BUSINESS MEMO: 'BEST SALES FORCE'

The Cape Girardeau Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has been named the No. 1 sales force in the insurance category by "Sales & Marketing Management" magazine.

The "1998 Best Sales Force" was compiled by a panel of industry experts, business school professors and analysts, ranking companies on superior sales performance, reputation for customer satisfaction and reputation for employee satisfaction.

A list of 100 companies was narrowed to 25 finalists. The local agency was the only insurance company in the "Top 25." Other top 25 companies included GE Capital, Pfizer and IBM.

T. Ronald Hahs heads Northwestern's district agency here.

The Hahs agency offers personal, estate, retirement, small business and benefits planning to more than 9,500 clients in the Cape Girardeau area, with total coverage of more than $734.5 million.