BOOK OF BELIEFS AND BEHAVIOURS REDEFINING CARE
REDEFINING CARE We value and embrace human interaction on a day-today basis. We do this through the care we provide to our customers. This book explains our beliefs and how they affect our behaviour. As online competition increases, our Industry is in a state of flux. Many companies will fall by the wayside over the next few years as they become faceless digital platforms lacking any emotional connection to their customers. Bennett Christmas will not be one of these companies. We talk to our customers, build relationships and connect because of the care we provide to them. If our customers can’t tell the difference between us and an alternative provider, then how do we ensure they choose us? Trust that we care. We want to own this statement in the minds of our customers and prospects. Therefore we inspired the Bennett Christmas team to contribute to the insights in our Book of Beliefs and Behaviours. This is not a one-off project. It’s up to us to keep improving because what may seem ‘Exceptional’ today will become just ‘Acceptable’ tomorrow. We are on a journey together – to grow our people, to overcome challenges and to take opportunities. We don’t need to convince anybody of anything. We show people how important they are to us, with our experience and personal touch you’ll see how much we care about our customer service. Tom Stripp Cert CII Managing Director
WE CARE.
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Caring is something every company ‘claims’ to do which is why we take it to the next level. We are not in the Insurance business selling policies to people – we are in the People business to provide protection and reassurance, through in-depth, well considered and professional insurance. Care in Bennett Christmas is a philosophy, an attitude and a process. Our ongoing “Acceptable to Exceptional” programme, driven by our staff, lies at the heart of everything we do. Redefining care challenges us to go beyond expectations and look at our customers and colleagues as people. People who buy from people and people who work with people. We have good times and bad times and we try to be aware of this. We get to know our customers and our colleagues. It is our staff that have looked at every interaction on the customer journey and assessed them in terms of how well it validates our platform of ‘Redefining Care’. It is our staff that have addressed our shortfalls. It is our staff that have suggested ways in which we can go beyond the norm and surpass expectations. It is their programme. Remember the more you know about a customer’s business the less you have to ‘sell’ to them. We understand that it’s not just the answers we provide our customers – it’s the way we make people feel that is fundamental to building open and honest relationships. We celebrate their success and, when times are harder, we empathise, sympathise and offer help. It’s all part of our drive to Redefining Care in everything we do.
THROUGH COMMUNICATION BUILD OPEN AND HONEST RELATIONSHIPS.
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The most common complaint people make of an organisation is about communication. Staff don’t feel they are kept in the picture which leads to people feeling a loss of control – and the emotions that this provokes lies at the root of so many of our behavioural shortfalls. At Bennett Christmas, as part of our drive to establish ‘Care’ as our guiding principle, we know it will always be work in progress in order to reach the levels of communication we owe our customers and each other. Communication is the respect we give to staff, customers and suppliers. Without respect then there can be no genuine care. Communication, based on honesty, openness and respect, builds trust which is an integral part of our ‘Care’ philosophy and culture. Both with colleagues and with our customers we recognise that building relationships goes beyond just ‘doing business’ – it requires an ‘emotional connection.’ To do this we need to ask questions and really listen to the answers. Great relationships grow from open and honest communication. That’s the Bennett Christmas way.
BUILD A POSITIVE TEAM AND FAMILY SPIRIT.
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Family spirit lies at the core of Bennett Christmas. We are after all, first and foremost, a family company. Our focus is on creating an environment that is friendly, inviting and one that encompasses a wide range of opinions, ideas and beliefs. So – what is a good team? What is a good team member? Good team members take initiatives that help not just themselves but their colleagues and the company. Good team members take ownership of problems, shirking the shield of ‘It’s not my job’ and work with colleagues to provide solutions. Good team members have a positive influence on others, rising above negativity and cynicism, focusing more on the positives. Good team members work with each other, have fun and take care. Families watch out for each other, helping those who are struggling either at work or with personal issues. They care for each other and trust each other. At Bennett Christmas we would always choose a good team player over a ‘Lone Wolf,’ however brilliant he or she might be, for we know that the sum of the whole, the family, is bigger than the sum of the parts.
WE EXCEED EXPECTATIONS TO CREATE A ‘WOW’ EXPERIENCE.
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Business thinkers are united in their belief that in today’s business climate, with product in significant oversupply, and customers becoming ever more demanding, it will be “The Customer Experience” that will distinguish and differentiate one company from another offering similar products or services. ‘Quality of Service’ and ‘Ease of Doing Business’ will play a greater part in the Customer Experience. Therefore, our ongoing Customer Journey, from ‘Acceptable to Exceptional’ programme underpins our ‘Redefining Care’ culture. Bennett Christmas is not an average company and we do not offer average customer service and we do not hire average people to do this. We seek instead to meet and then surpass customer expectations. And if we can create a Wow! moment, which they share with others then so much the better.
WE EMBRACE AND DRIVE CHANGE.
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Things are changing faster today than at any time in history and will continue to change even faster going forward. Technology, the internet, customer behaviour patterns, legislation and governance are all changing. 2-year olds can use apps and iPhones - who could have imagined that a few years ago? Bennett Christmas actively seek change. We enthusiastically embrace it. The most dangerous phrase in our business is ‘we have always done it this way’ and we seek never to use it. Just because we have always done it in a certain way doesn’t mean it can’t be done differently or even better. Our staff, at the forefront of customer relations, are best placed to keep asking awkward questions and forcing us to question our ways of doing business. So, if we see something in the business and don’t know the ‘why’ or ‘what for’ then we question it. We ask ‘Why are we doing this in this way?’ It may be that the established way is the best and has been proven – but our questions are the catalyst for improvement. The minute we stop questioning ourselves is the moment we slide towards complacency and in complacency lie the seeds of decline.
SEEK GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH CHALLENGE.
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At Bennett Christmas we are committed to growth of both our business and our people. Without our people challenging, stretching and developing themselves, they will not grow and neither will our business. We’ll provide the training and the opportunities to learn and develop. We encourage employees to bring open minds and an eagerness to learn. It can be challenging and uncomfortable to change, to adopt new processes, to question the way ‘we have done things around here’ but change and grow we must. We’ll challenge ourselves as leaders to question how we provide leadership, seeking to pass authority and responsibility within our teams to where it really is best suited – with the people who have the knowledge. This is a hard game to play as the bar is always being raised – by competitors copying us and consumer expectations and demands growing, but in the long term it’s the only game in town and we intend to win it. We won’t win by being average so we look for people who are exceptional.
WE LEARN. WE REFLECT.
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We place huge value on Learning - and by that we don’t just mean ‘Training’. Learning is an active process. How does this get done? We learn by doing and by interactive and kinaesthetic experiences from specialists. We learn from each other, coaching, mentoring and development programmes. Why do we do this? Because we know the future belongs to people who are committed to continuous learning, unlearning and learning anew. We know that you don’t build a business – you build people and people build businesses. Our Redefining Care Culture is the belief that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
PEOPLE DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE.
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As part of our Redefining Care culture, we could sometimes find ourselves in a position where we face difficult decisions over whether we go along with something that ‘doesn’t feel quite right’. At Bennett Christmas – we don’t. It’s as simple as that. Why? Because we care. The way we behave with our colleagues moulds the way we behave with our customers and will, in a world where nothing remains hidden, impact our reputation and business. Trust is the true currency of business and without a commitment to do the right thing, there can be no trust. We at Bennett Christmas are proud of our reputation as a company to be trusted and we will take all steps to preserve it. So, very simply – at Bennett Christmas we do the right thing – every time.
1 Oak House, Woodlands Court, Albert Drive, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9TN.
PEOPLE DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU KNOW UNTIL THEY KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CARE.
The Bennett Christmas group of companies are: Bennett Christmas Insurance Brokers Ltd. Reg’d in England no. 05402688 BC Underwriting is a trading style of BC UW Ltd. Reg’d in England no. 7916564 BC Risk Management is a trading style of BC Health & Safety Ltd. Reg’d in England no. 10649782 Registered Office: Hexagon House, Grimbald Crag Close, St James Business Park, Knaresborough HG5 8PJ
In line with our Bennett Christmas position of Redefining Care – we look, wherever possible, to care for the environment. This booklet is printed on 100% recycled paper and in such a way that it can itself be recycled. Copyright © 2020 Bennett Christmas Insurance Brokers Ltd All Rights Reserved