The best meals come in two varieties – home-cooked and five-star.

At home, people know what you want. But there might be limits in training, equipment, and access to expensive ingredients. In a first-class restaurant, you’re a stranger. But the kitchen staff uses its training to anticipate your needs and surpass expectations.

For Housing Authority Insurance Group employees, the CustomerCentric approach is a marriage of these ideas. Our history with member housing authorities helps us anticipate their needs; our training and experience allow us to ask the right questions and deliver. When a dialog is established between a client and its insurance provider, then departments communicate with one another, it creates a win-win situation.

Last spring, Housing Authority Insurance Group’s Marketing Department trained on this model. In September, Senior Staff underwent a three-day program on the Customer Centric model. Finally, on Jan. 6 and 8, remaining staff members attended a two-hour tutorial on the program.

Also, CustomerCentric teams have been set up by HAI Group President and CEO Dan Labrie. Staff of various departments meet regularly to share information about members. The result is that HAI Group can follow its Mission Statement to provide “reliable insurance solutions and related services to the public and affordable housing community in a manner which exceeds expectations.”

So far, the strategy is working.

“When we sent in our bid, they called us and they were so excited,” Marketing Manager Sherry Sullivan said about one member housing authority. “They said, ‘We can’t wait to work with you guys. We are so excited we picked you.’ Who says that?

“The thing is that we had laid out so clearly how we could help them in meaningful ways. We got it and were able to communicate that they needed us and to explain why they needed us. It was not about price.”

That’s because you can’t put a price on good customer service.