Turning Good PR into Profits
Progressive formed a case study for a Harvard Business Review article about being a successful (read: profitable) services company.
Frog Design called attention to two of their, um, progressive (lower-case p) strategies, which seem altruistic on first glance. In fact, they are shrewd policies that end up saving the company money while generating great PR.
1. Speedy on-site claims processing.
Progressive is known for quickly dispatching its white vans to accident locations.How it makes Progressive look good: Swift attention gives Progressive the ability to legitimately boast that it makes high priority of its policyholders’ safety and convenience.
How it saves them money: Cuts down on fraud. Ethically challenged policyholders are less likely to come up with a whopper if they know a claims adjuster is en route.
2. Ticker-tape display of rivals’ quotes.
On its home page, Progressive shows competitors’ rates, which are not always lower than theirs.How it makes Progressive look good: Not only does it make them look confident that they offer the best value, it makes them look transparent and noble when they don’t have the lowest rate.
How it saves them money: They are so confident in their underwriting formula that if another competitor offers a lower price, they can rest assured that they (the other company) screwed up and will be saddled with a policyholder who is a liability.
So is Progressive brilliant or what?
The subject of today’s post comes from the pages of the Harvard Business Review, by way of Frog Design (and a tip of the hat to my former colleague Megan for pointing me to Frog Design, whose site I have since added to my RSS reader).
