by Erika Guarino

Pru Life UK Chief Distribution Officer Max Joaquin is all about the “wow” factor.

In his most recent trip to London with the qualifiers of the 2009 International Sales Convention, he noted the “wow experience”—defined as the act of infusing an ordinary experience with a little something extra, thereby resulting in an extraordinary experience. Mr. Joaquin said: “All along, in the planning stage, we were looking for the ‘wow’ factor, the ‘wow’ element in the whole incentive trip. So, for me, it’s the benchmark, it’s the standard for doing incentive trips to Agency activities and events. In others words, from now on, we look forward to that experience. What is it that makes people say ‘Wow, it’s such a great experience!?’

“Putting all your delegates in a five-star hotel where all your rooms had a marvelous view of London…seeing London Eye, the Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament on the right and the Tower Bridge on the left. That’s your
view! What company can bring you to an incentive trip like that?” But that was just the beginning of more “wow” experiences to come.

Mr. Joaquin also shared his thoughts on the unconventional way by which they arrived at the Millennium Dome for the Fellowship Night—on a boat with a Scottish piper, open bar for more than an hour and the breathtaking view of London’s famous sites. He also cited the trip to Bath where they visited the village of Bathampton. “(It) was like a destination by itself because when we got there, it had its own river with its own little dam. There were leisure boats so you could take nice pictures, it was not very cold but it was not hot at all, the food and the place itself were warm and cozy and almost exclusive to us. It gave us an experience of
dining in countryside in a nice location. For me, that was another ‘wow’ experience.”

On being stranded in London, Mr. Joaquin shared how they took care of the delegates. He described the fourweek old hotel located in the “heart of London”, the allowance, and the extra time spent enjoying more of what London has to offer. “They were taken care of in terms of accommodation and food but being family people, they missed their family and the difficult part was not knowing exactly when they could come home but the moment we knew that we were going home was actually three days before we came home. It turned out to be a great opportunity for them to enjoy,” the Agency chief added.

Moving forward, Mr. Joaquin called on to the qualifiers to spread the word and to aim for the next big prize. “I hope they don’t miss Helsinki. I hope they tell other people about this great experience, and I also want to assure them that we’re now going to follow this as a template in looking for the ‘wow’ factor in an Agency incentive trip or event.”