
American Express CEO Steve Squeri faces unique challenges during the pandemic, with economic uncertainty looming and the world reeling from COVID-19 lockdowns.
Squery’s concerns are justified. The pandemic has disrupted the financial landscape, putting billions of dollars in credit card loan repayments at risk. Furthermore, as those industries ground to a halt, the very essence of American Express, its travel and entertainment benefits, became obsolete.
Faced with these challenges, the world’s largest card issuers took decisive action.They tightened their belts, curbed short-term spending, and froze outside hiring while trying to avoid layoffs. However, even in this strategic retreat, there are potential costs, especially for shareholders, in which Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holds a large stake. 20% equity in the company.
Rather than panicking at the impact of Buffett’s massive investment, Squery chose a different path. The chairman of American Express, a staunch supporter of the company for nearly four decades, picked up the phone.
His call to Buffett was not only a plea for the company’s stock price, but also an inquiry to Buffett. This is an opportunity to grow.Squery proposed a bold strategy that included $1 billion investment Launching a new set of customer services and strategically acquiring business at a discount may prove useful in the future.
“I called Warren Buffett and said, ‘We might lose $4 per share, I’m not sure when billing is going to come back…but I think what we need to do is take care of our colleagues (and) take care of our customers. I think if we do that, our shareholders will gain long-term viability. ” financial times.
This is a speech based on Squery’s philosophy that in order to stay ahead of the downturn, companies must be ready for the “up” on the other side.
Fortunately for the former Accenture consultant, Buffett He is known to be passionate about long-term strategies.
squery told financial times Buffett approved the plans and gave him sage advice: “The most important thing is to take care of your customers and your brand. It’s hard to get customers to come back. Once you damage the brand, it’s damaged.”
With Buffett’s support, Squery moved forward with his plans, launching a series of economic hardship program and extending the time that new customers must Earn their welcome bonus.
Squery’s daily life
If a person is worth $124 billion (according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index) gives you a business proposal and you accept it.
Squery’s schedule shows he’s already on the same page as Buffett when it comes to putting consumers first, revealing that he spends three hours a day responding to every customer email in his inbox.
“I get 150 to 200 customer emails a day. I read and answer every question,” says the American Express staunch supporter financial times. “We say we are a membership model. How can you ignore them?”
With over 77,000 employees – ranked third wealthBest Places to Work 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2023—And a Report 122 million It’s perhaps no surprise to clients that Squeri says his job is “24/7.”
Squeri’s day starts at 5.45am and leaves for the office at 6am, working in the car. At 6.45 in the morning, he came to his office in New York, exercised for half an hour, and then had a breakfast of tea and fruit.
Starting at 8 a.m. and wrapping up a day of meetings, Squeri’s work life is “intense,” he said.
Lunch is noon, a chopped salad at his desk.
It’s “back to back” from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Squery said, adding: “I sometimes try to go to the cafeteria and get a snack so people can see me and break the monotony. .”
At 5.30pm, he left the office and went home, but still took work calls and had dinner.
At 7.30pm he logged on again and this time spent three hours browsing customer emails. Squeri then relaxes for an hour and goes to bed at 11.30pm.
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