Progressive Insurance masters Secret Service
What would you do if a homeless person offered you money? A man dressed up as a homeless person and tried to give people walking by him money. How they react and treat this gesture is shocking. Watch- What if a homeless person gave you money?
Secret Service at Progressive Insurance – Having to bring your car in for repairs due to an accident is considered a grudge buy, and not something I want to do with my time or money versus a pleasure buy like Starbucks, John Robert’s Spa, or a vacation. Last week I had to drop off my car at a Progressive repair center for damage caused in an accident. When I pulled into the parking lot for my 11 am appointment, the Progressive Customer Service Rep came out to the parking lot to meet me and said, “Welcome Mr. DiJulius, we have been expecting you and have your loaner car all ready for you. We just need you to fill out some paperwork and you will be on your way.” Wow, what a nice surprise! There were a lot of Customers pulling in and out of their parking lot. How did she know who I was? I hadn’t been there before, nor have I ever seen her before?
*Related – What is Secret Service and Why is it a Secret?
Show me you know me – What Secret Service System was at play here? Like all Secret Service Systems, it was quite simple, they knew who their 11 am appointments were. However, I was not their only 11 am appointment. Because they insure me, they know what kind of car I drive as well as my license plate number. Their Customer Service Reps were paying attention and were able to turn a grudge buy into a pleasant experience. By the way, when I retuned my loaner to pick up my car, the exact same thing happened to me, yet this time, it was a different Progressive employee who came out to meet me in the parking lot with all my paperwork and key to my car in hand.
*Related – Are you a grudge buy? Who will wear the cape next?
How can you incorporate Secret Service Systems into your experience? You want to create a great Customer experience that average employees can deliver. This means you don’t want your ideal Customer experience to be so complicated and sophisticated you need super human beings to execute. The Progressive Insurance Secret Service system any employee can execute easily. How can your organization do something similar? If you are expecting three Customers for appointments in the same hour and only one of them is a male (Jim Thomas), it is a pretty safe bet that the next guy to walk through your door is your Jim Thomas (provided he is not wearing a UPS uniform). Your receptionist can say, “Hi Jim, we have been expecting you.” Think of all the ways your organization can incorporate Secret Service in to your experience. Caller ID, having your Customer’s name and photo displayed in the reception area. Please share with me any great Secret Service examples your company has created and I may share them in an upcoming eService!
*Related – Turn your contact center into a World-Class Relationship Center
Patrick Thean is presenting at the 2015 Secret Service Summit – We are thrilled to announce that Patrick Thean will be presenting a breakout room about How to Achieve Breakthrough Execution and Accelerate Growth. Every business leader is overloaded and buried with too much information, data, and too many reports. Patrick shows leaders how to simplify, remove the clutter, and focus on what’s vital and most important. Patrick helps senior level executives create a CEO Dashboard with the critical Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that let you know how your business is doing in a snapshot.
