MAKING a profit on small-commercial accounts can seem hard. In our 20 years of consulting in the insurance industry, we've seen many agents and brokers treat small-commercial accounts like the "forgotten stepchild." They are sent to the corner and given little attention by owners and managers, who consider them necessary but unprofitable. Some agencies try to avoid handling small-accounts business at all. Others establish a small-accounts department just to keep the business isolated and out of the way of busy producers.

Many agents have told us they write small-commercial business only because they can't seem to avoid it. Perhaps this is because insurance agencies, by their nature, are community-oriented businesses. They advertise in the Yellow Pages, and their producers are constantly out "on the street," seeking new contacts and getting involved in community activities. When small-accounts prospects call or visit an agency, it's hard to turn down their requests for help. In some instances a large client refers a small account, and an agency handles the small account to keep its large client happy.

Yet our experience has taught us there are plenty of reasons to seek out small-commercial accounts. They can be easy to write, and small businesses are a healthy, growing part of our national economy. You never know when a small account might turn into something larger. One client we've worked with has an account that started out as a small, family-owned business. Today it is a national chain with 4,500 stores.