News

Everyone loves a good story, and if you keep up with this newsletter you know that I tell more stories than anything. Vacations are really about stories aren’t they? You go on vacation to relax, but really, a great vacation is about creating memories and bringing home a story or two. For some reason my family has got the far-away travel bug this year – perhaps the economy really is on the mend! We seemed to have taken off for the far-flung and into the wild. Mom and Dad cruised the Inside Passage of Alaska for the first time – something they’ve always wanted to do. Jinny decided to run the Anchorage Marathon this year, so she added touring the interior of Alaska to her adventure. My family and I just returned from Calgary and the Canadian Rockies, which is where my story begins.
 
I am typically the family ‘travel agent’ – that means I get to set the budget! Since we were starting out in Calgary with a quick overnight before taking off, I decided to try one of those special hotel deals you find online. In this case you pick the hotel characteristics and you see the price, but you have no idea what hotel you are booking (until you hit the ‘book it’ button!). What we got was a Westin Hotel in downtown Calgary, so I was pretty satisfied based on the reputation of this particular hotel group. When we arrived (frazzled of course), I was greeted by the bellman who asked “Is there anything we can get you?” I remarked – “Sure – I could really use a beer!”, and off we went to our room. We quickly realized why this hotel property was a special deal. There had been flooding earlier in the year and much of the property was under renovation. But before I had a chance to feel soured, two of Canada’s finest brews were delivered to our door!

I am a student of great service; I think I know what it looks like and what it doesn't look like. I love it when I have a great service experience and I don’t think I had to ‘pay’ for it! Some organizations exist because they offer the lowest price, and we all know that the product you receive is typically stripped of what I call “relationship and experience”. I also recognize that when I see great service, it is typically a value that comes from the top. I believe that when an organization places world-class service in their mission and values, they must do more than give it lip-service.

At Tuscano great service is a core value and we aspire to world-class, knock your socks off, WOW service to boot. I wish I could say we are there - but not yet. However, there are some very positive things happening here that tells me we are heading in that direction. We have reorganized our teams and management to be smaller and more agile. We have added great new tools to your arsenal (see the quick links section below!) so we can respond more quickly. And yes, we are growing our staff to reduce the sometimes overwhelming volume of things we do every day. We just want to do them right and do them better.

But that’s not the end of the story. The next morning I was up (at East Coast time) and down in the lobby looking for coffee. Needless to say, coffee service wasn’t available so I wandered off into a corner to read. At 5 AM, the front desk manager found me to let me know that the coffee was ready. If you are ever in Calgary, try spending the night at the Westin; it was the best $85 I spent all week.

I should probably mention something about insurance before I end this letter! Day Care and School operations are two classes that Tuscano delivers awesome value and service on! Now is a great time to market for this business. Partner with Tuscano and allow us to serve your customers by providing a comprehensive policy to protect them and ultimately, the children they serve. Call the Small Business Unit to discuss your child care, schools and even adult day care insurance protection.

Let’s make price irrelevant when it comes to great insurance value.