NASBP Sales Workshop, September 21 – 22

NASBP’s first sales workshop, designed by and for surety-bond producers, was such a huge success in 2010 that, to meet demand, NASBP has scheduled another for Sept. 21 and 22 at the Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas. The one-and-a-half-day workshop introduces a formal sales process tailored for the surety industry. Participants will explore how to leverage different personal styles and how to use tools and techniques to improve client relationships and expand circles of influence that lead to improved production. Workshop instructors include a Fortune 500 sales coach, Jonathon Dick, and top-selling NASBP bond producers Lawrence McMahon and Donald Appleby.

After attending last year’s sales workshop, Chad Martin, TIS Insurance Services, Inc. of Knoxville, TN said, “The NASBP Sales Workshop was a tremendous event that provided the opportunity to learn the successful habits of top producers. It approached sales from a different angle and was presented in a format that was highly educational and engaging. The workshop gave me great ideas and processes that I immediately implemented into our company’s sales culture.” This September workshop will lead up to the Regions 4, 5, 6 and 7 annual meeting and will be held at the same hotel. Those planning to attend this NASBP regional meeting now can attend both of these important events in a single trip to Austin. The workshop registration fee is $895. Registration will be limited to 40 participants. The workshop is open only to NASBP members, affiliates and associates. Learn more about this popular workshop and register online now.

NASBP Construction Contracts and Bond Forms Workshop, October 20-21

NASBP is also excited to announce its newest workshop, Construction Contracts and Bond Forms, offered in collaboration with the law firm of Smith, Currie & Hancock. The Workshop will cover the essential risk provisions in construction contracts and bond forms and will offer practical insights to help identify and address problematic language. Understanding the pitfalls and associated risks of ambiguous or unfavorable conditions in construction contracts and bond forms is a crucial risk-management priority for contractors and their surety advisers. Thomas J. Kelleher, Jr., one of the four partners from the firm delivering the Workshop, said that he and his colleagues developed the one-and-a-half-day Workshop curriculum to provide Workshop attendees systematic and practical approaches to risk management from the initial qualification of the project and its participants to project closeout, which can be applied to any size or type of project, whether public or private.

Kelleher said, “Regardless of the state of the construction economy, effective risk management remains essential to success and survival. This process begins as soon as a surety bond agent’s client identifies a potential project opportunity and continues until well after substantial completion. As a key advisor to contractors, surety agents can assist both their contractor principals and surety underwriters to identify and evaluate project risks and potential pitfalls and to mitigate them in order to enhance the potential for a successful project.” Kelleher added that he and his colleagues, John E. Menechino Jr., Eric L. Nelson and Gene Rash, developed the Workshop drawing on the firm’s collective experience, in excess of 750 years of construction law and government contracts practice by the attorneys of Smith, Currie & Hancock. Steven Nelson, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of SureTec Insurance Company and President of SureTec Information Systems, Inc. in Austin, Texas also will be a Workshop instructor.

This educational Workshop will be held Oct. 20 and 21 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. NASBP is encouraging the NASBP membership to register staff and clients. Workshop registration is $895 for NASBP members/affiliates/associates and $1,990 for nonmembers. Learn more about this workshop and register online now.