Growing a brokerage from $300,000 in annual revenue to more than $40 million requires many things. For the Graham Company, a Philadelphia-based firm specializing in construction, such growth has come partly as a result of simply living and breathing the construction business.
“We consider ourselves to be a construction business that does insurance, not an insurance company that serves construction businesses,” said Jim Marquet, vice president and co-leader of the construction team.
“in order for us to identify and help our customers project their future needs and help them in a way that is beyond the transaction of buying insurance, it is critical that we understand the trends in the business and that we can help them anticipate them,” said Marquet. “The way we think of it is that you can run your business and we’ll take care of all this stuff, take care of the insurance and risk management for them and providing this additional level of support entails more than binding policies and collecting premiums.”
To that end, Marquet and other Graham executives frequently contribute articles to construction industry trade magazines and websites, and the articles often have nothing to do with insurance but instead focus on leading edge construction trends.
“It’s not enough to know insurance, you’ve got to understand the everyday work environment those policies are insuring. The Graham Company’s brand has long been synonymous with construction,” said Kevin Smith, vice president at Graham. “Our expertise in construction runs decades deep and that success is largely attributed to our position that we must walk in the same steel toed boots as our clients if we want to effectively keep their business safe and their employees safer.”
Smith continued, “The insurance brokerage industry can be passive and typically reactionary, but we see it differently – we see the opportunity to be proactive advocates for our clients. That’s why our marketing approach goes beyond insurance; we know it’s not just policies and premiums that keep our clients awake at night, but a whole host of risks and challenges that we can help solve if we are truly rooted in our clients’ business. Our content marketing strategy reflects that belief with each industry practice group, whether it’s construction, healthcare, real estate or manufacturing, owning its own editorial and content marketing campaign to demonstrate the depth of industry knowledge – and we see that resonating with clients and prospects, alike. The old adage, it’s not just talking the talk, but walking the walk, is still relevant and marketing is tasked with walking the walk in the digital sphere and that’s what you see on our website.”
