BCAA is really similar to RAC in many ways, they have just short of 800k members, 1000 staff and have a philosophically similar view on the world to RAC. They have been investing in becoming more nimble through more integrated systems and through aligning staff behind a common cause. This has lead to a culture that thrives on innovation - at least within the area that I met with. For example they have just implemented a "radical" change to the way they price for roadside assistance - they have introduced a no-use discount on the core product. At this point in time the only complaints they have received have been from members renewed on the old approach wishing to be put onto the revised structure earlier - a very good sign it will be a successful change. Maybe an option for RAC to consider?
Vancouver for the most part is a city with a deep social conscience (for example there is no Zoo as the residents did not want caged animals), so it is not surprising that BCAA is also very socially aware and considerate. They have a dedicated Customer Management team, which is similar in many regards to Insights, but have more of a customer evangelist function - similar to that served by Membership Strategy in the RAC. This team at BCAA has representation on the Executive Leadership Team, which demonstrated how critical BCAA sees this function.
Another social leader, Vancity were also kind enough to give me two hours with several of their key people (kindly arranged by BCAA). This is a profitable business that is built from being a socially aware community leader. They have rafts of first, including being the first financial institution in Canada to lend to women without needed a man to co-sign and have programs in place specifically to reduce homelessness. The also started a website recently called change everything - designed to empower the entire community to do better things. I am sure the RAC could be a champion of a similar initiative in Western Australia. They have a wonderful way of describing how to mix profit and social activism, in their words: "We make profits so we can do good things, not do good things to make profits".
In all it was a really fantastic couple of days. Today I was meant to be off to Washington, DC to meet with the American Association of Retired Person (AARP). Unfortunately the unusual weather that gave me snow in Vancouver also caused snow in Las Vegas (a connection for my flight to Washington) and closed the airport, also causing my flights to get cancelled with no alternative routes available. Hopefully we can still hookup over the phone.
In any case it is pretty obvious that I have now finished with AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah. For a going away party I put on an AFL Grand Final show with all sorts of Australian food - including some Lammingtons that I made (well Deb made the cake and I made the chocolate sauce and put them together). After about 30 minutes I gave up trying to explain the game - it really needs to be done one-on-one. It is much harder to explain to 10 people at once!
It has been a great experience, but I am definitely super keen to get back to Australia. Not long now!
