My Purple Cow

It must have been six months ago when it dawned on me.

What I realized then, ... that I now know that I want, what I absolutely need ... is a Purple Cow.





I was sitting amongst an intimate group of colleagues, sharing ideas about how to grow our respective businesses when a new concept began to stir around in my brain. The topic of referrals had come up and around the table we went discussing the various methods by which one could generate referrals. "Just ask for them directly! At the end of your meeting, just pull out a pen and paper, look them in the eye, and ask for names and phone numbers and get ready to write!" ... Regurgitated old school Sales 101 stuff like that.

All the ideas shared that day are not new to any seasoned salesperson. And they work well enough for some I'm sure. But as I sat listening to my colleagues, I began to realize something. Not only are all these method simply recycled marketing efforts from early generations of salespeople, their days are numbered. The clients that I am interested in developing relationships with are simply too sophisticated for that type of old-school marketing. And more than that, it just doesn't sit right with me on some level. I'm not content to spend my life figuring out creative ways to squeeze clients for names of their friends for me to pander my wares to. I want something more than that.

What if there was a better way to grow my business? What if I didn't have to ASK for referrals? What if my product was just so dang good that clients couldn't help but telling their friends about it? ... Yes, thats what I want. I want my product to be worth referring. I want my product to be so impressive that it demands to be referred.

Fast forward to today. Just eBay'd the book, "Purple Cow," by Seth Godin. One paragraph from the first chapter sum up the book's subject, remarkable businesses: "Something remarkable is worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting. Its a Purple Cow. Boring stuff is invisible. It's a brown cow."

Can an insurance agency be made to be remarkable? I believe so.

Join me this week, this month, this year ... as I expose the ins and outs of my company in an effort to build something worth talking about, worth noticing, exceptional, new and interesting.

Help me grow a Purple Cow for all of us to enjoy.