My first job in sales and marketing was as a life insurance agent for Fidelity Union Life, a company based in Dallas, TX. I knew nothing about life insurance and even less about selling but the idea of making my own schedule and earning an income based upon my abilities appealed to me.
Little did I know that my new employer was an innovator in a new marketing strategy and I was about to receive an education that would impact the entire insurance industry. Fidelity Union Life whose founder, Carr P Collins, started the company in 1927 with a handful of employees rose to become one of the largest stock life-insurance companies in America in the 1990s. In 1954, James Collins took over the operation from his father and developed a new market concept where members were grouped by similar insurance needs. Advertising was carefully directed to these “target markets” which appealed to their interests.
Being a new college graduate, I was introduced to the “college market”. My job was to talk to college seniors about the need for life insurance as being the base of their soon-to-be financial portfolio. Other agents scoffed at the idea of working with college students. After all, they didn’t have any money. How would they pay a premium for the policy? Not to worry, Fidelity Union Life had that part figured out. The company would have the policyholder sign a promissory note for the first year’s premium and the student would pay it back after landing their first job. Fidelity Union was looking ahead, seeing a college graduate with a good paying job who will later get married, have kids, buy a house, etc. etc.
As I learned the ropes of selling — cold calling, appointment setting, sales ratios and activity tracking, I began formulating my own target market within the college market. Rather than randomly calling students listed in the directory, I decided that I would ONLY target students majoring in economics, business, accounting and computer science. I later dropped the accounting group as being too analytical. I also chose a college where I felt that the students had the best opportunity to become hired, leaving the state school for the ivy league-ish college in the same community. My results were excellent and years later my clients were in management positions with Proctor Gamble, Arthur Anderson, Ernst & Young, Citibank and other top firms. Predictably, they married, had kids, got a bigger house and bought more life insurance every time.
Small businesses, whose advertising dollars are stretched very thin today, should find that “targeting” a market segment may result in increased sales and overall growth. Knowing who your customers are is critical to any business and assuming that everyone will buy your product or service is faulty thinking. Keeping your eye on the “target” and customizing your advertising will help you focus your attention and produce results you can take to the bank.
