As Bensimon Byrne looks to diversify its offering, the agency has brought on Chris Hayes as its first ever director of service design.
Hayes is returning to the Toronto agency – he was previously a digital strategist for Bensimon Byrne between 2008 and 2010 – following the recent closure of Heist, an experience design agency he co-founded and helped run for three years.
At Heist, Hayes worked closely with the firm’s anchor client, Telus, on its customer service initiatives. At Bensimon Byrne, Hayes will do similar work, offering consultation to clients like Scotiabank and Mattamy Homes on everything from customer retention to potential new products.
Sandi Truffen, Bensimon Byrne’s director of client services, said clients are increasingly asking about business challenges that fall outside the scope of traditional agency work. With Hayes, she said the agency found someone who can grow out its service design capabilities.
“Our clients are asking us to do more and more things that are not traditional advertising. They’re asking us for solutions that aren’t even marketing solutions sometimes, [often] asking us to help them become better at customer service,” she said.
“The addition of service design is something our clients have been asking for, and Chris is a fantastic guy for us to bring in and add this capability to our agency.”
While agencies typically focus on customer acquisition, Truffen said clients are now asking for assistance with the entire customer journey. Hayes offered an example: when customers sign up with a bank, they have to fill out multiple forms, often duplicating information. In that scenario, the agency could help the bank streamline the process and create a better customer experience. At Heist, Hayes helped a lot of clients with customer onboarding, making the process more seamless and ensuring the brand made good use of the data it collected.
Hayes said he has watched Bensimon Byrne closely since leaving the agency and jumped at the chance to re-join. “I’ve been very aware of what’s been going on at Bensimon and was super excited to be invited to be a part of it,” he said.
Hayes is one of several upcoming hires the agency plans to make across account services, creative and project management. Truffen said Bensimon Byrne is in growth mode thanks to an increase in investment from existing clients as well as new account wins like the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan.
The agency is also on the hunt for a new director of strategy to replace Max Valiquette, who left the agency in August to become vice-president of strategy at Publicis.
