Internet Marketing

Learning from Apple

The first people to market usually win the war

By Adam DeGraide

What makes Apple® so smart? For one thing, they are aggressive to go to market with new products, usually ahead of everyone trying to compete with them. This takes buyers off the street and into the fold of Apple. This also leaves a smaller market for their competitors to choose from, and while the competitors are releasing their first versions, Apple is deep into the enhancements and upgrades of their next version, which usually leapfrogs the supposed advantages of the competitive models.

Whether or not the iPad™ survives and sticks around is yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure: Apple will.

Think about it. The iPad sold more than 300,000 units on day one, with more than 1 million apps downloaded and more than 250,000 eBooks downloaded. That’s a lot of feet off the street, and by the time you’re reading this article, there will most likely be more than 1 million units sold.

Even though the initial sales were not quite as high as Apple would have liked, there is no doubt that they have a business model that all companies can learn from—more specifically to our industry, what insurance agencies and professionals need to grasp: The first to market wins.

It’s amazing how many agencies are still not spending the majority of their time, energy, and money where the majority of the modern consumers are shopping: the Internet. What are you waiting for?

Agencies that do not adapt quickly to new modern marketing strategies and techniques are in no danger of selling and servicing the modern consumer. As a matter of fact, true organic agency growth has come to a screeching halt in many parts of the country.

Most agencies are either maintaining or growing their revenue by rewriting their existing book to receive a higher commission from another carrier or they are growing through acquisition. How long can this strategy last? Although it can be effective, it is definitely not a long-term strategy. What happened to old-fashioned organic growth? It’s dead because most agencies have not jumped with both feet into the Internet era. Customers are online. Shouldn’t you be?

I’m not talking about having a fancy Web site, e-mail marketing, CRM tools, automation, etc. I’m talking about a bulletproof, industry-changing system to find, sell and keep customers using technology to assist in the sales process and, more significantly, training your people to be effective, efficient, and most important, current.

I have the privilege and honor of working with the industry’s fastest growing agencies. I continue to be amazed when I see two agencies in the same town that are getting Internet leads, both organically and through buying, and if each agency is getting 100 leads a month, one agency closes 60 and the other closes 7 to 10.

What’s the difference between the two? One is psyched out of their minds, and is growing and having more fun, and the other keeps complaining about the lead quality, the wrong types of leads, and basically making excuses as to why they can’t sell.

How can that be? It’s very simple. One agency has decided to be like Apple and be the best and first to deal with the modern consumer effectively, efficiently, and profitably. The other agency is toe dipping. They haven’t jumped in fully, and they’re listening to their people give them all the reasons in the world why they can’t sell.

This is the systemic issue in our business. Insurance professionals—especially on the P&C side—need to build world class, first-to-market sales cultures that utilize technology to assist them in their sales process.

So, what does this look like in real life?

Agencies like Paul T. Murphy Insurance (www.paulmurphyinsurance.com) have invested time, energy, and money in not just having a Web presence but to make sure that they are dominating their market and being the best at every single area needed to grow in these modern times. They have a killer Web site, powerful automation, great phone processes, and aggressive social media strategies, including blogging and e-mail marketing. You name it—they get it.

The agency is led by a passionate, dedicated professional: Paul Murphy. He has embraced and not disgraced the modern consumer, and most important, he trains his people on how to convert the opportunities into sales. You see, the lead quality is not the problem. Most agencies and agency principals are their own worst enemies because they themselves haven’t moved to where the majority of the consumers are, so how can they expect their people to believe and be equipped and empowered to sell and serve the modern consumer?

Apple gets it, and agencies like Paul T. Murphy Insurance get it. How about you?

Remember, the first to market usually wins. So what are you waiting for? Jump in. The water’s cold at first, but you’ll be swimming in no time, and you’ll have more fun than you’ve had in years running your agency!

The author
Adam DeGraide is a veteran Internet marketer, sales guru, entrepreneur, record producer, and motivational speaker. In 2006 he founded Astonish Results, a digital marketing company, and since then he has been encouraging independent agencies across the country to “Join the Internet marketing revolution, or get left behind!”