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

Click here to read risk management tips 6 – 10.  

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

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

16. Implement and follow formal written policies.

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

17. Transfer risk by using waivers and hold harmless agreements.

The legal effect varies, and there are no guarantees, but if properly worded, these can deflect and transfer liability. Always get legal advice on the wording of waivers and hold harmless agreements.

18. Develop and implement a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).

A well thought out and practiced BCP will greatly improve the odds that your business will survive a catastrophe or shutdown. Free industry specific business continuity procedures are available through ClearRisk.

19. Keep all old insurance policies and certificates.

Policies and certificates are your proof that coverage existed. They are very valuable; some losses aren’t discovered for many years after they occur.

20. Sell yourself to your insurer at every opportunity.

Most businesses have positive attributes that are not known by their insurer. Many have policies, procedures, practices and other features that insurers would look upon favorably, if they were aware of them. So don’t keep them to yourself, use them to your advantage! Through ClearRisk, you can print a formal risk management plan to easily show your insurer how you are protecting your assets though risk mitigation.

Although insurance and claims represent a large percentage of a business’s expenses, many business owners know very little about the area. You don’t have to simply accept it and pay the bill, you can do something to downsize your risk and save money! My hope is that these risk management tips will educate business owners on how to reduce their risk-related costs.

These tips and more are covered in the full risk management eBook, “Insurance Premiums Are Killing My Business.”  It can be found for free on the ClearRisk site, along with other helpful risk management whitepapers.

With these issues in mind, we released a new whitepaper designed to help brokers differentiate to grow their businesses.  The whitepaper demonstrates to insurance brokers how risk management can open doors, win new business, and retain current business.  The three step sales approach is detailed in the whitepaper here: Using Risk Management to Open Doors, Win, and Retain Business!

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

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

Top Twitter Users for Risk Management and Insurance

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

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

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

1. What risk management is;
2. What kinds of services and products brokers can provide for them;
3. How risk management fits into their sales process;
4. How the client can profit from risk management;
5. How to train their staff in risk management;
6. Promotion of risk management within the company;
7. Using risk management to get better terms in the insurance market;
8. Benefits of risk management, including: the ROI, better terms, fewer and cheaper claims, improved operational efficiency, greater profitability, and less downtime.

Risk management provides up sell opportunities; through identifying risk, brokers will help prospects and clients understand the holes in coverage such as Environmental Impairment Liability (EIL) and business interruption.

If you are interested in learning more about how insurance brokers can offer risk management, you should view our webinar How to Deliver Risk Management Planning to Your Clients

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

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

Click here to read risk management tips 6 – 10. 

Risk Management Tips 11 – 15

The following is a post written by guest author Kit Merker.

Kit Merker has been in technical and management roles for over a decade, doing everything from project management, coding, design, testing, and running a service. He currently works at Microsoft as a Developer Evangelist. Kit Merker has a blog dedicated to preparing for software disasters. Be sure to follow Kit on Twitter after reading his guest blog post below! 

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

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

1. Create a Crisis Phone Tree

2. Update Your Templates

3. Survey Your Team

When’s the last time you asked everyone to send their biggest concerns for your system? You probably have people who are aware of your software risks right now, but maybe they don’t want to bring it up. Sometimes it can feel like being a naysayer or a whistleblower to bring up problems. Give your team a safe way to express their concerns, and then you can decide what to do about it.

Conclusion

We live in turbulent times where budgets are tight and threats are real. Your business depends on your reputation, which is bound to the quality of your website or online services. Your company depends on your IT systems to remain productive and profitable.

Getting started can be the hardest part, and there are some simple steps you can take to lower your risks. You can always be more prepared, but the most important step to take is the first one.

Has your organization experienced a software disaster? Tell us about it by commenting below!

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

The Risk Conversation site features:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Top 11 Easily Prevented Information Security Threats:

1. Using the same password for multiple account.

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

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

2. Saving passwords in your browser.

Don’t save passwords in your browser. It’s easy for anyone to go into your browser settings and reveal your passwords. If you have trouble creating strong passwords or remembering them, you can use a password manager like LastPass. This service uses a master password and allows you to create and save encrypted passwords to share securely across multiple devices.

3. Not locking your smartphone.

Keep your mobile secure, too! In the previous blog post Mobile Risk: What are you really carrying with your smartphone?, Craig Rowe discussed the importance of keeping your mobile devices secure as well. Be sure to put a password on your smartphone and other devices. Set it up so that it can be remotely wiped of all data if it is lost or stolen. Otherwise, if someone steals your bag and it has both your laptop and smartphone, they may be able to use information from one to hack the other. 

4. Unencrypted data

Encrypt, encrypt, encrypt! Encrypt sensitive data on your laptop by using software that can create encrypted drive volumes or encrypt your entire hard drive. TrueCrypt is good for this. When moving to cloud-based services, make sure that they encrypt user passwords and data so that employees (or hackers accessing their servers) are unable to view the data.

5. Writing passwords down on paper

Don’t write it down. Never write down or keep a print copy of secure information. That sticky note on your monitor with your password on it? Shred it immediately! 

6. Sending secure information via e-mail and chat

Avoid using e-mail and chat for secure information. Be aware that e-mail and instant messaging services are insecure in nature. There is always a risk that the confidential data could be intercepted.

7. Not knowing when a website is secure

Look for the HTTPS. Unless you have https:// at the beginning on the web address, any data you may enter on the site could be intercepted. There is a significant difference between  http:// and the addition of the ‘s’ in https://, always look for the ‘s’.  

8. Having an unsecured Wi-Fi network

Protect your Wi-Fi. It is crucial to protect your wi-fi with a secure password. Connecting to an insecure wi-fi network can open up your personal information to nearby hackers.

9. Not updating software

Keep everything up-to-date. Install all updates and patches for your software. Make sure you have the latest versions as soon as they become available. According to Secunia, 50% of vulnerabilities over the last two years were found in products by the top 14 third party application vendors. Keeping your software up-to-date will repair known security issues and thereby reduce the likelihood of a data breach.

10. Not using antivirus, spyware removers and firewalls

Make your antivirus, spyware remover, and firewall your new best friends. Run an antivirus and a spyware remover, and protect your network with a firewall. Again, make sure to keep these up-to-date. Use allow and block lists to control applications for both yourself and your employees, and never connect to untrusted networks.

11. Not thinking critically

Always think critically. Don’t give out your password or credit card information to a support technician. Only give your credit card information to trusted vendors.

Not only should you employ these tips yourself, but you should also ensure that your employees do the same. Your employees can also be a security risk to your company, so it’s important to educate them on their role in keeping your organization secure.

Cybersecurity should always be a top priority in your risk management plan.

If you’re new to risk management, please download this free whitepaper from the ClearRisk site: What is Risk Management? For more tips on how to protect your business, subscribe to the ClearRisk Risk Management Blog by RSS or email on the right hand side of this post.

If you’d like additional resources, try these 7 free information security risk solutions from the ClearRisk library.

Has data security been a concern at your organization? Do you have any tips to add?

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

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

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

10 Ways Risk Management Will Increase Brokerage Revenue:

1. Satisfy your customers

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

2. Enhance customer relations

By identifying potential areas of risk, and helping to find solutions, you will most certainly develop stronger customer relationships.

 3. Garner more attractive rates and terms in the market

By making your clients best-in-class risks, you will be better equipped to make the case to insurance markets that your customers deserve preferential rates and terms.

4. Attract new clients

Offer potential insureds risk management advice and support, in addition to standard insurance products.  If you are going head-to-head with a brokerage that provides value-added services, such as risk management, you can level that playing field.

5. Retain clients

Brokerages that fail to implement risk management as a value-added service will lose clients to a broker who does.  Risk management is rapidly becoming a core competency for value-added brokerages.

6. Harness a competitive advantage

Insurance brokering is a very competitive market and clients are becoming ever more informed about their options.  Providing risk management support to clients will generate a competitive advantage for your firm, over those brokerages that do not.

7. Generate higher CPC

Clients with enhanced risk management show improved loss ratios in the long run, resulting in a better book of brokerage business.

8. Mitigate your professional liability risk

Clients, these days, are expecting more and more from their insurance brokers.  By working with clients towards risk improvement, brokers can enhance their understanding of the risks involved and be better equipped to provide advice to customers, resulting in fewer E&O claims.

9. Up-sell products and services to your clients

A broker who clearly understands his client’s risk exposure is more likely to assess gaps in coverage, thus identifying and providing additional insurance products to adequately protect the customer.

10. Design a risk-management profit center

Many brokerages have already developed risk management expertise in house, and are using risk management software to create new revenue; risk management consulting services have proven very complementary to insurance products by generating a new revenue stream for these companies.

Conclusions

In today’s unforgiving economic climate, and in a market where too many brokers are narrowly focused on selling standard insurance policies, risk management emerges as the key to product differentiation.  Your customer profile has changed dramatically; today, more than ever before, they are looking for value and return on their investment.

Stock markets tumble as corporate instability and sovereign debt dominate the headlines; silver and gold are losing their lustre.  However, these modern events play well into the hands of insurance brokers, provided they can seize the opportunity.  In these troubled times, risk management tools can provide insurance brokers with the competitive edge they need to grow business.  By bringing risk management services into the product mix, brokers can grow sales within their existing services, while developing a risk management profit center.

To find out how risk management can differentiate your insurance services, download our whitepaper Using Risk Management to Open Doors, Win, and Retain Business!

Have you used risk management as a value-added service?

Or is it something you’re considering? Share your story in the comments below!

Don’t forget to subscribe to our risk management blog to learn more about how risk management can add value to your brokerage.

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

I recently read Michael Moritz’s book, Return to the Little Kingdom, about the beginnings of Apple and its first billion.  Jobs is a truly fascinating person and I highly recommend the book to gain insight into the history that shaped one of the biggest companies in the world.

When I started ClearRisk 5 years ago, he was one of my business icons.  I imagine that every technology entrepreneur in the past three decades would say the same thing.  It isn’t just his success that everyone wants to emulate; it’s his visionary leadership.  He saw what others didn’t and fought all comers that didn’t share his vision.  He was a perfectionist whose primary concern was making technology useful, simple, and accessible.

Many times in the development of ClearRisk’s products, I have said that they need to be more like Apple.  Everyone knows what that means: simple with a lot of utility that doesn’t require an instruction manual.

No one knows what will happen to Apple without the greatest innovator of our time, but I truly wish the company well!  No doubt it will be a different company, but Disney survived and thrived after the loss of its visionary, so hopefully Apple will too — for Steve and for all of us.

How has Steve Jobs changed the way you live, work, and play?

Let me know in the comments below!