Can you say why your firm is better than the competition? 70percent of financial services teams can’t.

Kicking off a full day at NAPA 401(k) Summit, Scott McKain ofthe Distinction Institute told retirement advisors that the only way tocompete, both with other firms and with technology, is to offer adistinctive customer experience.

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To illustrate, he shared a story from one of his books, about“Taxi Terry,” a Jacksonville, Florida cab service.

The company started with a single cab driver (yep, Terry) whowould drive up to the airport and enthusiastically announce topassengers, “Are you ready for the best cab ride of your life?” Andhe delivered on that, McKain said, remembering how Terry held outMcKain’s luggage to the hotel bellman with both hands, like it wasa present.

Terry has transformed one car into a fleet, but even today themotto on the company website says, “It’s all about you.”

McKain wrote an entire book about it, but here’s a distillationof three things to learn from Taxi Terry:

1. Obsess over making it easier to do business with you. How easyis it for people to move plans to your business? How do you createsteps that simplify the process?

2. Think solutions in a commodity price-driven marketplace tocreate lasting connections: Terry doesn’t just think cab, he hasvans, limos -- he IS a solution.

3. Make your approach as distinctive as a ride with Taxi Terry.

“If I go back to Jacksonville, you bet I use Taxi Terry,” McKainsaid. “If I have this experience with a cab driver, why would Iexpect anything less from someone who is helping me plan myretirement?”

How do you make yourfirm as distinctive as Taxi Terry’s? Think about these fourthings:

#1: Clarity: People need to know exactly what you standfor and what makes you unique.

He asked top producers in the retirement industry, “What makesyou different?” Twenty percent said they didn’t know. Eightypercent said it was their client service.

“The same thing makes them different?” McKain scoffed. “You maysay that your client service makes you different, but every otherperson in the retirement space is saying that. You need to beclear.”

Yes, he said, defining what you are also means you are alsosaying what you are NOT. That’s okay.

“You cannot differentiate what you cannot define." McKain talkedabout a former pilot who became a financial advisor. When askedwhat he does, the pilot turned advisor says, “I fly people throughretirement turbulence.” Will they remember that? Of course.

Develop a statement for every action and clarify all yourefforts, McKain said. Reconfirm with your clients that they areclear on what your advantages are.

#2: Creativity: Pick a single point in your businesswhere you will make a difference creatively.

McKain told about a rental car company that made a list of everypoint where the customer came into contact with a person from thecompany. They counted 17 touch points. They picked one to getcreative about— the point where the customer accesses theproduct.

What was the company? Enterprise. They did one thing creativeand distinctive — they pick you up. Now they’re the number onerental car company. And everyone knows them as the company thatwill pick you up.

Pick a single point where you will develop a difference—thencome up with a creative way to do that, McKain said.

#3: Communication: Reach out to your clients accordingto their preferences, not yours.

McKain cited a survey where people said they’d give up sex andchocolate just to keep their phones.

And with the audience’s help and laughter, he distilled thecommunication differences between generations: Baby boomers, whentold by their boss to jump, ask “How far?” Gen Xers, when told bytheir boss to jump, ask “Why?”

#4: Clients: It’s their experience with you thatcounts.

Too many firms focus on the transaction, McKain said. Thedistinctive ones focus on this: What is the ultimate experiencethat a client could have with us?

And crucial to that experience are your employees, he said.They’re what the customer remembers. “Think of Indiana Jones.Seriously. George Lucas is the owner of the company, but you don’tthink of him. You think of the employee, Harrison Ford. “

Ask yourself, “What if everything went exactly right? Whatspecific steps do we need to execute to make it work? What are theroadblocks that prevent us? How do we provide the tools to empowerour team to deliver it?”

The man got a standing ovation from a crowd of retirementadvisors. Proof that he walked his talk, offering a distinctivecustomer experience as well.