John DiJulius | Customer Experience Blog

Benson Kearley –  Benson Kearley IFG, headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is not your typical insurance agency, because Stephen Kearely is not your typical President of a company.  BKIFG is obsessed with providing a world-class experience to both Customers and employees, and it is paying off huge dividends by their exponential growth. 

Secret Service Allowance – A few years ago BKIFG started one of my favorite Secret Service systems called the Secret Service Allowance program. This program provides every one of their business professionals with a $25 allowance that they must spend every month on their Customers, to surprise and delight them unexpectedly. This Secret Service allowance primes the mind for their employees to listen and catch opportunities to recognize Customers with soft, warm touches.  For example, an existing Customer might just be calling to ask a question about their policy, and they mention that it’s their wedding anniversary this weekend.  This may trigger the BKIFG employee to send them flowers. Or another agent may send five different Customers a $5.00 gift card to a local café.

Dream On – Another incredible system Benson Kearley employs is the Dream On program for their employees. I got to witness this first hand when they granted two recipients their dreams. One of the employees awarded received transportation for a year to and from work, because she was currently taking 2-3 buses everyday both ways to make the commute. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. The basic premise of the program is this: any dream, big or small, can be submitted for consideration. Dreams are awarded a minimum of twice a year. If a dream is not selected, it remains in the ‘dream pool’ for future consideration.

The UniQlo Experience – A Japanese company that is the fourth largest fashion retailer in the world, now has only six stores in the US. It has aggressive plans, however, to open over 200 new stores in the next six years and become the #1 retailer in the world. After researching them, I wouldn’t bet against them. 

Creating a revolutionary retail experience – UniQlo has an incredibly unique model, from how the store is visually laid out to their Customer experience.  For instance, when you try on a red shirt and look in the mirror, the mirror can show you what it would look like in blue, orange, or any other color they sell that shirt in, saving you the time for needing to try on more than one shirt.  Their attention to detail in all six components of the experience is incredible, they train their employees on how to fold a certain amount of garments per minute, and employees are even trained what a UniQlo smile looks like and how to wear it.  You have to watch this four-minute video of UniQlo’s innovative Customer experience.

Aveda Salons join the revolution – check out this video!

Johnism

 The easiest Customer to get is the one you already have.