Rough Notes Readership Survey
Purpose
The findings cited in this report are based on a survey sponsored by The Rough Notes Co., Inc. on behalf of their publication, Rough Notes.
Through the use of a mail survey representing select segments of Rough Notes’ domestic circulation, the purpose of this research project was to provide the editors and advertisers with a profile of this audience.
Specific areas of inquiry included:
• recipients’ readership, use, and opinions of Rough Notes
• their receipt and readership of other industry publications
• the nature of their jobs
• a profile of their agency/brokerage
• a brief demographic profile
Methodology
The survey sample of 1,000 was selected in systematic fashion by The Rough Notes Co., Inc. and Readex Research from Rough Notes’ personal and/or company direct request domestic subscribers classified as agents, brokers, or life general agents/managers with the titles of CEO, owner, or corporate officer. The sample for the survey represents 33,303 recipients (or about 79% of Rough Notes’ entire estimated 42,200 circulation) at the time of sample selection.
The 4-page questionnaire (8.5” x 11” pages) was designed jointly by Rough Notes and Readex. Materials production, addressing, mailing, and tabulation were all handled by Readex.
On June 19, 2007, Readex mailed personalized letters to the sample, alerting them of the survey to come and soliciting their cooperation.
On June 21, Readex mailed survey kits to all 1,000 sample members. Each kit consisted of a personalized cover letter on Rough Notes letterhead, signed by the president/CEO; the questionnaire; a $1.00 incentive; and a stamped reply envelope addressed to Readex, all in an outgoing Rough Notes envelope.
On July 25, Readex mailed follow-up survey kits to sample members who had not responded by that time. The follow-up survey kits were similar to the initial survey kits, with the exception of an updated covering letter.
The survey was closed for tabulation on August 6, 2007, with 502 usable responses—a 50% response rate. As with any research, the results should be interpreted with the potential of nonresponse bias in mind. It is unknown how those who responded to the survey may be different from those who did not respond. In general, the higher the response rate, the lower the probability of estimation errors due to non-response and thus, the more stable the results.
The response was tabulated and this report was prepared by Readex in accordance with accepted research standards and practices.
Survey Findings
How much time do you spend with a typical issue of Rough Notes?
|
| 1/2 hour or more |
50% |
| 15 minutes to 1/2 hour |
37% |
| Less than 15 minutes |
13% |
| Do not read |
0% |
Average Time Spent Reading: 34 minutes |
What are the titles of the
other people who ususally
read or look through your
copy of Rough Notes?
|
| Partner |
28% |
| Sales Manager |
16% |
| VP Marketing |
7% |
| CFO |
6% |
| Customer Service Representative |
8% |
| Producer/Salesperson |
6% |
| Agent |
4% |
| Owner/Principal/President |
3% |
| Other Management |
3% |
Administrative Assistant/
Secretary/Receptionist |
2% |
| Other |
5% |
|
What do you do with Rough Notes when you're finished with it?
|
| Clip articles/ads |
34% |
| Route to others |
67% |
| Save entire issue |
25% |
| One or more of the above |
86% |
|
Rough Notes prompts recipients to take action. In the last 12 months, 68% have taken at least one action as a result of reading an advertisement in the publication. More than half have visited an advertiser's Web site (41%) and/or filed an ad for future reference (25%).
|
| Visited advertiser's Web site |
41% |
| Filed ad |
25% |
| Contacted advertiser |
22% |
| Discussed ad |
22% |
| Passed ad along |
21% |
| Purchased/ordered product/service |
9% |
| Used reader inquiry card |
7% |
| AT LEAST ONE |
68% |
|
How frequently do you read each of the following Rough Notes columns/features/departments?
|
| Court Decisions |
86% |
| Coverage Concerns |
85% |
| Agency Marketing Technology |
77% |
| Regional News |
72% |
| Marketing Matters |
71% |
| Winning Strategies |
69% |
| Customer Service Focus |
69% |
| Lessons in Leadership |
68% |
| Risk Management |
66% |
| Specialty Lines Article |
65% |
| Public Policy Ananlysis & Opinion |
62% |
| Building Equity Value |
62% |
|
Professional Profile
The majority (85%) of Rough Notes recipients describe their job title as owner/principal/president.
No other single job title was indicated by more than 6% of recipients.
Close to half (46%) of recipients currently hold at least one professional designation. More than one in ten currently hold a CIC (18%) and/or a CPCU (14%).
53% of the recipients have a total household gross income of between $100,000 to $499,999. |
| Owner/Principal/President |
85% |
| Other Officer |
6% |
| Producer/Salesperson |
5% |
| Branch/Office Manager |
2% |
| Customer Service Representative |
1% |
| Other |
1% |
|
Agency/Brokerage Profile
Recipients’ agencies/brokerages have been in business for many years. A third indicated their agencies/brokerages have been in business 50 or more years, while only 3% indicated less than 10 years. The typical agency/brokerage has been in business 39 years. |
21% of the agencies/brokerages reported that they wrote a total premium volume of $10.0 million to $20.0 million or more. |
| $10.0-20.0 million or more |
21% |
| $3.0-9.9 million |
25% |
mean: $13.3 million
median: $3.8 million |
Agencies/brokerages were also asked the breakdown of where their total 2006 revenue came from.
Agencies/brokerages reported that 88.8% of their commercial clients came from businesses with 1 to 50 employees. |
| 2006 Revenue Percentage |
Mean |
| Commercial Lines |
43.6% |
| Personal Lines |
46.9% |
| Employee Benefits |
4.5% |
| Other |
4.9% |
|
Virtually all (95%) agencies/brokerages currently use at least one of the eight products asked about in the survey. At least four in five indicated they use virus protection (87%) and/or digital cameras (80%). |
| Technology Currently Used |
| Virus protection |
87% |
| Digital cameras |
80% |
| Scanning equipment |
73% |
| Spam filtering |
68% |
| Laptop computers |
62% |
| Wireless laptops |
39% |
| Off-site data storage |
32% |
| Tablet PCs |
9% |
| AT LEAST ONE |
95% |
|
On average, agencies/brokerages reported they represent 9.5 insurance companies. 14% reported representing 20-plus insurance companies. |
Besides insurance placement, agencies/brokerages provide other services. The highest proportion (18%) indicated they provide premium financing. |
| Other Services Provided |
| Premium financing |
18% |
| Risk management |
13% |
| Fee-based consulting |
12% |
| Benefit plan design consulting |
12% |
| Loss prevention |
10% |
| Alternative risk financing |
8% |
| Other |
7% |
| AT LEAST ONE |
38% |
|
For copies of the entire readership survey, please contact
Sam Berman at samb@roughnotes.com or at 1-800-428-4384
|
