Derek F Martin discusses American Express' approach to customer service called Relationship Care. Relationship Care focuses on building long-term relationships with customers rather than individual transactions. It emphasizes empathy, empowering employees, and creating a culture where customers feel valued. American Express measures the success of Relationship Care by whether customers would recommend the company to a friend. Relationship Care is intended to provide American Express a competitive advantage over competitors who focus only on efficiency and cost reduction.

1. Loyalty USA
American Express Relationship Care -
SM
Servicing a Relationship, Not a Transaction
Derek F Martin SM
Director of Relationship Care , Customer Engagement, Sales &
Retention, American Express, World Service
June 17, 2011

2. Introduction: Derek F Martin
 Director Customer Engagement, Sales &
Retention, World Service, American Express
 Board of Directors, ATA
 BetterBusinessBanter.Blogspot.com
 /@derekfmartin
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3. Ice Breaker: Your Last Experience with “Hard” Sales
 Turn to the person next to you and share a
memorable experience where a company or sales
person used ‘hard” sales techniques such as:
 Engage without permission
 Omit potentially negative product attributes
 Disparage competitor products
 Scare tactics
 Don’t take no for an answer
 Did you buy?
 Did you repeat purchase?
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
3
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.

4. Sales Vs Service Agenda
I. Myths and Methods
 Complimentary not contradictory
 First build a Foundation of Trust
 Understand your Customer to Find Relevance
 Value-based Offers
 Aligning Metrics & Objectives
I. Case Study: American Express
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
4
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.

5. I. Myths & Methods
Complementary Not Contradictory
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
5
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.

6. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a longterm play
r m = margin or profit from a customer per period
CLV = m 1+ i – r { } r = retention rate
i = discount rate
CLV
$500
$400
$300
$200
$100
$0
50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Rate of Retention
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
6
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
*Source: Sunil Gupta, “Managing Customers
Express.
as Investments,” Wharton 2005

7. Fitting The Customer Lifecycle
Sales Sales
Effort Effort
Welcome Educate Engage Reward
Complexity
Value Prop
Product
Entice
Encourage Usage Excite Recognize
Prospect Purchase RePurchase Loyalty
Customer Lifecycle (Time or # repurchases)
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8. Tug of War Example: Card Activation
A new Cardmember calls in to activate their card
-> What else do you want to discuss on that call?
Account Additional
Set Up Cards
Explanation Insurance
of Benefits Sales
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
8
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.

9. Deliver on the Promise: Earn Customer Trust
Recognition
24/7
Global
Support
Personalized
Voice Response
Know Me Accurate
Human
Reliable
Promise
Solve
Online Easy Fair
Fast Secure Proactive
World-Class Customer Service
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10. Understand Your Customer: Make it Relevant
MOOD
INQUIRY PROFILE
Relationship CareSM
World-Class Customer Service
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11. Deliver Value: The Engagement Spectrum
Digital Spend /
Account Benefit Loyalty / Coverage Addl Card Insurance
Retention Enroll & Reinforce
Servicing Rewards Campaign Card Upgrade
Engage
Customer
Engagement
Relationship CareSM
World-Class Customer Service
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12. What is A Value based offer?
 Provides communicable customer benefits
Utility (Quality/Cost)
 Companion air ticket
 Fits with Brand / Image
 Magazine Subscription?
 Relevant to the customer
 Ice for Eskimos?
 Appropriate in the context of the contact
 Airmiles for Electric Bill?
 Hassle Free
 Miles Redemption, blackout dates, addl fees, expiration
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13. Aligning Goals and Metrics
Shareholder Customer
 Revenue  Satisfaction
 Cost & Efficiency  Resolution Rate
 Offer Rate
Both
 Net Promoter
 Customer Handle Time
 Sales Rate (Offer/Conversion Rate)
 Referral Rate
 Retention Rate…
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
13
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.

14. II. American Express Case Study:
Our Heritage, Our Vision
1850 Today
Vesey Street
To become the world’s
A brand is born. most respected
service brand.
Service has been the foundation since the beginning
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15. Our Vision is to Become the World’s Most Respected
Service Brand
Service is a core focus of our company
Drive Growth
Drive Efficiency
Deliver Superior
Service
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16. We Aim to Be Among “The Best”
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17. New Customer Service Paradigm
Expectations are informed by broadening service experiences
across industries
Interconnected,
More informed consumers
“want it now,”
global society
Sharing information
Increased regulatory scrutiny
in virtual communities
Experiences
Multiple
across
service
touchindustries
points
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18. Our Customers Expect More
The voice of the American Express Cardmember:
 “Recognize me as an individual and my relationship with you … make
me feel special and valued, don’t treat me like one of the masses”
 “Focus on genuine conversations – move beyond the script…listen
and show empathy”
 “The Representative should have authority and expertise to handle all
requests”
 “… expect all contact channels to be integrated and work seamlessly”
 “Don’t behave like a cost center, act as a friend/ally”
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19. Our Customer Care Principles are the Foundation
of Relationship Care
SM
Extraordinary Care
Extraordinary People
at the Right Margins
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19 19

20. Delivering “High Touch Relationship CareSM”
A human and holistic mindset focusing on extraordinary customer care
and deepening relationships that forms a competitive advantage
Competition American Express
Transaction Servicing Relationship CareSM
 Efficiency/Cost containment  Respect for the relationship
 Scripted, robotic approach
 Humanity in communications
 Empowered environment
 Command & control
environment
 Product reinforcement
 Relevant cross-selling
 Hiring for a call center
environment – high attrition
 Cost-effective servicing
 Business growth driver
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21. Relationship Care is focused on Relationships
SM
SM
Relationship Care is a service ethos focused on Relationships,
not transactions. It is about making an emotional connection…
Hire for passion, teach the skill
Act with humanity
Create a culture of passion and pride
Empower your employees
Success is measured at all levels of the organisation by asking the
ultimate question: “Would you recommend us to a friend?”
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22. Great Service Is Great Business
Promoters are the most profitable customers
Promoters vs Detractors….
Spend/Cardmember 20 –25%
Why use
“Recommend to Share of Wallet 15 -25%
a Friend”?
6 x Attrition Level
10% Service Margin
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23. World Service Is a True Competitive Advantage
Competition American Express
Completing Transactions Building Relationships
Rules Principles
Hit-and-miss Consistency
Average Handling Time “Customer” Handling Time
Ops Training Learning
Full Time Employees Impassioned Ambassadors
Internal Quality Voice of the Customer
Siloed Structure Unified Network
Scripted Conversational
Expendable Invaluable
Best-of-Credit Cards Best-in-World
Back Office Growth Engine
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24. Embedding Relationship Care with our business partners
SM
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25. In summary
• Service is a core competitive advantage for American Express, and
differentiates our company
• Relationship CareSM is our overall service ethos and is part of our
“secret sauce”
• We are seeing great results from Relationship CareSM so far and are
continuing to roll it out throughout the world
• Success is measured at all levels of the organisation by asking the
ultimate question: “Would you recommend us to a friend?”
CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY & TRADE SECRET INFORMATION - This document contains confidential, proprietary and trade secret information of American Express Travel Related
25
Services Company, Inc. ("American Express") and its subsidiaries and affiliates, and must not be disclosed in whole or in part to any third parties without the prior written consent of American
Express.