Walter J. Gdowski, President and CEO, The Rough Notes Company, Inc.
By Barbara J. Jacks, CIC
Asked to summarize The Rough Notes Company's Internet strategy results, Walter J. Gdowski, President and CEO, responds, "Since we launched our Web site in August of 1995, most of our original goals have been achieved." He goes on to note, however, that some goals have been modified and a few totally discarded.
"At our initial planning meetings for creating our online presence, we had more ideas about what to do and how to do it than were realistic," Gdowski explains. "We spent hours discussing everything from the 'look' of our site, to the services that would (or could) be offered to our customers, to many 'what if' questions."
The corporate marketing strategy for the Rough Notes site has been a process of growth and change which will continue. The Rough Notes Company was the first insurance publishing company to offer Internet marketing of products and services. "Being first is only the beginning of a sincere commitment to pursue and adopt new technological developments that will benefit our customers," notes Gdowski. "We know that Internet technology is constantly changing along with the demands made by the insurance community, as more and more agents become familiar with the Internet and its vast information and services available. What we couldn't do, or what was not financially feasible to do a year ago, is different today. There is no end to the 're-learning curve.' The continual fine tuning of our site demands that our whole team stay on top of the new technology and be informed about changing trends."
If the Internet is defined as an additional channel of distribution and mode of communication, developing corporate strategy becomes easier. According to Gdowski, "After some initial false starts, we went back to the drawing board. Once we focused on what the Internet could do, our strategic plan became clear. It consists of three parts:
1) to enhance our corporate image,
2) to promote the Rough Notes products and services, and
3) to improve and expedite communications with our customers."
In 1995, the company's first trial of its online reporting began with coverage of the IIAA Young Agents Committee awards ceremony that preceded the IIAA's 100th Annual National Convention. "Response to the concept was so positive that it was obvious that we had identified a void in the timely reporting of conference and convention news," says Gdowski. In 1995 the company reported on three conferences on its Web site. In 1996, that rose to nine industry conference/conventions and seven user group meetings. Rough Notes magazine now has four editors who, in 1997, will travel to almost 30 industry meetings, conventions, conferences, and user group meetings to file daily news reports and digital photographs of the happenings and announcements from those meetings. "We found ourselves in a CNN-type position," says Gdowski, "and no one else has stepped up to the plate to deliver this type of timely information to insurance professionals to the magnitude that we have."
According to Gdowski, "Value added services are used by many companies to create a more positive relationship with their customers. Our investment in the Internet technologies has provided us a means to truly add extra value for all our current Rough Notes advertisers." The company links advertisers at no charge from the online edition of Rough Notes magazine (published in its entirety on the Internet) to their own Web sites. For a fee, Rough Notes will assist advertisers who want to develop their own Web sites. Rough Notes is currently linking all of The Insurance Marketplace advertisers from the Internet version of the publication to their Web sites and adding their logos and e-mail addresses at no charge. "For 34 years our Insurance Marketplace has been distributed to agents throughout the country in printed form. We are happy to provide this service free on the Internet and provide the means for agents to link to, or contact directly, those Marketplace specialty lines companies that have Web sites or e-mail addresses," says Gdowski.
Rough Notes will be celebrating its 120th birthday in November of 1997 and is using its Web site to promote its corporate image by using its extensive library of artifacts that date back to 1878 to trace the history of the insurance industry. "Our library provides some fascinating reading," says Gdowski. "I made arrangements with Tadevich and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in corporate history for the insurance industry, to work with us on developing a corporate timeline that is now at our Web site. There is a new generation of insurance professionals who may not be aware of the historical context of The Rough Notes Company and its contributions to the insurance industry, and who know us only as the publisher of Rough Notes magazine. This is what became the driving force in developing this timeline."
Home office has memorabilia on display
Rough Notes' historical site reveals that the company published the first state agency handbooks in 1888, introduced the loose-leaf system in 1894 (a forerunner of an agency management system), and sold wooden office furniture that was designed specifically for the insurance agency. Trains and wagons shipped the desks and file cabinets to agencies across the country. Individuals who have had the opportunity to visit the Rough Notes home office in Carmel, Indiana (a suburb of Indianapolis), are captivated by the memorabilia on display, by the products that have been developed and introduced by Rough Notes, and with the industry information contained in the numerous volumes of Rough Notes magazine.
The constant attention to providing timely, quality industry coverage has deep roots. Not only were Rough Notes' editors present at the Great Northern Hotel when the local Fire Agents met and established the National Association of Local Fire Insurance Agents, but they were also at the second meeting in St. Louis when the declaration of principles was unanimously adopted. The declaration was published in Rough Notes, along with the daily and hourly meeting activities of the convention. Rough Notes also published association president A.G. Simrall's address at the first annual convention. The company is proud to have available this meaningful information for the industry.
Rough Notes' "online timeline" contains a yearly digest of industry news, conventions, and perspectives of each period, along with the company's progression during that time. "Electronic links to pictures of each era are included. Looking back at stories and pictures of products, services, and publications that were introduced helps the insurance professional get a sense of rich perspective about their chosen profession," says Gdowski.
The Rough Notes Company has also taken advantage of the new technology and revamped The Insurance Marketplace Online. According to Gdowski, this change benefits insurance professionals immensely. "Insurance professionals don't have to 'drill down' to find the information they need. They can now quickly access the markets they need to write a customer's entire account."
Online customers can now use a "shopping cart" to purchase catalog items quickly and easily. Rough Notes is in the process of implementing an approach that many online bookstores use to give customers a brief synopsis of a book prior to purchasing it. Customers can also download demo software of the company's electronic products, another benefit of Internet technology.
Consumer information for agent to use
A new company offering is a monthly subscription service called "Consumer Access" that an agent can download and place directly on his/her own Web site. The initial module provides answers to questions often heard by personal lines insurance agents. The agent can personalize "Consumer Access" with his/her name and address. The information is updated monthly by the technical and educational product editors at Rough Notes. "We are now able to offer online companies and agents easy, affordable electronic files that they can download," says Gdowski. "Since the information is continually updated, this encourages consumers to bookmark the agent's site for future visits. Repeated activity is essential to marketing success on the Internet."
Online subscribers to Rough Notes' Policy, Form and Manual Analysis Service are growing every month. Customers like the idea of having a complete reference service available without having to manually update the pages. Because it's an electronic format, it is less expensive to maintain. These savings can then be passed on to those customers.
"For instance," Gdowski points out, "if you purchase our PF&M Analysis Service for the first time in hard bound copy, the initial cost is $330, with an annual renewal of $225.95. Each month we will send you updates that consist of about 96 pages. Someone in the office then has to physically pull the old pages and replace them with the new pages. If you subscribe to PF&M Online, the subscription cost is $199.95 per year. The monthly files are electronically updated by our company and there is no wondering if your manuals contain the most recent changes, and you don't have to leave your desk to access the information. We provide e-mail answers to coverage questions, and our online service is hyper-linked."
In order to take advantage of the new technologies, Rough Notes has rewritten and expanded this technical analysis service product. "We didn't simply take its paper version and put it on the Internet without properly formatting it for electronic distribution," Gdowski explains. To offset its investment in the software and reprogramming, Rough Notes' goal is to increase its current subscriber user base rather than charge customers more for a product which essentially costs less to produce.
"The Rough Notes Company has been providing information to the industry for 120 years," Gdowski says. "Not only must we invest in enhancing our current information, but we must provide it quickly to the end-user." Rough Notes recognized early on that paper books and magazines can't be squeezed into computer code--one cannot easily flip pages on a computer screen. Space is tight and search engines are not always the most efficient way of getting what you need. "We invested in people and technology, and rearchitected our products to leverage the electronic medium.
"Content is still the reason why people come to Rough Notes. Our objective is to strive to make it easier for you to keep coming back whether you see us on paper or a computer screen," Gdowski concludes.
The company's Web site can be accessed at http://www.roughnotes.com
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The author
Barbara Jacks is vice president of marketing for The Rough Notes Company.