check 
 
 The "Expiration Column" is a feature that was incorporated 
 in the sheet "by request." It is a sure and positive check on 
 the making of an Expiration entry for every policy written. At 
 the end of the month this column should be checked against the 
 Expiration records. A simple, quick operation that will forever 
 put an end to the possibility of a policy being omitted. 
 
 The Cost 
 
 The cost of the sheets and binders depends, of course, upon 
 the number of companies in the agency, so that without going 
 into extensive details it is not possible to quote prices for every 
 
32 AN UP-TO-NIGHT RECORD 
 
 size of agency. Write us as to the number of companies in 
 your agency, and we will let you hear from us by return 
 mail as to the cost of the two binders required and a sufficient 
 number of sheets to last the agency for a year. 
 
 May Include Realty and Loan Transactions 
 As Real Estate, Rentals and Loans often form a consider- 
 able part of the business of an insurance office, we have prepared 
 a form to embrace in the same thorough manner all the details 
 connected with Real Estate, Rental and Loan transactions. If 
 your office handles this class of business, let us hear from you 
 to this effect, and we shall be governed accordingly in replying. 
 
 Expert Service Commercialized 
 
 We believe that the sheet described will be recognized by 
 the majority of agents as the very form for which they have 
 felt a want every month in the year, often every day a means 
 whereby the agent may know positively at the close of any day 
 just how the agency stands. 
 
 The commercializing of the expert service put into this 
 form is our Christmas gift to the Local Fire Insurance Agents 
 of America, with whom our Systems Department shall be glad 
 to co-operate in explaining every little detail that may have 
 been slighted in this explanation and to whom we shall be glad 
 to furnish such additional outlines as may be necessary for in- 
 stalling the sheet and to all of whom we wish not only a 
 Merry Christmas but the happiest holiday season within the 
 memory of each one to be followed by a New Year of unequalled 
 prosperity and blessings. 
 
 Look steadily at a bright light for half a minute, and 
 then face the darkness the light will shine ahead of 
 you. So do the blazing fires of ages past mark the 
 pathway of the future. 
 
Writing 
 Next Year's Special Forms 
 
 A Time-Saving Plan 
 
 BY WM. H. STEELE 
 
 Many of the special forms we have to write on annual stock 
 and other business policies are long and take considerable time. 
 For some time I have made it a practice when writing these to 
 put six of the forms on the typewriter at one time (with carbon 
 paper between). This gives extra copies which can be filed for 
 the next year. I AM USING LAST YEAR'S EXTRA COPIES 
 NOW, AND FIND THEM TIME SAVERS. 
 
 The idea or principle involved in Mr. Steele's plan is one that 
 may be used to great advantage in cutting down the detail work. 
 Carbon paper costs a good deal less than time and the result is 
 always an exact duplication. 
 
 33 
 
Short Cuts in a General Agency 
 
 A Complete Outline of Three Up- to- Date Labor- Saving 
 
 Systems Used by a General Agency. They 
 
 Contain Ideas That Can be Made to 
 
 Apply to Cut Down Details in the 
 
 Home Office and in General 
 
 and Local Agencies 
 
 BY H. G. HOFFMAN 
 
 A card now takes the place of the expiration book and index 
 in our offices. 
 
 We keep all regular data on the front of the card, and when- 
 ever a cancellation becomes necessary, do our figuring on the 
 back of the card and file it, if we wish, for future reference. 
 
 By means of the tabs it is easy to pull the cards for any 
 month, and thus to get expirations quickly. 
 
 One of the great advantages in this card is that it can be 
 used time and time again, the one change being, as a rule, the 
 company and the number of the policy another year is checked 
 and we go ahead. (The card is illustrated on the opposite page.) 
 
 The use of this card will mean its adoption. We have tried 
 it now for several years, and find it gives entire satisfaction. 
 
 KEEPING CUSTOMERS' ACCOUNTS 
 
 We have done away with a ledger for our office trade, but 
 whenever writing a policy (unless a large account) we make a 
 statement, such as exhibited (on the following pages), with car- 
 bon, making the four at one time. The No. 1 goes out on the 
 first of the month following that in which the business is written; 
 
 34 
 
SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 35 
 
 the second goes out on the 10th. On the 25th, if account still 
 remains unpaid, we send No. 3, and on the 30th make draft, with 
 receipted bill attached. This is kept in a loose-leaf binder. 
 Should first account be paid when sent out, we tear up two and 
 three and receipt and send four. If draft is not paid when sent, 
 the receipted bill is returned, and so we still have our evidence 
 of the account. At any time we wish to know the amount of out- 
 standing accounts it is an easy matter to figure from this record. 
 This can only be worked, however, where a cash or thirty-day 
 business is done. 
 
 THE RECORD CARD 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 * 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 19 
 
 20 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 24 
 
 25 
 
 26 
 
 27 
 
 28 
 
 29 
 
 30 
 
 31 
 
 
 PROPERTY 
 
 rtik*. 
 
 /< 
 
 AMOUNT OOO 
 
 
 ,/<r- 
 
 1908 
 
 1909 
 
 <*> 
 
 1911 
 
 1912 
 
 1913 
 
 1914 
 
 1915 
 
 1916 
 
 1917 
 
 1919 
 
 1919 
 
 1920 
 
 1921 
 
 1922 
 
 1923 
 
 1924 
 
 1925 
 
 1926 
 
 t 
 
 1927 
 
 r . 
 
 COM.P0.8UB-AOT. 
 
 CANCELLED, ORDER OF 
 
 A reproduction of "The Record Card/' the one in use, fits a 
 4x6 card index drawer. The cards are "tabbed" to show the month 
 of expiration. "May" at the top would appear above the card. 
 
 A detailed explanation of the forms used in keeping the 
 Customers' Accounts and in the Draft System appears on the 
 following pages. 
 
36 
 
 SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 The two forms on the opposite page are printed upside down 
 on the back of the sheet so that when the sheet is folded once 
 they appear right side up and the lines to be filled in are exactly 
 under the blank lines in the forms on this page. 
 
 " 
 
 W 
 
 !! 
 
 P 
 
 H 
 O 
 B 
 <^ 
 K 
 P 
 
 OD 
 
 s 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 I H 
 
SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 37 
 
 By inserting a carbon sheet between the two sets of forms 
 both are filled out with one operation. (See diagrams on page 
 40 for arrangement of the forms.) 
 
 S s 
 
 s 
 
 AVMtNT 
 
 H. a HOFFMAN 
 
38 
 
 SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 Heretofore when making drafts on our agents we had to 
 make draft, write agent we had done so, write a form to the bank 
 and make a record for the office. 
 
 By means of the forms illustrated on these two pages and 
 the use of carbon paper we make all four records at one time. 
 
 O g S 
 
 i! 1 
 ii 
 
 
 > H 
 
 Hi 
 
 i *' 
 
 fif 
 i 9 
 
 S B 
 
 155 
 
 a ^ 
 
SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 39 
 
 The forms on this page are printed upside down on the back 
 of the sheet, so that when the sheet is folded once they appear 
 right side up, and the lines to be filled in are exactly under the 
 blank lines in the forms on the opposite page. 
 
 J 
 
 P 
 
 ; s 
 
 8 
 
40 
 
 SHORT CUTS IN THE OFFICE 
 
 Diagram showing arrangement of forms, perforation and folding so that 
 all four forms may be filled out with one operation. 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Original Statement 
 of Account 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Second Notice 
 
 
 
 
 Fold 
 
 
 
 Here 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 PUB WBJCI '!}.unooov 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRAFT FORMS 
 
 Notification 
 
 Draft 
 
 Fold 
 Here 
 
 PJOO9H 90WO 
 
An Elastic 
 System in a Local Office 
 
 A Card System With Special Adaptations Described 
 
 in Detail. The Forms and How 
 
 They Are Used 
 
 BY JACOB J. PETERSON 
 
 Here is a description of the way I keep the records of my 
 business : 
 
 I use now in my office the card system altogether, and find 
 it the most convenient of any system that I have used; have done 
 away with all book records except one, which is a complete form 
 register of all the business written. The forms are numbered 
 consecutively. I use a duplicate daily report system in place of 
 company register. The duplicate daily reports are numbered 
 the same as the form on the register, and are filed away in ver- 
 tical folders a folder for each company. 
 
 The following cards are used: 
 
 Assured's Line Record, alphabetically arranged; Expiration 
 Card, arranged chronologically; Street or Locality Cards; Ac- 
 count Cards with Policyholders, and Account Current Cards with 
 Companies. 
 
 The Line Card 
 
 The assured's line record card groups together all the poli- 
 cies written for any one person, and showing the date of expira- 
 tion of each makes it possible to refer quickly to the expiration 
 card, with details on any particular risk. 
 
 41 
 
AN ELASTIC SYSTEM 
 
 The Line Card. 
 
 A Chronological Arrangement of Expirations 
 
 The expiration cards are arranged for a period of five years. 
 In addition to showing the date of expiration, the cards also give 
 all essential data regarding the policy. The chronological ar- 
 rangement enables the agent to keep all of his expirations for a 
 given date together, and yet the file is never cumbered with mem- 
 orandums which have become as dead matter on account of can- 
 cellations. 
 
 Locality Cards 
 
 Many agencies file the street or locality cards between guides 
 showing the even and odd numbers. I use block numbers that 
 is, the building number. For instance, I start in with a guide 
 numbered "100," that takes in both the even and odd numbers 
 beginning with 100; next, a guide numbered "200," and so on to 
 the end of the street or business section. All streets are ar- 
 ranged in the same manner, starting with the lowest number. I 
 prefer this arrangement to the even and odd guides, as it saves 
 time. For instance, I get a new line for a certain company in 
 the 800 block; I can go at once to that block and find what other 
 lines I have for the same company, without hunting for the lo- 
 cality. 
 
AN ELASTIC SYSTEM 
 
 43 
 
 The accounts with policyholders are kept on cards, which are 
 filed alphabetically. 
 
 Showing the arrangement of the customers' accounts. 
 
 Tilings put off put on burdens. Keeping ahead of the 
 work enables one to lead instead of 'being dragged. 
 
 A man that is hungry cannot do good work, nor can 
 a business that is starved produce the lest results. 
 
 It is usually better to cut one engagement short than 
 to be five minutes late at every appointment during 
 the day. 
 
Take Advantage of the Wind 
 
 This memorandum is inspired by a little scene that has 
 taken place outside our windows. A bleak, cold, east wind is 
 driving the sharp snow before it down the street. In the face 
 of the wind a humane-hearted but thoughtless driver, himself 
 shivering with the cold, jumped from his wagon and stopped 
 long enough to spread a heavy blanket over the horse and to 
 fasten the cover securely. The driver then darted into the 
 store, out of sight behind the frost-covered windows. But he 
 entirely overlooked the fact that the horse's head was left 
 toward the cutting wind; so the animal has taken things into 
 his own feet and very quietly and in a dignified manner walked 
 out into the middle of the street and turned himself and the 
 wagon around. Now the vehicle breaks the blast and the horse 
 stands with instead of against the wind. 
 
 There is profit in lining up a proposition so that it will work 
 in the most perfect harmony with the natural conditions. 
 
 After extending a warm welcome in your advertisements, 
 don't overlook the fact that the office should have a welcome 
 appearance. 
 
 Don't send out printed literature that will be offensive to 
 the eye or touch; these two natural senses register their im- 
 pressions first in the brain. 
 
 The "do's" and "don'ts" might be continued indefinitely; 
 however, our purpose is not to point out the individual oppor- 
 tunities for taking advantage of natural conditions but to bring 
 home the fact that it pays to study them. 
 
 It is not wise to have too many whys. 'Tis better 
 just to know and do. 
 
 The elements of life here and hereafter lie in faith, 
 hope and charity. 
 
 44 
 
Getting Business on Rural Routes 
 
 A Letter That Made Good With a 
 Summary of Results 
 
 BY F. A. D. 
 
 Here is a little plan which I have used to good advantage in 
 my small agency. 
 
 Being very busy with my other duties in my work for the 
 bank I am obliged to do a large part of my soliciting by mail. 
 
 As all agents know it is a great advantage to have the date 
 of expiration, and the plan I mention is for that purpose. 
 
 The letter herewith is a stock letter, but when addressed 
 personally with the same color ribbon it is very difficult to tell 
 it from an original type-written letter. It is very essential to 
 have the very best letter that one can get, as it will be more 
 likely to receive the attention of the addressed. Make the letter 
 as convincing, brief and forceful as possible and in most cases 
 offer something as a reward for the reply. You will see that I 
 promised a handsome Art Calendar, which I did give to all who 
 returned the postal. 
 
 It is advisable to have the blank for reply all arranged for 
 return, including postage, the chances are much better for its 
 return than if the recipient were expected to fill out an envelope 
 and pay postage. 
 
 I have tried this plan twice and have received an average 
 of 50 per cent, in replies from a mailing list made up from rural 
 routes, and in both cases got enough new business from the cards 
 to pay all expenses and then had expirations running from a few 
 months to five years. The last time I sent out these letters, De- 
 cember, I received 89 expiration dates, 17 direct promises and 
 5 new risks within a week. 
 
 45 
 
46 GETTING COUNTRY BUSINESS 
 
 If this suggestion merits attention, I shall be very glad, 
 simply because it has been original with me and that it may be 
 mentioned in your valuable paper. 
 
 The Letter 
 
 Mr. John Jones, 
 
 Enterprise, R. F. D. No. 1. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 Newspaper advertising usually brings results, it has accom- 
 plished much for me in the insurance business, but I feel that 
 you will read this letter a little more carefully than any ad. in a 
 newspaper or circular. 
 
 The increase in business in this agency has been truly 
 gratifying and I am stimulated with a desire to make this agency 
 one of the largest and best in the county. The companies repre- 
 sented are as strong and liberal as any in the world a mention 
 of the word "Aetna of Hartford" is sufficient to emphasize this 
 point. 
 
 You are interested in buying your insurance as cheaply as 
 possible and in having it correctly written and well taken care 
 of and I attribute the success of this agency to working along 
 these lines. 
 
 I am going to ask you to fill out the enclosed postal, stating 
 amount of insurance now carried, either on buildings or personal 
 property and date it expires, feeling sure that it may result in 
 business relations, and I assure you that the favor will be greatly 
 appreciated. DO IT NOW before you lay this letter away. I 
 will remember your favor along about Christmas time and mail 
 you a handsome art calendar. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 (Personal Signature.) 
 
GETTING COUNTRY BUSINESS 47 
 
 The postal was one of the government issue and had my ad- 
 dress printed on the front. 
 
 The Back of the Postal 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 The insurance on my property for $ expires 
 
 I have other insurance that expires 
 
 I am in the market for insurance on 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 When Things Come Your Way 
 
 The Bizzee Germ. Look out for a seemingly very agreeable 
 sensation that will be apt to fill you with thoughts of cold cash, 
 with conceited notions of your own success and with disregard 
 for the rights of others. The germ is in the air and is known to 
 grow rapidly with each bright day of fall activities; often the 
 deleterious effect is not noticed by the person attacked until 
 along in the winter, when things slow down for a breathing spell, 
 and there comes a season of petty disappointments that shatter 
 the one-man dream, that make you feel smaller than the littlest 
 man you turned down so abruptly, that rub off the veneer and 
 give you time to realize that the really successful men of all ages 
 have taken a good deal of time for the consideration of problems, 
 and, that while they have made the most of the moments, they 
 have avoided the life of the buzz-saw. 
 
Cumulative Results 
 
 Distinctive Advertising. An increasing number of agents 
 write us to reproduce on the Household Inventories, Labels, Cus- 
 tomers' Expiration Books and other things the same matter pre- 
 viously imprinted for them on something else. This produces, 
 in a degree, at least, a general style of advertising for the 
 agency. We believe that most agencies why not all? could 
 adopt distinctive advertising to advantage. Some of the national 
 advertisers have been doing this to a big advantage. One says 
 "Cream of Wheat" as soon as the white-capped, white-jacketed, 
 white-aproned, white-toothed colored waiter appears with his 
 white bowl, and the "Royal" can spells Royal Baking Powder 
 wherever one sees it these are illustrations that illustrate, but 
 the same effect, though perhaps not to so marked a degree, has 
 been accomplished in type by the forceful use of plain black and 
 white "99 44-100 per cent, pure" stands for Ivory Soap, "57 
 varieties" is the same thing as Heinz and there is only one soap 
 powder in mind when you "Let the Gold Dust Twins do your 
 work." 
 
 48 
 
A Photographic Reproduction 
 
 of a Letter that Induced 
 
 Personal Responses 
 
 An Exact Size Copy of the Letter will be Found in 
 
 the Envelope Attached to the Back 
 
 Cover of this Book 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 Analyze the letter. 
 
 You will find 
 
 First A distinctive letter-head; 
 
 Second An entire absence of all ordinary ear marks; 
 
 Third Frankness, friendliness and absence of formality; 
 
 Fourth Brevity; 
 
 And if you could see the result sheet as did our staff representa- 
 tive, you would find that 30 per cent, of the selected list of 500 
 to which this letter was sent last June responded either in per- 
 son or by mail. 
 
 Mr. C. M. Gault, Pittsburg, Pa., the agent who wrote the 
 letter, is a firm believer in constant publicity. He says: "I am 
 convinced of the necessity of keeping everlastingly at it adver- 
 tising being the greatest business getter of the present day." 
 
 Mr. Gault is unique in his forms of advertising, but uses the 
 best methods he can obtain. 
 
 4 49 
 
A Convincing Folder 
 
 Talbert & McNaughton, of Fort Worth, Tex., have just 
 issued a four-page folder that can be used as an envelope in- 
 closure and for house-to-house distribution in the vicinity of 
 every local fire. 
 
 A medium-weight India tint stock is used, and on the 
 first page, in bold letters, appear the words: 
 
 On the second page, under the caption "Are You Pre- 
 pared for a Fire?" is repeated the matter which was sug- 
 gested on the "Front Office" page of October 21, 1909. 
 
 On the third page of the folder is a list of the Compa- 
 nies represented, followed by a list of policyholders who 
 have recently had losses adjusted through the agency. The 
 page is wound up with the words "To get back to the be- 
 ginning, 'Are you prepared for a Fire?' " 
 
 The fourth page is plain except for the distinctive card 
 which this agency uses as its trade-mark. 
 
 50 
 
A Modern Transfer System 
 
 An Article On a Hitherto Annoying Subject 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 Ding-Dong Transfer 
 
 Only twenty-one days, and three of them rest ones, between 
 now and 1910, makes it high time to think of old Mr. Bugaboo, 
 who has in years past been looking at your clean cuffs and sug- 
 gesting transferring the papers. Incidentally he has suggested 
 worry, confusion, bother and inability after transferring to find 
 
 the paper you want. 
 
 Old Ways 
 
 Some offices get away from the transfer trouble by filing in 
 the same file until its tongue sticks out, then taking out a handful 
 from the back and destroying them. Such a plan is a great suc- 
 cess as long as you don't want to find anything like an empty 
 pocketbook, so easy to carry but when you really want a paper, 
 then its different like a company without a reserve. Other 
 offices keep a very accurate record in the back of the file of just 
 when and where you will find the transferred papers. You find 
 that this file was transferred to such and such a box, and then 
 you dig. In the made shelf over in the dark corner in the next 
 room. Pull down three boxes off the top of the right one and 
 almost get it down, when the sides give way. 
 
 The New Way 
 
 Here is the O. B. Joyful way: Provide filing equipment suffi- 
 cient for six months or a year, and at the end of each period sim- 
 ply lift the entire contents, guides and all, out of each drawer 
 
 51 
 
52 A MODERN TRANSFER SYSTEM 
 
 into a transfer case of the same size; label the front of the case 
 the same as the file, add the period covered, as, July to Decem- 
 ber, 1909, and stack the cases up. 
 
 All over. 
 
 The next time the office boy will do It. 
 
 Transfer Files 
 
 A growing stack 
 
 How the Scheme Works 
 
 Now, in 1911 you want a letter from the Smith Manufactur- 
 ing Company, received in the fall of 1909. What do you do? Go 
 to the transfer case for the period, pull out (mind you, pull out) 
 the drawer and take out the letter you want. 
 
 These new transfer cases are built on the sectional plan, 
 stack up just like cabinets, and operate on roller bearings. Each 
 transfer drawer is in its own shell. 
 
A MODERN TRANSFER SYSTEM 53 
 
 Low Cost 
 
 The cases are of all-wood construction, but made of cheaper 
 lumber than the regular filing cabinets, and the finish is just a 
 stain but they do the trick, relieve the worry, produce the let- 
 ters, and do not require unsightly shelving. 
 
 On account of the saving in the cost of making, the cases are 
 sold at a very low price. So here at least is a within-reach way 
 to make a year of better work and hence more profit and 
 with less wear on the organization of the office and the mortals 
 in it. 
 
 The above illustration is a "life-size" reproduction of a 
 sticker prepared for general use. 
 
 In the original the face and the "Thanks" are printed in 
 black on yellow enameled paper. The back is gum-coated ready 
 for sticking. 
 
 It may be applied (speaking of the label, not the sticum) in 
 many ways that are now suggesting themselves to you. 
 
Writing Additional Insurance 
 
 A Little Query That May Set Your Mind to Revolving a 
 Question of Importance to You 
 
 Wouldn't it be a great boon to wake up some morning and find 
 that the commercial value of every piece of property in your sec- 
 tion of the country had doubled? The additional policies would 
 double your business. How about Tornado Insurance? Are you 
 filling your coffers with premiums on this class of business ? 
 
 Tornadoes appear at all seasons of the year and almost any- 
 where. Crawford County, Pennsylvania, has been singularly free 
 from big windstorms, but the one that passed over it recently de- 
 stroyed more than a third of a million dollars' worth of property 
 and injured many persons. No agency can cover all its fire risks 
 with Tornado policies but are you getting your share? 
 
 A Tornado Binder 
 
 Below is a form suggested by a local agent for the return 
 portion of an advertising card. It is an application, and if the 
 agent desires he can by a promise in the advertising matter 
 
 make it a binder. 
 
 The Form 
 
 Kindly write a Tornado policy for years as per 
 
 rates quoted, for which I agree to call within 15 days. 
 
 $ on Dwelling. 
 
 $ on Furniture, etc. 
 
 $ on Stable. 
 
 $ on Horses and $ other contents. 
 
 Name 
 
 Address 
 
 54 
 
Seasonable 
 Advertising on a Scientific Basis 
 
 Using the Windstorm of Today to Advertise 
 
 Protection Against the Tornado 
 
 of Tomorrow 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 On the following pages there is a reproduction of the latest 
 idea in Tornado Insurance advertising. 
 
 It is a "Double Post-Card," printed in two colors. 
 
 On the address side of the card is a half-tone showing what 
 was left after the tornado, which is seen approaching, passed 
 by. Then there is a blank space for addressing the card. 
 
 On the back of the reply card is printed the name and 
 address of the local agency using the scheme. 
 
 The local agent who writes tornado insurance and utilizes 
 the Double Post-Card virtually does this: 
 
 Employs a messenger at the very low cost of one cent a call 
 to go out and bring to the attention of his list of prospects the 
 fact that the tornado season is here. 
 
 The messenger tarries and suggests at just the right mo- 
 ment just when the prospect is in a receptive frame of mind 
 that if he will attach a penny stamp to the reply card he will 
 find out just how little it would cost to feel at ease every time a 
 windstorm comes up. 
 
 To get the most out of tornado advertising, the literature 
 should be on hand, addressed and ready to put in the mails on 
 receipt of the first news of a big tornado to take advantage of 
 psychological conditions. 
 
 65 
 
The Reply 
 
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 T/z,e 6ac/c of this side bears the printed address of the agency, 
 making a post card ready for 'mailing. 
 
 56 
 
The Story 
 
 m 
 
 mow 
 Nint>. 
 
 6 
 V* 
 
 &SS 
 
 Printed in two colors, the effect is strong . 
 
The Outgoing Front 
 
 o 
 
 "S >, 
 
 F .* 
 
 I g 
 
 i 
 
 Pointed Arguments 
 
How One Department Helps 
 
 Another Until the Transaction 
 
 Becomes an Endless Chain 
 
 Making the Grooves Fit 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 It is said of a certain successful insurance agent that he has 
 his business at his fingers' ends and always shakes hands with 
 all his fingers. 
 
 And his friends don't mean that he attempts to carry all the 
 details or that he intrudes business out of place. 
 
 As to the details, he could not begin to carry them all him- 
 self, and because he hasn't tried to do so, but has taken advan- 
 tage of every good plan for making the details take care of them- 
 selves, he has a free mind for the big things. 
 
 What his associates mean, when they say that he has the 
 business at his fingers' ends, is illustrated by the following little 
 story of daily life: 
 
 The agent himself was not in the office when the transaction 
 took place, and that further emphasizes his ability, for his office 
 force is just as efficient when he is out as when at his desk. 
 
 The office does a general insurance and real estate business. 
 The real estate man had consummated a sale, Involving a trade, 
 and both parties were in the office to sign the papers. 
 
 The commission was a good one and offered an excuse for 
 the R. E. man to pat himself on the back, tell a funny story and 
 escort the customers to the door with a hearty handshake. 
 
 67 
 
68 CO-OPERATION OF DEPARTMENTS 
 
 That is what happens over and over again in many offices. 
 
 This is what happened in his office: 
 
 In the trade, "A," who was moving from an adjoining town, 
 secured a house and stable, and "B" seven vacant lots. 
 
 And that afternoon the different departments of the office 
 secured : 
 
 The commission on the real estate deal; 
 
 A fire policy on the house; 
 
 A fire policy on the barn; 
 
 A promise to make an inventory of the household effects and 
 to place the insurance (binder issued for $1,000 increased after 
 making inventory to $2,200); 
 
 A burglary policy on the household effects and automobile; 
 
 An automobile policy; 
 
 A policy insuring against wind. 
 
 And later as the result of a follow-up: 
 
 Policies on seven cottages as erected; 
 
 Contractor's indemnifying policy; 
 
 Tornado policy on seven cottages; 
 
 Rental of seven cottages. 
 
 Pretty good but hark to what followed: 
 
 As the man in charge of the rents leased the cottages he 
 explained the value of the inventory schedule presented by the 
 agency, and suggested that one of the inventories be made out as 
 soon as the renter moved in. This talk was followed up by the 
 insurance man for additional policies when the inventories 
 showed underinsurance. 
 
 To be sure, they were cottages, and the policies on the 
 household risks averaged under a thousand dollars, but the five 
 risks secured aggregated four thousand dollars and are more 
 profitable than a single risk of the same amount would have 
 been. 
 
 Why? 
 
 Here is the answer: 
 
 One of the cottagers holding a policy on his household ef- 
 
CO-OPERATION OF DEPARTMENTS 59 
 
 fects for but $600 has taken out a five-thousand-dollar accident 
 policy; 
 
 Another has given the agent the insurance on his grocery 
 and stock; 
 
 A third placed his sixteen trucking horses under live stock 
 policies issued by the agency; 
 
 And another a contractor insures all his "buildings in con- 
 struction" against both fire and wind with this agency, which, in 
 many cases, is enabled to write the permanent policies on the 
 buildings and frequently on the contents. 
 
 And some folks wonder why the agency grows! 
 
 Fundamental Principles 
 
 These suggestions are from a business woman, and whether 
 her office shall be remembered long years after she is out of the 
 insurance business depends on whether the principles put on 
 paper are put into practice. 
 
 Boiled down to the marrow this is what she says: 
 
 "I find that to be very courteous and friendly to everybody 
 gains friends and in the end you get their business. 
 
 Keep your work up and it will not fall back on you. 
 
 Have a place for each and every paper, keep it in its place 
 and you will have no trouble in finding what you want. 
 
 Attend strictly to business, deserve and gain the confidence 
 of the people, treat the expirations as customers' trusts and you 
 have a standing advertisement that brings results. 
 
 Strength may be added to the line of suggestions by the 
 statement that this woman has the supplies for a company that 
 would be received with open arms by any agency in America. 
 
A Blotter that is Distinctive 
 
 One that Appeals to a Man Because it Has a Story to 
 Tell Him on a Vital Subject 
 
 The man who can advertise specifically through general 
 terms backs his rifle fire with an artillery reserve. 
 
 This is what Mr. Whitehill did when he distributed the blot- 
 ter which is reproduced on the opposite page. 
 
 His statements are all founded on facts and point the way to 
 a general reduction in rates. To heed them would benefit the 
 whole community, and the fact that no attempt is made to apply 
 them to his agency alone puts the argument in a strong light. 
 
 And that light reflects credit upon the agency in a specific 
 way. 
 
 It focuses the general attention on the advertiser. 
 
 The blotter leaves a strong and pleasant impression, sealed, 
 as it were, with the name of the agency. 
 
 We suggest that such a blotter as shown be followed up in- 
 side of thirty days with a blotter setting out as simply and as 
 forcefully as possible the strength of the companies represented 
 in the agency. 
 
 60 
 
A DISTINCTIVE BLOTTER 
 
 CO 
 
 Id 
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 2 
 
 D 
 
 CO 
 
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 D 
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 II 
 
Advertising 
 By the Light of the Fire 
 
 The Best Ad. I Ever Used 
 
 BY JOHN M. KINKEL 
 
 For a number of years I have had a standing arrangement 
 with the Hutchinson (Kansas) Daily News to run after each 
 account of a fire the following two lines, to-wit: 
 
 Are you insured ? If not, 
 Better see John M. Kinkel, Agent. 
 
 I have used this ad. for a long time, and it does not seem to 
 lose its drawing power. 
 
 The insurance business being one almost entirely of "per- 
 sonal solicitation," the usual stereotyped ad. does not bring re- 
 sults as it might in other lines of business. My experience with 
 this form of advertising is that it is catchy and attractive and 
 fixes permanently in the mind of the reader the name of the 
 "agent," which, after all, is the result desired. 
 
 62 
 
i 
 
 OPPORTUNE ADVERTISING 
 
 63 
 
 
 M* 4 
 
 1 
 
 II the residence of X j; 
 
 I 
 
 OOi 
 
 1 
 
 a war 
 
 im 
 
 
 
 etching a reproduction shows the 
 "ad in operation" 
 
Waste or Worse 
 
 Unprofitable Advertising Matter. There is sometimes just a 
 little something that prevents a well-worked-out advertising 
 scheme from bringing in the looked-for returns: the absence of 
 the personal element presentation a week too soon or a day too 
 late perhaps something unlocked for but it is not of such that 
 we have in mind. 
 
 It's the good advertising, the proven kind not brilliant, per- 
 haps, but pulling, which, however, does not pull that we would 
 put in the limelight. 
 
 It's the well-worded, argumentative, clear, concise, right-to- 
 the-point, business-producing literature or souvenir that the com- 
 panies have sent you or that you have paid your own hard cash 
 for AND THAT IS ON THE SHELVES that we are champion- 
 ing. 
 
 Get it out. 
 
 Put it out. 
 
 It can't move of its own accord. 
 
 Remember that enough dynamite to split the earth in twain 
 would be ineffective on the shelves. 
 
 64 
 
A Link in an 
 Original Advertising Campaign 
 
 Education and Publicity Combined in Such a Way 
 
 As to Turn a $10.00 Award Into a 
 
 Volume of Business 
 
 BY M. J. M. 
 
 The following copy of my letter to the editor of the local 
 newspaper fully explains my essay scheme, which is entirely 
 original. I have found that it gives "cards and spades" to any 
 other form of advertising I have ever tried. 
 
 The Letter to the Editor 
 
 Dear Sir: I wish to offer the pupils of our public schools 
 a substantial prize and encourage them to seek information 
 relating to a matter which will be of much use to them in after 
 life. 
 
 With this end in view, I offer TEN DOLLARS IN GOLD to 
 the pupil who produces the best essay on fire insurance; pupils 
 are at liberty to get outside help from any source; essays must 
 be numbered, and not signed, in order that the judges may not 
 know whose essay they are passing upon. 
 
 The essays will be judged by the editor of one of the princi- 
 pal insurance journals of the country, and the winning essay 
 will be published. 
 
 Essays must be finished and mailed to me by November 1st. 
 
 Any pupil wishing to enter this contest must call at 
 
 5 65 
 
66 ORIGINAL ADVERTISING 
 
 BROTHERS' BANK and enter his or her name with Mr. 
 
 W I. L , Cashier, who will assign to each applicant 
 
 a number, which number the contestant must use, instead of his 
 or her signature, in order that the writer of the essay may not 
 be known until the essay shall have been judged. 
 
 The fundamental principles of fire insurance should be 
 instilled into the minds of property owners, and I consider this 
 a logical way of doing so and of arousing the interest of the 
 school children in the subject. 
 
 Any essay bearing the name of the writer will be thrown 
 out. 
 
 About eight years ago I offered a prize for such an essay, 
 which was won by Langley Heinz. The essay was published in 
 some of the leading insurance journals and very favorably com- 
 mented on. 
 
 I purpose offering a prize, later on, for a debate on "The 
 Relative Importance of Fire Insurance and Banking." 
 
 Respectfully (THE AGENT). 
 
 Work wins; worry weakens. 
 
 Worry weakens; fear fells. 
 
 There are no home runs on bunted balls. 
 
 Work today so that tomorrow you shall be thankful 
 for yesterday. 
 
 The single North Star of Purpose has more home 
 runs to its credit than all the stars in the whole 
 Milky Way of Reflected Life. 
 
Turning a Dog's Prank 
 Into a Magnet for Premiums 
 
 An Exact Size Reproduction of the Half -Tone and 
 
 Double Card Will be Found in the Envelope 
 
 Attached to the Back of this Book 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The idea worked out in this double post-card suggested itself 
 to Mr. E. A. Stroud, Braddock, Pa., one morning recently when 
 his dogship, in an exhuberance of kindly feeling for his master, 
 jumped on a number of policies which lay on the desk awaiting 
 signature. 
 
 Mr. Stroud stated to a staff representative of Rough Notes 
 that this method of securing expirations seemed to strike a re- 
 sponsive chord, and that the expense of sending out 5,000 cards 
 was repaid many times over within ninety days. "I made a $50 
 premium from one of these cards to-day," said Mr. Stroud. 
 
 The back of the "return card" bore the printed address of the 
 Stroud agency. 
 
 The back of the other half contained a well worded adver- 
 tisement of the strength of the companies represented and the 
 scope of insurance the office writes. 
 
 67 
 
Advertising that Stands Out 
 
 Marking the Policy. A rubber stamp on a policy is a 
 good deal like a love letter on a business letter-head. Of 
 course, they both go sometimes, and then again there are 
 lots of bachelors. And all agents don't hear "yes" when 
 the policy expires. "Forgotten" no, not that, but some- 
 how the assured seems to know more intimately the agent 
 who wrote the other policy that expires at the same time. 
 
 Is it the agent who is better known, or the label on the 
 policy? 
 
 68 
 
Policy Labels 
 
 Reproduced from a high grade of labels 
 made with oil colors 
 
Drifting or Sailing 
 
 High Price Waste. Fifteen minutes yawning, five min- 
 utes at slow speed in dressing, ten minutes on unimportant 
 newspaper details, an extra quarter hour at noon total 
 forty-five minutes lost even if you break the speed limit 
 during the time you think you work, to say nothing of the 
 time spent without direction during the evening hours of 
 relaxation. Three hundred and thirteen times 45 equals 
 14,085 minutes, 234 hours, $468.00 at the rate established by 
 one man working under the direction of our Promotion De- 
 partment but at one-third the rate the minutes would mean 
 over $150.00 a year, while on the other hand twice as many 
 minutes saved at the first rate would mean nearly a thou- 
 sand dollars a year extra. It's the difference between drift- 
 ing and sailing; it's the difference between making a living 
 and living; it's the difference between working and 
 worrying. 
 
 The fire loss in the United States is a shame and dis- 
 grace and is arousing the thinking men of the commercial 
 world, but the fire loss looks small when compared with 
 the time loss sixteen million adult persons (one to every 
 five of population) losing an hour and a half a day and 
 working on an average valuation of two dollars a day totals 
 a daily loss of six million dollars. Can you afford your 
 share of the loss? Can the ones whom you assume to care 
 for stand it? Which reminds us of the story of the newly 
 married colored woman who answered the question whether 
 her husband was a good provider, by replying: "Yes, in- 
 deed he is; las' week he got me foah washin's and dis week 
 five." We assume the gentleman also had some spare time. 
 
 69 
 
An Inexpensive Sticker 
 That Calls Attention to Vital Facts 
 
 How An Agent May Do the Policyholder and 
 Himself a Good Turn at the Same Time 
 
 The local underwriter stands in an almost privileged position 
 with the average customer. 
 
 Not to protect the customer by every means possible is to 
 fall short of doing his entire duty. 
 
 For this reason we welcome the opportunity to present an 
 exact reproduction of the little sticker which Edward C. Wehl, 
 of Utica, N. Y., is affixing to the front of all policies he writes. 
 
 But it would not do for the Fly-by-Night agent to put such a 
 sticker on his policies, as the first paragraph would rather de- 
 tract from than add to their value. 
 
 How many policyholders know that the policy for which they 
 have paid and on which they rely may, through acts of their own, 
 be absolutely worthless to them? 
 
 That a policyholder may be straightforward and perfectly 
 honest, and yet render his policy valueless, makes it imperative 
 that he know at least the ordinary things that will avoid it. 
 
 And the agent is the man to tell him of the dangers. 
 
 70 
 
The Sticker 
 
 IMPORTANT! 
 
 This Company has the distinction of paying its 
 losses promptly and giving a square deal in every 
 case in which it becomes interested. Were I not 
 thoroughly convinced of its honorable intention 
 toward the insured after a fire, you would be un- 
 able to obtain the policy from me at any price. 
 
 Please read and comply strictly with all the con- 
 ditions of the policy, notifying this office promptly 
 of any change in location, increase in hazard, or 
 loss. 
 
 71 
 
Reading the Agency 
 
 Advertisement While the Fire 
 
 Whistle Blows 
 
 A Small Town Suggestion 
 
 BY JOHN BRIGHT 
 
 I regret very much that the thing that has shown the largest 
 return to me can not be more generally used, but, as you can see 
 at a glance, it will only be applicable to small towns, yet the idea 
 may act as a suggestion for something along similar lines. 
 
 Wildwood is located on an island called Five Mile Beach, 
 and comprises Angelsea, Wildwood, Holly Beach and Wildwood 
 Crest, all thriving seaside resorts which have the finest bathing 
 beach in the whole world. 
 
 As our fire alarm is sounded on a powerful steam whistle, 
 and the location of the fire indicated by the blasts, every one is 
 very anxious to have one of the signal cards I have 
 issued as an agency advertisement, and is reading it 
 while the alarm is being sounded a time when one is sure to 
 think of insurance. 
 
 I want to ask when one could find a better time to have 
 his name presented as an insurance agent? 
 
 72 
 
The Card that Speaks for the Agency 
 
 Fire Alarm Box Numbers 
 
 HOLLY BEACH 
 
 Box 14. Learning and Pacific 
 
 JOHN BRIGHT 
 
 15. Rio Grande and Arctic 
 
 Fire Insurance 
 
 16. Taylor and Pacific 
 
 Bargains in Real Estate 
 /'12othernumben\ 
 Vand locations. / 
 
 This card, measuring 10% x 14 inches, is printed on substantial stock 
 with red border and slightly tapering top, punched for hanging. The in- 
 formation is in bold black and the interlined advertising in red. 
 
 73 
 
An Appreciated Courtesy 
 
 Souvenirs That Are Kept for Their 
 Intrinsic Value 
 
 There are always two ways of doing a thing and usually a 
 "neither" way. 
 
 No successful agent would ever think of offending a cus- 
 tomer, but how many agents rise above the "neither" way? 
 
 How many, after securing a customer, show the out-of-the- 
 ordinary interest that acts as a magnet for future premiums? 
 
 How many catch the spirit of shoulder-to-shoulder work and 
 take a co-operative interest a real interest in the customers' 
 interests? 
 
 The agent who does, discovers that the customer, while he 
 may smoke the agent's cigars and forget them if not too bad 
 can not forget, and would not if he could, the attractively cov- 
 ered record of the customer's insurance written up and quietly 
 presented with the compliments of the agency. 
 
 The appreciation grows each time there is occasion to refer 
 to the details of a policy. 
 
 The customers' expiration record keeps books for the as- 
 sured, tells him just the amount of insurance he is carrying under 
 each classification, shows him the date of each expiration, the 
 amount of each policy, together with the rate and the premium. 
 
 It not only answers his questions, but, whenever the record 
 is consulted, sees to it that the agency is remembered for proper 
 thanks not the perfunctory brand, but the sort that only wait 
 for an opportunity to repay on a business basis. 
 
 74 
 
Customers' Expiration Books 
 
 1 The customer's appreciation grows each time 
 
 there is occasion to refer to the details 
 
 of a policy." 
 
 There are attract- 
 ively bound, flat 
 open hi;/ honk* 
 that provide 
 for the data 
 desired. 
 
 The form here pictured 
 ft rery convenient xiz( 
 for /Hint/ ir it h 
 the )><>l ie iex. 
 
PLAN YOUR WORK THEN WORK YOUR PLAN 
 
 Assuming that a person follows the cardinal rules such as 
 honesty of purpose and action, and has a fair degree of health 
 and horse sense, there is no better rule for success, be it of 
 things spiritual, social or commercial, than the injunction above. 
 This quotation we have printed on 6x9 crimson red wall cards, in 
 black type, with a green line border. Copies of the card, punched 
 for hanging, will be sent on request to all Front Office members 
 desiring a copy. 
 
 75 
 
A Business Card that is Kept on 
 Account of Its Clean Humor 
 
 From the land of the oleander and the alligator we are get- 
 ting many evidences of insurance activity. 
 
 The latest to reach us is the advertising card of B. P. Inman, 
 of Milton, Fla. 
 
 On the back of his business card appears the following, 
 which strikes us (we are speaking impersonally) as a catchy 
 form of good advertising. 
 
 The Kiss 
 
 A kiss is a peculiar proposition. Of no use to 
 one, yet absolute bliss to two. The small boy gets it 
 for nothing, the young man has to steal it and the old 
 man has to buy it. The baby's right, the lover's 
 privilege, the hypocrite's mask. To a young girl, faith; 
 to a married woman, hope; and to an old maid, charity. 
 
 No matter what the case may be, you will always 
 be on the safe side if you place your insurance with 
 B. F. Inman, the man with plenty of time to give your 
 business proper attention. 
 
 Mr. Inman uses a series of envelope inclosures. 
 
 76 
 
Assisting the Prospect to 
 
 Remember the Agency at the 
 
 Right Time 
 
 A Plan to Help Keep Promises 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 The surest way of doing the greatest amount of work in the 
 least possible time, and always on time, is to handle every 
 transaction but once and that once when it first comes up. 
 
 Such procedure is possible a great many more times than 
 one would believe who is not accustomed so to dispose of 
 matters. 
 
 It is the plan of the men who are known the country over 
 for getting things done. 
 
 But, of course, it is not always possible to dispose of every 
 matter that comes up then and there; sometimes action is de- 
 pendent upon some future event. Where this is so the papers 
 in the transaction should be filed ahead in a follow-up system 
 or a concrete memorandum made and put in a follow-up tickler. 
 
 This leads up to the point of this article: 
 
 It very frequently happens that a man intends to take up 
 the subject of insurance at a certain time and may even promise 
 to do so, but when the time comes his mind is so crowded 
 with the affairs of the day that the deferred matter is lost sight 
 of and action is thus delayed, probably to the detriment of both 
 parties concerned. 
 
 77 
 
78 HELPING THE OTHER FELLOW TO REMEMBER 
 
 On the opposite page will be found a memory tickler card of 
 the right size for filing in a 3x5 card index follow-up system. 
 
 Insert at the top of the card the date you are going to write 
 us, and in the body of the card make a memorandum of the 
 things you intend to order. 
 
 Our Supply Department would be glad to have you take this 
 suggestion to heart, but the purpose of the illustration is to 
 suggest to you how you might incorporate just such a card in 
 your advertising, accompanying it with a story something like 
 the one you are reading fully explaining the use of the card 
 and asking that the man to whom you are sending it file it in his 
 memory tickler file so that he will not overlook letting you hear 
 from him when the proper time arrives. 
 
 Whether the recipient uses the blank or not the form of ad- 
 vertising will be so out-of-the-ordinary that it will impress itself 
 upon him and thus make a good advertisement for your agency. 
 
 The man who is always missing the train and walk- 
 ing to the next station works harder T)ut accomplishes 
 less than the man who rides. 
 
 The firsts count highest in almost everything except 
 time when the seconds are the supreme things of 
 the minute. 
 
HELPING THE OTHER FELLOW TO REMEMBER 79 
 
 a 
 
 a i 
 
 00 
 
 We suggest that where this blank is incorporated in adver- 
 tising matter that the outline of the form be lightly perforated 
 to suggest detaching. 
 
An Attractive Insert that 
 
 Culminates in the Catch Line 
 
 of the Agency 
 
 "Herewith is a copy of an 'insert' which I had printed and 
 have pasted on the inside margin of the first page of the 300 
 copies of 'Tips on Fire Insurance' which came to hand several 
 days ago." 
 
 The above extract from a letter written by H. B. Caldwell, 
 manager of the insurance department of the Arkansas Valley 
 Trust Company of Fort Smith, Ark., has reference to the attrac- 
 tive advertisement which appears on the next page, and which in 
 the original was printed in two colors and the full page length 
 of a copy of "Tips." 
 
 "Call on Caldwell" is a catch line that is being used in all 
 the literature put out by these people. 
 
 The "Tips on Fire Insurance" to which reference is made 
 above and for which the page advertisement was prepared, is a 
 souvenir booklet of 10 pages. It is the size of a folded policy 
 and filled to overflowing with answers to questions the policy- 
 holder should ask or be certain about. Tastily gotten up for pre- 
 sentation by agents to their customers, it serves as a most excel- 
 lent reminder that the agent's interest does not expire with the 
 writing of the policy. 
 
 As the average man does not know nearly as much about an 
 insurance policy as he feels that he does, the book gracefully 
 puts him under obligations by presenting points that cost noth- 
 ing to learn before the fire and that it is too late to learn after a 
 loss. It is a forceful and lasting advertisement when used in a 
 campaign for new business. 
 
 80 
 
AN ATTRACTIVE INSERT 
 
 81 
 
 You Have 
 
 heard of the excitement in a mining 
 camp when a miner, who has 
 previously worked an unprofitable 
 claim announces that he has 
 
 Struck Pay Dirt 
 
 Well! That's just what you've struck 
 in this little booklet. If you will 
 him its pages and carefully scruti- 
 nize its contents, as the miner does 
 the dirt and ore turned by his pick 
 and shovel, you will find 
 
 Nuggets of Pure Gold 
 
 While there is nothing complicated 
 about Fire Insurance Policies, there 
 are few that really understand them, 
 simply because they do not take 
 time to read them. 
 
 If You Want More 
 
 information as to the terms and con- 
 ditions of Standard Policies and the 
 forms and clauses usually attached 
 thereto, these "tips" will give you 
 the leading points in a clear and 
 concise manner. 
 
 When present policies expire, 
 or additional lines are needed, 
 it will pay you to 
 
 Call on Caldwell 
 
How Paper and Ink Help 
 One Agency 
 
 The Story of an Office that Systematizes the Details 
 
 REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 There is shown on the opposite page a very complete form 
 of "Settlement" envelope that originated in the Insurance and 
 Real Estate offices of the George S. Davis Co., of McKees Rocks, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 A detailed explanation is unnecessary as the face of the 
 envelope tells the story. 
 
 The arrangement of the matter on the envelope is the same 
 as shown except that there are seventeen lines in the space pro- 
 vided for the "Statement" instead of the four reproduced. The 
 envelope is of the regular "long envelope" size i%x9% inches 
 and of light manila stock. 
 
 Two points in particular are gained by the use of such an 
 envelope. 
 
 First: There is a record of things to be done, to be checked 
 against, so that nothing is overlooked, and, 
 
 Second: All the data and papers are at all times assembled 
 ready for instant reference. 
 
 It is schemes such as this systematic short-cuts that en- 
 able some offices to do more business than others and to per- 
 form such satisfactory service that they keep on doing MORE 
 business and still have time to enjoy the bigness of life while 
 others fume, fret and grumble always overlooking details and 
 searching for misplaced memorandums. 
 
 82 
 
PAPERS AND DATA TOGETHER 83 
 
 SETTLEMENT 
 
 Owner 
 
 Buyer 
 
 Attorney 
 
 Deal Closed 
 
 New Deed 
 
 Mortgage 
 
 Re-Liens 
 
 Taxes 
 
 Sewer Receipt 
 
 Paving Receipt 
 
 Insurance Policy 
 
 Who to notify 
 
 Old Deed Rec. Vol. Page 
 
 Remarks 
 
 STATEMENT 
 
 DATE TOTAL 
 
 (17 of these lines.) 
 
Once for All Time 
 
 Our Sentiments. Two colored men waxed warm in 
 discussion, and, paying no attention to the collected on- 
 lookers, one clinched the argument with: 
 
 "Ah don't cair what nobody says, Ah knows hits just 
 as farh frum dis yer cornah to dat fust cornah as hit is 
 frum dat cornah back heah." 
 
 And yet there are persons even under whose eyes this 
 will come who are going twice over the same ground each 
 day in order to eke out an existence; eke it is, for the man 
 who does not take advantage of measurements once made, 
 of the facts the other fellow has brought to light, of the 
 approved and improved methods of doing things, instead 
 of having time for planning a concentration of his efforts 
 on the important points of the work plods on. Would it 
 not be worth while to spend an ever-increasing amount of 
 time early or late some time each day, in getting at the 
 essential points of one situation, of taking advantage of 
 what others have done? 
 
 It pays to command the work rather than to be com- 
 manded by it. 
 
 84 
 
A Loose-Leaf System 
 For Keeping the Field Records 
 
 The Most Up-to-Date in Office Systems 
 Applied to the Field 
 
 The field men who are now using the Loose-Leaf System for 
 keeping a record of agency conditions are hereby notified that we 
 have added an Inspection Record Sheet to the system. 
 
 This form was designed by Charles A. Wehmeyer, State 
 Agent of the Montgomery & Funkhouser General Agency, and 
 provides space on each sheet for the tabulation of the essential 
 data regarding 28 risks. 
 
 Field men who have not been using the Loose-Leaf form of 
 record book would find it a great boon. A single Agency Record 
 sheet provides on one side for a complete summary by months 
 for four consecutive years, a general resume of six additional 
 years, a classification of risks, and a memorandum of dates of 
 visits, while on the other side space is provided for data con- 
 cerning the "Members of Firm; Agency Established; Appointed; 
 Discontinued; Bond; Sureties; Fire Protection as regards Ap- 
 paratus, Steamers, Hose, Men, Source of Water Supply, Domestic 
 and Fire Pressure, and Hydrants; Other Companies Represented" 
 and liberal space for Memoranda. 
 
 The sheets fit into a compact flexible leather binder. They 
 are filed alphabetically by towns and classified by states. No 
 index is necessary, as the whole is self-indexing, making it pos- 
 sible to open the book direct at the page desired. 
 
 Field Men covering more than one state desire a leaf of a 
 different color for each state, so that the Agency Record sheets 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 KEEPING THE FIELD RECORDS 
 
 are carried in white, azure, primrose, pink, russet and gray, and 
 may be ordered assorted to meet conditions. 
 
 It is intended that the Inspection Record sheets be filed just 
 back of the Agency Record sheet, so the Inspection Record sheets 
 are printed on white only. 
 
 An outfit is not expensive. 
 
 The Agency Record Form 
 
 P 
 
 *f. 
 
 *r 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 r, 
 
 k 
 
 ! 
 
 -.. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 b ! 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 1 
 P 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Front of Record. Size 3% x 7 inches. 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 c! 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 Back of Record. All sheets are punched to fit the binder and 
 the binder fits the pocket. 
 
A LOOSE LEAF SYSTEM 
 
 87 
 
 The Agency Record 
 
 The book complete. This cover is of full flexible black grained 
 leather. The leaves are inserted easily. 
 
 The Inspection Record Form 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 INSPECTION RECORD 
 
 r* 
 
 NAME, Of ASSURED 
 
 i . 
 
 *, 
 
 j 
 
 F 
 
 j 
 
 p.. 
 
 ^ri 
 
 B 
 
 fs 
 
 sr 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The new form. Makes the System Comprehensive. 
 
The Story of a Policy that Did Not Expire 
 
 An Indianapolis agent tells a good story on how lie re- 
 newed a policy which, with normal treatment, would have 
 been lost. 
 
 He was notified some two or three months before the 
 expiration that the policy would be given to a friend and 
 that the agent need not renew. Nevertheless, knowing the 
 dilatory habits of the policyholder, he said nothing, but 
 wrote up a renewing policy, and with it in his pocket saun- 
 tered into the policyholder's place of business five minutes 
 before twelve; got his attention and engaged him in con- 
 versation until the hands of the clock pointed to two min- 
 utes to noon. Then the agent remarked that he had come 
 down for the purpose of renewing the policy, and was again 
 told that it would be given to another when the time ex- 
 pired. The agent informed the policyholder that that would 
 be in 60 seconds and produced the new policy, which he 
 laid on the desk before the man, who realized that it would 
 be better to be "safe than sorry," which he remarked as he 
 wrote out his check for the premium. 
 
 Moral: If the renewal is promised you, get more than 
 a promise; get the business by delivering your policy be- 
 fore the other one expires. 
 
How to Keep 
 
 The Field Conditions Under 
 Your Thumb 
 
 An Adaptation of a Mercantile Plan that Will Appeal to 
 
 Regular Field Men and Local Agents 
 
 Doing Special Work 
 
 The civil engineer idea applied to business produces results. 
 Charting the conditions is always the first step. 
 
 No one knows more thoroughly than does the man in the 
 field the difficulty in keeping in the mind's eye a true picture of 
 every condition in such a way as to be able to work the most ef- 
 fectively. 
 
 On this page we present an adaptation of the map and tack 
 system, which has been in use by territorial managers for a suf- 
 ficient length of time to make positive its value. 
 
 In a simple, complete and practical manner this system will 
 present at all times a birdseye view of the entire territory, with 
 all the details vital to success. 
 
 An outfit for a single State consists of a dust-proof cabinet, 
 containing a light, strong, shallow tray (mounted on which is a 
 map of the State) and special tacks, with heads of different colors. 
 The border lines of the counties are shown in colors on the map 
 and the towns in plain black letters on a white background, while 
 the steam and electric lines are designated both by colors and 
 figures. 
 
 89 
 
90 A FIELD CHART 
 
 In the upper left corner of the miniature map here shown 
 will be seen a "Code" of tack signals. A reading of the code 
 practically explains the entire working of the scheme. 
 
 The person controlling the territory sticks a white headed 
 tack in the name of each town from which regular reports are not 
 being received; into the names of the towns where the agen- 
 cies are behind with accounts, a black-headed tack; into the 
 towns where the agency is weak, a blue tack with cross lines; 
 into the towns where it is desirable to have an agency, but none 
 exists, a light-headed tack with cross lines; into the towns where 
 there are losses to adjust, a spotted tack, and into the towns 
 where there are special conditions, a tack with a plaid head. 
 
 When a map has thus been stuck it is possible to lay out a 
 route which will accomplish the most good in the shortest time. 
 A study of the map at intervals of a week or two will prevent 
 overlooking any serious condition. 
 
 To finish almost, is often to fail most pitiably piti- 
 ably because of the wasted effort that would have 
 done things if supported to the end. 
 
 Aviation will, not help the solicitor who is already 
 flying past his Prospects and over his opportunities. 
 
The Field Chart 
 
 The sticking of the map in the first place is an easy opera- 
 tion except that the chances are you will find out for many a 
 day that additional tacks should have been stuck, emphasizing 
 the need long ago of such a system. 
 
 When once ready for operation, it becomes a permanent 
 chart which may be changed instantly and kept up to date on all 
 conditions. 
 
 91 
 
Quoted 
 
 'Plan your work then work your plan.' 
 
 "Genius is perspiration not inspiration/' Thomas 
 A. Edison. 
 
 "People need to be reminded more than to be 
 taught/' 
 
 "The sluggard turneth upon his bed like a door upon 
 its hinges/' 
 
 "Constant dripping wears away the stone" irre- 
 gardless of the cause. 
 
 "There is a good deal of difference between being 
 smart and being wise/' 
 
 "The world generally gives its admiration not to the 
 man who does what nobody else attempts to do, but to 
 the man who does best what multitudes do well" 
 Macaulay. 
 
 92 
 
A Business Sermon 
 
 "Six Days Shalt Thou Labor" 
 
 Rest! 
 
 But when? 
 
 After six days of labor. 
 
 The Ten Commandments from beginning to end lay down the 
 law for man's success. 
 
 We live in the twentieth century of sidestepping and man is 
 still a baby in understanding. 
 
 Put in six days in doing with a will the things to be done 
 and let the seventh bring healthy rest for body and soul. 
 
 If six days out of seven don't produce the results, rest as- 
 sured that seven out of seven will not do it. 
 
 Do you earn your seventh day? 
 
 If not, would it not be wise to find out what is wrong? 
 
 Say to a man: Saw that rick of wood by Saturday night and 
 you shall rest on Sunday. He works all week with a dry saw 
 and on Sunday evening is a cord behind. 
 
 Lost his rest and starts the new week with a load. 
 
 A strip of bacon would have greased the saw, completed the 
 work, brought a day of blessings and opened a new week at the 
 scratch. 
 
 What do you think of his excuse that he couldn't afford the 
 bacon? 
 
 Poor logic but the chances are you are using the same 
 excuse. 
 
 Haven't time for this and that that ought to be done. 
 
 Why? 
 
 Because of the lack of a device a tool or because some- 
 thing else is consuming too much time is lapping over. 
 
 Last week one of our general department desks got con- 
 
 93 
 
94 A BUSINESS SERMON 
 
 gested, things piled high, little details received attention ahead 
 of weighty matters other little details did not get attention and 
 big things got tangled. 
 
 What happened? 
 
 The details of the wreck are unimportant, the clearing of the 
 congestion is all-important: 
 
 We spread the responsibility and added working tools. 
 
 Here is a sample of one move: It is important that we 
 should know what the magazines say about our publications and 
 all reviews of our books as received are sent to the desk in ques- 
 tion. Formerly they were read, clipped and filed by the depart- 
 ment manager. Now as the result of the dictation of instruc- 
 tions to a competent assistant the clipping, the pasting on a 
 form sheet, the indexing and filing will be done automatically, 
 promptly and with exactly the same results. 
 
 And the time required to give the instructions equaled just 
 the time required to handle a single clipping. 
 
 Are you loading yourself with work that some one else might 
 do, could do, should do or doing the work under conditions that 
 could be improved? 
 
 Big Little Factors 
 
 Mighty Midgets. Little things do count. In feeding a press 
 printers at times have difficulty in getting the second color to 
 register to print in the exact spot even on sheets as small as 
 letterheads. Why? Because of the fact that the little sheet has 
 expanded or shrunk in proportion to the difference in moisture 
 between the stock and press-rooms. 
 
 A little atmospheric change is all, but that unseen change 
 outwits the heavy presses. Look yourself in the inner eye and 
 drive home the sermon it fits you and it fits your business 
 somewhere. 
 
Why Some Agencies 
 
 Have the Doughnut Others 
 
 the Hole 
 
 % 
 When a Dollar Spent Beats One Added to 
 
 the Bank Balance 
 
 ON THE RAGGED EDGE 
 
 How many of us just hang on! Daily we catch the car of life 
 by the rear handle and breathless drag ourselves upon the plat- 
 form, lucky if we get inside and luckier still if there is left a 
 strap to hang on. 
 
 And then there is the chap that has more miles of railroads 
 than we have pennies; more banks than we have suits. 
 
 What's wrong? Who's wrong? 
 
 Each one has 24 hours of the same duration! One gets up in 
 the morning with a vision and a plan. The other gets up a few 
 minutes late to breakfast. 
 
 One works on a systematic basis though the plan may be 
 so big that a day's share in it shows no ear-marks of system. 
 The other is willing to do, but waits. 
 
 TIME IS THE GREAT FACTOR 
 
 One selects the things, incidents, circumstances to fit his 
 conditions and the bank takes pleasure in discounting his paper. 
 The other is driven by circumstances; he fusses along and keeps 
 a bank balance that requires only a little cross line to make it 
 look like an ox yoke. 
 
 One realizes that under normal conditions tfce first asset in 
 life is time; that every minute has a certain value. The other 
 THINKS he will catch up tomorrow. 
 
 95 
 
96 WORKING FOR RESULTS 
 
 TWO CLASSES OF AGENTS 
 
 Getting down to near personalities: There are two classes 
 of Local Fire Insurance Agents. One class runs the business on 
 a schedule and the business is made to live up to the schedule. 
 The other drifts. 
 
 One realizes that time lost in handling any part of the office 
 details is exactly equivalent to burning up so much money. That 
 an expenditure of a certain sum to equip the office with up-to-date 
 systems and filing devices is an investment just as truly as if the 
 money were put into bonds. Such an agent puts twenty-five, fifty, 
 a hundred or five hundred dollars into the things needed and does 
 it on this sort of a calculation: A $100.00 expenditure for sys- 
 tems and devices that will last ten years ought to make a saving 
 of $10.00 a year to cover the depreciation and $6.00 a year to 
 cover the interest a fixed charge of $16.00 a year. 
 
 That means thirty cents a week. 
 
 THE FIRST RESULT 
 
 If the money is spent to replace a labor consuming way of 
 keeping the records it is highly probable that one-half of a book- 
 keeper's time is saved count only a third on the basis of $15.00 
 a week. The saving amounts to $5.00 a week. The cost is thirty 
 cents. Therefore, the "SURPLUS" above fixed charges on the 
 $100.00 investment would equal $244.00 a year. 
 
 One hundred dollars paying itself back, paying six per cent, 
 interest and paying a surplus of nearly two hundred and fifty 
 dollars every twelve months! 
 
 And yet that is only the beginning. 
 
 YET GREATER RESULTS 
 
 Improved methods relieve the Agent of worries that con- 
 sume his energy. They put the details under the control of the 
 office force. This leaves the Agent free to manage, to work, to 
 produce. 
 
 Improved methods put time into the office and make it pos- 
 sible for every caller to have the exact attention required. 
 
WORKING FOR RESULTS 97 
 
 Up-to-date methods give the office an atmosphere that adver- 
 tises it among customers and prospective customers. An air that 
 the Companies and Special Agents notice at once. A condition 
 that is a magnet for underwriting resources, for the companies 
 seek such agencies. 
 
 MONEY AS A FACTOR 
 
 When it comes to summing up the things really worth while 
 for their own sake, money can make no showing, and the fel- 
 low that hasn't found this out may well take heed of the size of 
 the eye in the needle but money as an incident in life is a big 
 factor. 
 
 And when one realizes that the first step in securing it is the 
 conservation of time, it behooves him to take time all the time 
 necessary to outline a plan of action that will make the most 
 of the minutes. 
 
 OPEN THE GOLD MINE 
 
 Look to your working tools! 
 
 Use office systems and devices that are the best for you! 
 
 Study your promotion plans! 
 
 Have a definite line of action! 
 
 "Plan your work, then work your plan!" 
 
 And do not overlook the fact that every good resolution, as 
 a rule, needs much cultivation to make it self-supporting. Jan- 
 uary first is an ideal time to put new moves into effect but 
 TODAY is far better for making the changes or getting ready to 
 make them as soon as possible. 
 
 "There may be no very close relationship between 
 fate and furniture, yet it is doubtful if any of the 
 world's great problems have been solved by men sit- 
 ting in easy rocking chairs/' "Speed." 
 
 7 
 
Policy Sections 
 In Units of Wood and Steel 
 
 Filing Devices Made Especially for the Purpose 
 
 of Preserving Policies and Daily 
 
 Report Forms 
 
 BY A MEMBER OF THE STAFF 
 
 I 
 
 Handling the office details is always an expense this is the 
 unproductive end of the business the drag on the profits. 
 
 How to cut down this expense without neglecting the details 
 is a vital question. 
 
 Count it a constant saving to provide proper equipment this 
 saves time (money) and lends character to the work. 
 
 In insurance office equipment more new pieces have been 
 brought out this year than for some time. 
 
 Fittings 
 
 The Atmosphere. Why do you take off your hat when you 
 enter into the private office of the bank and keep it on in the 
 blacksmith shop? It's all in the fittings. 
 
 Which business does your office most resemble in its ap- 
 pearances? 
 
 98 
 
Sectional Policy Cabinets 
 
 An effective combination made 
 up of three units 
 
Business Crowbars 
 
 Today is the day. 
 
 Work is a wizard. 
 
 When luck laughs weep. 
 
 Get right and then be loyal. 
 
 Build up to your air castles. 
 
 Concentration works wonders. 
 
 Twisting hurts; creating helps. 
 
 Laugh in the heart and whistle. 
 
 'System and Success are twins/' 
 
 100 
 
The 
 
 Business Possibilities 
 
 in a 
 
 Thorough Canvass 
 
 First a Broad View of the 
 Possibilities and then the Steps 
 
 c 
 
 Concluding with Some Results 
 that Others Have Secured 
 
 Based on a Systematic Use 
 of the Household Inventory 
 
 101 
 
The Prospect Card 
 
 
 
 
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 33 
 
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 It has a large place in the plan. 
 
 102 
 
The Household Inventory 
 
 
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 tedroom. 
 
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 SECURES FAIR ADJUSTMENT 
 OFCIAIAYIWCASEOFLOSS 
 
 LOUIS E, WALTER 
 
 ^ : ^j i ^S^m>-.-ACC)DENT 
 
 INSURANCE 
 
 A photographic reproduction of the cover and two pages reproduced one-half. 
 
STEP-BY-STEP 
 
 FOR STARTING THE 
 
 Household Inventory Plan 
 
 A VISION 
 
 LST sit down where it is perfectly 
 quiet, shut your eyes, and for three 
 minutes let the mind be as blank as 
 is possible, gradually directing the 
 thought into the taking of a bird's eye view 
 of your own city. As the mind centers 
 on its task let it revolve slowly up and 
 down the residence sections, pausing in 
 each locality long enough to note the 
 building progress of the past three years. 
 Then with the eyes still closed, let there 
 arise before you a picture of one house in 
 every square, connected with your office 
 by a furniture insurance policy and 
 think of a current of business personality 
 extending through each policy to its hold- 
 er and so influencing his insurance 
 thoughts that when the neighbor on either 
 side talks of insurance of any kind your 
 agency will receive generous words of 
 commendation. Think of these house- 
 hold furniture policyholders acquiring 
 more and more of this world's goods, 
 
 103 
 
104 A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN 
 
 building houses of their own, placing the 
 insurance on the new dwellings through 
 your agency, getting into business for 
 themselves and taking out policies on 
 buildings and stock. Grasp, if you can, 
 what it would mean to have in your of- 
 fice a memorandum, house-by-house, of 
 the exact insurance conditions over your 
 entire city and a system that would keep 
 you in touch with the insurance move- 
 ments of practically every person in town. 
 Then come to a realization of the fact 
 that the plan which you are going to put 
 into operation depends not upon dim, dis- 
 tant results for its success, but that 
 while it is putting it within your power 
 to write an ever-increasing volume of 
 business it is at the same time producing 
 immediate results in proportion to the 
 amount of time expended upon the system. 
 
 We are very serious in asking that you 
 take this mental view of the situation be- 
 fore starting in on the work for the rea- 
 son that we believe it pays to "plan your 
 work, then work your plan." Every day 
 will not be a great success; there are 
 dark tunnels on every long road, but it 
 will not be necessary to average many 
 days to discover that you are getting re- 
 sults. 
 
PUTTING IN SPARE TIME 105 
 
 The Start 
 
 Select for the start a nearby residence 
 section of the medium class and go forth 
 with an unbreakable resolution to make 
 a call at every house and to have, when 
 the work for the day is finished, a com- 
 plete record of the results of each and 
 every call; these results to be recorded 
 on the "Prospect Cards" as you go. 
 
 Not at Home 
 
 If a person is not found at home, and 
 for this reason the name is not secured, 
 write on the right-hand side of the top 
 line of the "Prospect Card" the house ad- 
 dress and on the line at the bottom 
 marked "Calls" insert the date and about 
 the date a circle; let the circle always 
 indicate that the person was not seen at 
 that call. 
 
 Right Person and Place 
 
 If some one is found at home, secure 
 the name of the person who has to do 
 with the insuring, his or her occupation 
 and business address, and if it is not pos- 
 sible to talk insurance at the house, make 
 a memorandum to this effect on the back 
 of the card and put a set of parenthesis 
 around the home address. If insurance 
 is to be talked at home put the paren- 
 thesis around the business address. 
 
106 
 
 A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN 
 
 Talk Business Not Cancellations 
 
 If, after an Interview, you find that an 
 adequate amount of insurance Is being 
 carried on the personal property, talk 
 burglary and theft insurance. 
 
 If possible, secure the date of the ex- 
 piration of the present policy on the 
 furniture, but don't "twist." 
 
 While making the call, go farther than 
 household insurance and make inquiry re- 
 garding the possession of real estate and 
 as to the amount of insurance carried and 
 the dates of policy expirations. 
 
 Today First Then Tomorrow 
 
 Remember always that a bird in the 
 hand is worth a dozen in the bush. 
 Put all your ability and effort into getting 
 a policy without delay if there is a risk 
 unprotected. But if it is impossible on ac- 
 count of existing policies to write a 
 policy then and there, secure the 
 dates on which the present policies ex- 
 pire and make a memorandum on the line 
 marked "Next Call" as to the date when 
 you should next see the person being in- 
 terviewed. When the day is done file 
 the card as shall be outlined later. 
 
PUTTING IN SPARE TIME 
 
 107 
 
 A Psychological Question 
 
 Use your discretion as to whether it is 
 wise to leave an inventory on the call you 
 are then making or whether it should be 
 reserved as the reason for calling again 
 at a future time. 
 
 Easy Sledding 
 
 If there is a policy in force, be sure that 
 the card is marked so that it will be 
 brought to your attention by the file one 
 month before the expiration of the pres- 
 ent policy. When the time arrives get 
 the prospect to make out a list of his 
 household effects at present valuations so 
 that he may know the amount of insur- 
 ance that should be carried. You have 
 presented the inventory, which makes the 
 making of the list a pastime and which 
 prevents trouble in case of a loss, so you 
 will have little difficulty under ordinary 
 conditions in writing the new policy. 
 
 On the Spot 
 
 Do not make the mistake of waiting un- 
 til you have made three or four calls be- 
 fore entering the information on the card. 
 Set down all of the essential facts 
 while making the call and then dismiss 
 the matter entirely from your mind. This 
 
108 
 
 A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN 
 
 plan is built on automatic lines, which is 
 necessary in order properly to handle the 
 details of a big scheme that needs your 
 free mind for grasping the key to each 
 situation as it arises. 
 
 The Treasure Box 
 
 When the inventory work for the day is 
 over, whether it has consumed half an 
 hour or all day, take the prospect cards 
 and file them into a 3x5 card index file 
 supplied with one set of monthly guides 
 and one set of guides running from 1 to 
 31. Set the monthly guides one behind 
 the other and the 1 to 31 guides in the 
 front of the file. File in front of the 1 
 to 31 guides (which represent the days of 
 the month) the cards that are to be seen 
 on the different days of the current 
 month and such cards as represent calls 
 that are to be seen after the present 
 month file in front of the guide card for 
 the month when the prospect is to be 
 seen. On the first of each month take all 
 of the cards that have been filed in 
 front of the monthly guide card and dis- 
 tribute them in front of the daily guides 
 according to the memorandum which you 
 have made on the line marked "Next 
 Call." 
 
PUTTING IN SPARE TIME 
 
 109 
 
 On "The" Day 
 
 In arranging your work for each day be 
 sure that you take from in front of the 
 guide card for that particular day all of 
 the calls marked to be seen on that day. 
 Let it be the exceptional day that you 
 do not see each one that is booked for 
 a call. This is very important and is one 
 of the stumbling blocks for the man who 
 is inclined to put things off for tomorrow. 
 
 Marking Carded Territory 
 
 Take a map of your city and with a 
 colored pencil mark over the territory 
 which you have seen during the day on 
 the first and straight house-to-house can- 
 vas. This is another thing that should 
 not be put off with the thought that the 
 territory can be carried in mind. We 
 have seen the mind process tried. 
 
 Avoid Accumulations 
 
 The cards which have been made dur- 
 ing the day for persons not found at 
 home should be put in the follow-up file 
 for the next day or such future date as 
 seems best to you, according to local con- 
 ditions, but these not-at-home calls should 
 be kept worked up and not allowed to ac- 
 cumulate. 
 
110 
 
 A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN 
 
 Days For Different Sections 
 
 Dependent upon local conditions, the 
 town should be divided into sections, and 
 when you are marking a card for the next 
 time the person is to be seen mark it, if 
 possible, with reference to a particular 
 day in the week designated for back calls 
 in that particular section. For instance, a 
 town divided into four sections should 
 have its call-backs for the northeastern 
 section marked always, if possible, for a 
 particular day say Monday; the north- 
 western section, Tuesdays, and so on 
 time is money and it takes time to make 
 scattered calls. But so inflexible should 
 be the rule to see the person on the day 
 for which the card is marked that after 
 the card has appeared for action neither 
 distance nor weather should stand in the 
 way of its being made that day. 
 
 All On One Card 
 
 If your office has a line of advertising 
 literature which you are in the habit of 
 sending to prospects, and you have not 
 already done so, we suggest that you give 
 each different kind of literature a serial 
 number. When advertising matter is sent 
 to a prospect the serial number and 
 the date the advertisement is sent should 
 be entered on the line marked "Adv. Lit." 
 
PUTTING IN SPARE TIME 
 
 111 
 
 The Whole Story 
 
 In order that the card may tell the whole 
 story we suggest that if for any reason 
 a letter is sent to a prospect the date of 
 the letter be entered on the line after 
 "Letters." The date an inventory is left 
 should be entered in the proper space. 
 
 Keep Supplied With Supplies 
 
 Do not allow yourself to run too low on 
 Inventories, as it takes about a week to 
 fill an order on account of the imprinting. 
 Do not hesitate to ask for prospect cards, 
 even though you do not find it necessary 
 to order inventories. We want you to 
 keep on hand a good supply of prospect 
 cards so that there will be no chance of 
 running out, and if you should run out, 
 suspend business until you get a fresh 
 
 BUDDly. 
 
 Utilize Every Minute 
 
 Put in your spare time. An average of 
 40 minutes a day saved means the same 
 as an extra month each year. The plans 
 outlined in this booklet may readily be 
 adapted to the utilizing of spare time. 
 
112 A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN 
 
 Utilize Every Opportunity 
 
 Remember that the man who comes 
 into the office is a good prospect for new 
 business. Keep in mind all the kinds of 
 Insurance you write and mentally go over 
 the list to see if each visitor cannot be 
 told of a policy that would give him added 
 protection. The giving of an Inventory 
 to everyone who calls will not only hold 
 the attention while you talk of other 
 kinds of Insurance but it will be an ad- 
 vertisement taken home as an appre- 
 ciated souvenir. 
 
 Let the Results Decide 
 
 The initial steps outlined above doubt- 
 less include many points and bits of In- 
 struction which may seem to you either 
 unnecessary or trivial to the point of fool- 
 ishness, but we ask you to keep in mind 
 the fact that we as well as you are work- 
 ing for results, and to bear in mind that 
 the very little things sometimes play 
 very important parts. 
 
PUTTING IN SPARE TIME 113 
 
 This is not an advertisement it is a 
 series of working plans and for this 
 reason we have not elaborated on the part 
 the Inventory performs. The Inventory 
 is the introduction a resume of reasons 
 for insuring the needed something on 
 which to center and hold the "Prospects' " 
 attention a souvenir appreciated alike 
 for its present value in making the list 
 easily possible and its future great value 
 in case of a loss it is the medium that 
 carries your arguments into the heart of 
 the home; it is the excuse for a later in- 
 terview if the policy is not secured at 
 once, and in the end it holds the insur- 
 ance for you. It is the spark that ignites 
 your planning and working and sets into 
 action the wheels that grind out 
 premiums. 
 
Regarding the Plan 
 
 (Condensed from several articles.) 
 
 The plan outlined on the preceding pages was carefully 
 worked out by the manager of the Promotion Department along 
 the lines on which mercantile successes have been built. 
 
 Theoretically the plan had all of the ear-marks of success. 
 
 But theory can not always be depended upon to produce re- 
 sults of the kind one would forecast. 
 
 So, for experimental purposes, the plan was put into the 
 hands of a young man, qualified to write insurance, and from the 
 business he secured it was shown that the plan, coupled with in- 
 telligent and conscientious work, would produce almost marvel- 
 ous results. 
 
 Such minor changes were made as experience suggested, and 
 then the plan in its present shape was made public. 
 
 Results secured in one town can not be used as a gauge by 
 which to measure the results that should be gotten in another 
 town, but the fragmentary reports which have come from differ- 
 ent sections indicate that the whole United States is open terri- 
 tory for putting in spare time in this way to a decided advantage. 
 
 On November 17, 1909, the Talbert & McNaughton Agency, 
 of Fort Worth, Texas, started out a solicitor on a house-to-house 
 canvass along the lines suggested. The man knew absolutely 
 nothing about the insurance business. 
 
 At the end of thirty days the results were so startling that 
 we were favored with a report of his work in detail, and here is 
 
 114 
 
What a Green Man Did in Thirty Days 
 
 He secured through his own efforts 87 policies, putting in 
 force $51,815.00 in insurance, with premiums amounting to 
 $776.35; secured a list of 81 names of people who had no insur- 
 ance, but who wanted insurance, and 12 expirations on dwellings, 
 with instructions from owners to write. Every dollar of the 
 above was absolutely new business for the agency. 
 
 In sending us the report Mr. McNaughton said: 
 
 "Thirty working days; $776.35 in premiums; 87 new custom- 
 ers, all with an influence in attracting others, and 81 good, live 
 prospects, I take to be a pretty good record, more especially when 
 we consider that it was made by a man absolutely 'green' in the 
 business; but he has the redeeming quality of stick-to-itiveness 
 and takes 'No!' as an incentive to go after the other fellow." 
 
 An agency operating on an extensive scale, with eight or ten 
 solicitors in the field and a close office organization, during the 
 last seven months of 1909, put upon its books over 2,000 new 
 items, but these results can hardly be analyzed for ordinary pur- 
 poses, as the agency is working along lines distinctive to itself, 
 though embodying the plan outlined. 
 
 In passing it is not out of place to say that more than surface 
 results are secured as a result of following the plan suggested. 
 
 By this we mean that while the getting of household furni- 
 ture risks preferred business means much hard work and an 
 average of small premiums, yet these risks, once secured, be- 
 cause of the very fact that they have required pains to get them, 
 will remain on the agency books, for they are not plums that 
 tempt the passing appetite of the spurting agent. 
 
 Household risks put the agency in intimate touch (if the 
 agency will) with the affairs of the householder, and may be 
 made the stepping stone to insurance of almost every character. 
 
 And an agency with a volume of preferred business is in po- 
 sition to ask the companies it represents to go out of their way 
 to take care of its mercantile risks and special hazards. 
 
 115 
 
At the Banquet Board 
 
 Centuries of sowing wave golden-headed for the 
 reaper of to-day. 
 
 Think much; work intelligently, and be sure you 
 really think and actually work. 
 
 It's fun to do business if it's on the square and the 
 tools cut sharp and true. 
 
 "If" turned about is the beginning of "fine" Be 
 exact. Keep balanced. 
 
 A six-cent souvenir on the desk is worth more than a 
 dollar one in the waste basket. 
 
 It pays to kick if in so doing you bruise your toe and 
 are obliqed to sit down and think. 
 
 There are fourteen hundred and forty minutes in 
 every day. Help yourself. 
 
 The year will be thirteen months long if you save 
 forty minutes each day. 
 
 Looking for leaks is a study that pays everyone. But 
 don't look with a grouch. Be big, and when you find 
 a leak, save it and the leaker. 
 116 
 
Schemes 
 That Win Insurance Clients 
 
 BY A. E. OLSON 
 Manager Insurance Department, Woodlawn Trust and Savings Bank 
 
 [ Reprinted from System the, Magazine of Business ] 
 
 To pave the way for securing new business and to retain 
 the old are the two objects of the advertising schemes of the 
 fire insurance agency. Schemes are of two general classes: (1) 
 those prepared by the companies and sent to their agents for 
 distribution, and (2) those prepared by the agent himself. As a 
 rule, the latter are the better, for in them the agent exhibits his 
 own personality. 
 
 Many agents send out cards, statements and other adver- 
 tising matter to old clients simply to keep the names of their 
 agencies before them as a lead to obtaining renewals. But the 
 schemes which show the most originality are those used in mak- 
 ing an effort to secure new business. It is with these that the 
 agent tries to reach the uninsured, the elsewhere insured, and the 
 under insured friends, acquaintances and strangers. He at- 
 tempts with one scheme to secure more names and exipiration 
 dates than he could gather in a month of canvassing, and if the 
 scheme is well conceived and handled, he succeeds. 
 
 The Residence Inventory A Scheme That Wins Interest 
 
 An advertising plan which has been most successful among 
 fire insurance agents is the issuing of a blank book for use as a 
 residence inventory. This is usually a neatly prepared booklet 
 of a dozen leaves. 
 
 117 
 
118 SCHEMES THAT WIN CLIENTS 
 
 On the inside of the front cover is a notice of what to do in 
 case of fire, instructions for making an inventory and appraisal, 
 and on the opposite page are lines for the dates of the original in- 
 ventory and three revisions. On the inside of the back cover 
 are printed general instructions for placing insurance, how to 
 give a notice for additional insurance, and what to do in case of 
 removal of property. The twenty-four pages of the book are each 
 devoted to a room and are ruled to show the number of articles 
 inventoried, and a memorandum of each article itself, date of 
 purchase, cost and description. 
 
 These inventories cost from six to seven cents [including 
 cost of mailing] if they are gotten up in attractive style; and, 
 therefore, they should not be carelessly mailed. With each in- 
 ventory it is wise to enclose a short, personal letter, briefly 
 describing the use and purpose of the booklet. Most men have 
 little idea of the value of their house furnishings. But with an 
 inventory such as this, they are enabled to list their property in 
 convenient form. 
 
 The check on the value of this advertising is readily afforded 
 the agent by the personal follow-up, which is necessary in all 
 advertising of this kind. Agents who have used these inven- 
 tories year after year find them one of the most effective means 
 for reaching, interesting and keeping in touch with new pros- 
 pects. 
 
 The early bird gets the inspiration of a sunrise while 
 getting the worm. 
 
 The things that really count are so few that they can 
 be treasured. 
 
 Who will be to "blame for your shortage of Christmas 
 money? It will be too late on December 20th to fig- 
 ure on what might have been. 
 
A "House to House" Record 
 
 At the Beginning of this Sub- Division of the Book Will 
 
 Be Found an Etching of a "Prospect Card" 
 
 Along Slightly Different Lines 
 
 This form was originated by L. M. Ward, of the Insurance 
 Department of Folsom Bros. Co., of Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 /j/00 
 
 Mailing List 
 
 Ownei 
 
 Tenant 
 
 H. H. 
 
 Occupation 
 
 Inventory -^^9- 
 
 Address 
 
 O"i-- "L. ST"^ 
 
 Calls /^/,-S 
 
 Remarks: Itt 
 
 \^.'/+c/o* Results: 
 
 Printed on a 3x5 card it provides, in concise form, for all 
 essential data needed in a follow-up campaign. 
 
 Both the "Owner" and "Tenant" are considered and space 
 provided for information regarding insurance on the Building 
 and Contents, and Accident and Burglary Insurance as well. 
 
 The card spells SUCCESS for agencies that plan their work 
 on such systematic lines IF they work their plan. 
 
 119 
 
A Suggestion for a Newspaper Advertisement 
 
 There can be no question as to the value of advertising im- 
 mediately after a fire. 
 
 When anyone reads of a horror, the first feeling is of sym- 
 pathy for the one injured and the second of thankfulness for per- 
 sonal escape. The third thought is usually a question as to 
 whether one is secure from a similar catastrophe. 
 
 After reading the newspaper details of a fire, the mind 
 is in just the right mood for such an advertisement as is shown 
 on the opposite page. 
 
 We suggest that an arrangement might be made with the 
 newspapers for running such an advertisement either immedi- 
 ately following or alongside of the story of every big local fire. 
 
 Another suggestion would be to print cards containing some- 
 what similar matter, and to distribute these cards thoroughly in 
 the vicinity of every fire, if possible while the conflagration is at 
 its height. 
 
 The advertisement should attract unusual attention, and per- 
 sons who ask for the Inventories voluntarily take the first step 
 toward assuming business relations with the agency. 
 
 The name of every one who asks for an Inventory should be 
 secured, together with his business address. Then a call should 
 be made within a few days to ascertain if the Inventory has been 
 made out, and to talk over the subject of insurance. 
 
 This is a plan to advertise in such a way as to turn the 
 interest produced into premiums. 
 
 Agencies that use this form of advertising will find it neces- 
 sary to have on hand a supply of Household Inventories. And if 
 the first effect of the advertisement is no more than to bring 
 about this result, it will be a step forward for the agencies that 
 are not using this medium. 
 
 An electrotype of the cut shown in the advertisement will be 
 sent at once to all subscribers that ask for it. The electrotype 
 will be charged at mere cost thirty-five cents as a part of the 
 service of the Promotion Department 
 
 120 
 
A Suggestion for a Newspaper Ad. 
 
 ARE YOU PREPARED FOR A FIRE? 
 
 Most persons do not know that in case 
 of a partial loss it is necessary to make 
 up a sworn list of the actual things 
 damaged or destroyed. Such is the 
 case, so no matter how strong the com- 
 panies you are insured in, you should 
 keep a list of the things insured, in 
 order to make a correct settlement in 
 case of fire. 
 
 The above illustration shows the plan 
 of a 24-page booklet we have ready for 
 distribution. It is arranged, as shown, 
 for listing household goods. 
 
 Invaluable in case of a loss, and of 
 much value in determining the amount 
 of insurance one should carry, and in 
 the making of a proper tax return. 
 
 THE BOOK IS SENT FREE 
 
 upon request, or may be had by asking 
 for it at our office. It advertises the 
 agency, and so you will do us as well 
 as yourself a favor in getting a copy. 
 
 THE AJAX INSURANCE AGENCY 
 
 Market and Illinois Sts. 
 
 121 
 
Introducing the Subject of 
 
 Insurance Against Thieves and 
 
 Windstorms 
 
 A Letter Plan that May be Tried Out at Spare Time 
 and at Very Little Expense 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 You lock the doors at home but do you put iron shut- 
 ters up to the windows? 
 
 Your family is honest and you would have only honest 
 servants but how about the chance help? 
 
 The night watchman is splendid protection against 
 fires getting under good headway before being discovered, 
 but he doesn't take the place of a fire policy and while 
 he discourages prowlers, his whistle does not bring back 
 goods taken by theft. 
 
 A Burglary and Theft policy costs about 25 cents a 
 week, and it is on the job day and night. 
 
 It keeps watch on all sides, and if anything is taken 
 restores it. 
 
 Fill out the enclosed card and we will send you, with- 
 out charge, a 24-page Household Inventory, schedule ruled 
 for listing your household effects by rooms. And, at the 
 same time, we will quote you rates on Burglary and Theft 
 Protection. (Personal Signature.) 
 
 122 
 
The Card 
 
 (A Government Postal self -addressed.) 
 
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 123 
 
One Way of 
 Soliciting the "Removals" 
 
 A Plan for Introducing the Subject of Insurance at a 
 Psychological Time 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have a memorandum to the effect that you have 
 moved into a new home and so feel that this is perhaps an 
 opportune time for sending you one of my blank schedules 
 for listing furniture and other household effects. 
 
 There are two conditions that result from the making 
 of such a list: 
 
 In the first place it enables one to de- 
 termine the amount of insurance that 
 should be carried; and 
 
 In the second place it removes fric- 
 tion in the making of a settlement in case 
 of a loss. 
 
 All fire insurance policies include a provision that in 
 case of loss, there must be an Inventory of the goods de- 
 stroyed. Such an Inventory is very difficult to make after 
 a fire, as you may easily determine for yourself if you will 
 attempt to think of the furnishings in another room and 
 then walk in to find that many things have not been 
 thought of. 
 
 The things not thought of are a total loss when an ad- 
 justment is made. 
 
 Will you kindly accept this Inventory schedule, with 
 the compliments of this agency, and if you are or soon will 
 be open for insurance, I would appreciate your letting me 
 hear from you to this effect on the postal enclosed for ac- 
 knowledging receipt of the Inventory. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 (Personal Signature.) 
 
 The card mentioned in the letter is illustrated on the sheet in 
 the envelope attached to the back cover of this book. 
 
 124 
 
The Index 
 
 Office Economies 
 
 An Automatic System for Handling the Follow-Up of Every 
 
 Detail A plan that will free the brain for managing.. 7 
 How to Analyze the Business, Day by Day An exhaustive 
 article introducing a simple form whereby the cost per 
 unit rule of big business successes is applied to the Lo- 
 cal Fire Insurance Office 25 
 
 A Loose-Leaf Expiration Record Descriptive illustrations.. 17 
 
 A Card Expiration Record Descriptive illustrations 19 
 
 A Bound Book Expiration Record Descriptive illustrations. 13 
 
 Files for Card Records A building-up system 23 
 
 Daily Balance Sheet 25 
 
 An Elastic System in a Local Office The forms and how 
 
 they are used 41 
 
 Short Cuts in a General Agency A complete outline of three 
 up-to-date labor-saving systems that contain ideas which 
 may be made to apply to cut down details in Home, Gen- 
 eral and Local offices 34 
 
 Writing Next Year's Special Forms A time-saving plan 33 
 
 How Paper and Ink Help One Agency Systematizing real 
 
 estate details 82 
 
 Policy Sections Filing devices made especially for the pur- 
 pose 98 
 
 A Modern Transfer System Relief from worry 51 
 
Getting Business 
 
 Getting Business on Rural Routes A letter that made good 
 with a summary of results 45 
 
 One Way of Soliciting "Removals" Introducing the subject 
 of insurance at a psychological time 124 
 
 Introducing the Subject of Insurance Against Burglary and 
 Thieves A letter plan that may be tried at spare time 
 and little expense 122 
 
 Assisting the Prospect to Remember the Agency at the Right 
 Time A plan to help keep promises 77 
 
 A Link in an Original Advertising Campaign How one 
 agent turned a $10.00 award into a volume of business. . 65 
 
 Turning a Dog's Prank Into a Magnet for Premiums An at- 
 tractive post card that got results 67 
 
 Advertising by the Light of the Fire The story of a "Best 
 Ad -" - 62 
 
 A Suggestion for a Newspaper Advertisement Getting the 
 Prospect to take the first step 120 
 
 A Photographic Reproduction of a Letter that Induced Per- 
 sonal Responses With a story of results 49 
 
 Reading the Agency Ad. in the Fire Whistle A small-town 
 suggestion 72 
 
 Seasonable Advertising on a Scientific Basis Using the 
 windstorm of to-day to advertise protection against the 
 tornado of to-morrow 55 
 
 Writing Additional Insurance Without finding new custom- 
 ers 54 
 
 A Convincing Folder Outlined in detail 50 
 
 A Blotter that Is Distinctive One that appeals to a Prospect 
 because it has a story to tell on a subject of vital inter- 
 est 60 
 
 An Appreciated Courtesy A souvenir that is kept for its in- 
 trinsic value 74 
 
 An Inexpensive Sticker that Calls Attention to Vital Facts- 
 How one agent does the policyholder a good turn while 
 serving himself 70 
 
 The Kiss A business card that is kept on account of its 
 clean humor 76 
 
Getting Business 
 
 Marking the Policy Illustrated in colors 68 
 
 Thanks A happy sticker 53 
 
 How One Department Helps Another Until the Transaction 
 
 Becomes an Endless Chain Making the grooves fit 57 
 
 An Attractive Insert One that culminates in a catch line.. 80 
 Waste or Worse Referring to advertising matter on the 
 
 shelves 64 
 
 Distinctive Advertising Cumulative results 48 
 
 Business Possibilities in a Thorough Canvass Introducing a 
 simple, yet comprehensive system, for making a sys- 
 tematic campaign with the purpose of securing house- 
 hold risks and laying a firm foundation for all kinds of 
 
 insurance 101 
 
 "Step-by-Step" A plan for utilizing the household inventory. 103 
 Household Inventory Results Regarding a plan that made 
 
 good 114 
 
 What a Green Man Did in Thirty Days The story of a be- 
 ginner who wrote 87 policies, aggregating nearly $800 in 
 
 premiums 115 
 
 A House-to-House Record Utilizing Prospect Cards 119 
 
 Prospect Cards Illustrated 102, 119 
 
 How to Use the Prospect Card In detail 105 
 
 On the Spot A paragraph on a grievous error 107 
 
 The Treasure Box The powder line to a gold mine 108 
 
 Days for Different Sections How to save footsteps 110 
 
 Schemes that Win Insurance Clients A reprinted article 
 from "System" 117 
 
 Business Philosophy 
 
 Why Some Agencies Have the Doughnut, Others the Hole 
 
 A comparison 95 
 
 Open the Gold Mine A summary 97 
 
 Little Leaks Making money by saving it 12 
 
 Once-a-Week Convention A study of the cash drawer 5 
 
 Take Advantage of the Wind Moving in harmony with con- 
 ditions , 44 
 
Business Philosophy 
 
 When Things Come Your Way A danger sign 47 
 
 Drifting or Sailing High price waste 69 
 
 Fundamental Principles The suggestions of a business 
 
 woman 59 
 
 "Six Days Shalt Thou Labor" A business sermon 93 
 
 Three Thoughts Consider; Co-operation; Making Success .. 24 
 
 Once for All Time Utilizing experience 84 
 
 Low Bridge! A warning 4 
 
 Business Crowbars Little Levers 100 
 
 At the Banquet Board A page of short paragraphs 116 
 
 Quoted A page of quotations 92 
 
 Working to a Plan Reserve in the Individual; On Winning; 
 
 Planning Prosperity 16 
 
 In the G. O. Summer Time Looking ahead 23 
 
 A Story of a Policy that Did Not Expire With a moral at- 
 tached 88 
 
 General Thoughts With specific applications 6 
 
 Mighty Midgets The effect of little things 94 
 
 Field Systems 
 
 How to Keep the Field Conditions Under Your Thumb A 
 map and tack system 89 
 
 A Loose-Leaf System for Keeping the Field Records The 
 most up-to-date Office system applied to the Field 85 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 LIBRARY 
 
 Due two weeks after date.