Michael and his family

For those that don’t know, CIBC is a leading Canadian-based financial institution that provides a full suite of financial products and services in Canada and around the world. The bank was founded in 1867 and we serve 11 million clients with a team of 40,000+ employees.

I’ve had the opportunity to work in many areas of CIBC throughout my 30+ year career, but my roots are in Customer Service. I started working part-time as a Customer Service Representative (aka Teller) while going to University. It was an amazing experience, and it taught me the importance of building relationships with clients.

I was fortunate to have a manager who got to know me well, and talked about what I wanted to do after graduation. He suggested that I apply to the Branch Manager Trainee program, and he was quick to provide a wonderful reference. I’ll come back to that later.

I’ve worked in a number of areas including Strategic Network Planning, Wealth Management, Finance, Governance and Controls, and I’ve had the opportunity to lead a number of client facing channels including Contact Centres, Online and Mobile Banking, along with our ATM network. One thing I did learn throughout my career was to be open to taking on new opportunities. It helped me build breadth, deeper knowledge, and wide networks!

The way clients interact with CIBC has changed dramatically since I started my career. But our Vision at CIBC is to be a leader in client relationships. It’s not about the mortgage or the investment product, it’s really about helping our clients buy the house they always wanted, or achieve retirement early, or help send their kids to school. Taking a client lens to what we do every day is very gratifying.

Being part of the Execs In The Know Advisory Board has been a rewarding experience. It’s a great forum to share and learn from others that all want to improve the client experience. With the pace of change it’s important to keep current on changing client behaviors, technologies and people practices. Each of us bring different perspectives, experiences, and approaches to the table and that’s the power of diversity!

My family is very important to me and we have a hectic household, with my wife running a successful Home Staging/Design business, one son at University, and a daughter starting college this year!

I’m a believer in giving back to the community and I keep active in fundraising activities for the United Way, CIBC Run for the Cure, and Movember (check out the photo). I’m a big believer in the concept of “go and see”, where you spend time at a not-for-profit agency that is supported by our United Way fund raising efforts. It’s really about seeing first hand how our donations make a difference in the various communities we operate in.

I’ll end where I started which is about the importance of having a mentor. I was fortunate to have a mentor early on, and several mentors throughout my career. These mentors didn’t tell me what to do but they listened and acted as a sounding board as I contemplated my next career move or was working through a very difficult situation. I don’t believe I would be where I am without the support of those individuals which is why I volunteer some of my time as a mentor.

The post Meet The Board – Michael Martin – The View Through the Client Lens appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Lisa at a recent open studio weekend in Yonkers, NY

Second in our “Meet The Board” series is Lisa Oswald. We hope you’ll enjoy getting the chance to know our EITK Advisory Board members a bit better over the coming months! 

Get to Know: Lisa Oswald, Senior Vice President, Customer Service at Travelzoo Inc. 

My role leading customer strategy is all about growing our company by making it easier for customers to do business with us. My commitment to deliver service for a competitive advantage — a business imperative, really – drives everything we do. That’s because consumers demand more from companies today. And making smart decisions about what our customers want and need, and how to effectively deliver that drives revenue and loyalty.

My company is Travelzoo, a global media commerce company. You probably know us as the publisher of the Travelzoo Top 20®, the definitive list of the week’s best travel, entertainment and local deals. As Senior Vice President of Customer Service, I lead global customer strategy for our 28 million members across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, driving culture change and influencing the way my colleagues think and act in support of our members. That includes helping set the organization’s product roadmap for delivering member experience outcomes. My most important role, however, is the one I take most seriously…upholding our members’ trust in our brand. After all, there’s a reason why we’re called the Deal Experts!

My role with the Advisory Board with Execs In The Know gives me a unique platform to help other service leaders solve our toughest service challenges. Collectively, we help identify the “next big thing” to break through, and stimulate conversation on how to navigate complexity to create real value. My involvement helps me stay relevant. It helps me keep pace with the unprecedented rate of change in our industry. And it exposes me to the best of the best thought leaders, innovators and service practitioners who make me a better leader.

While in business strategy little is black and white, my “second life” in the arts (I’m a monotype artist), allows me to think differently and blend creativity with business process. For me, art making is a leap of faith. I give myself over to the process and the process leads to its own result. So there’s always a spirit of freedom in my work (visit me at http://studiomonotype.com). I bring that same left brain/right brain combination to my community volunteerism, where I serve my hometown of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York as a Commissioner of the Arts. As one of a team of art advocates, I bring public art programs to our community for enrichment and economic development.

Want to talk service? Or compare notes on your favorite artist? Follow me at @LisaPOswald or message me on LinkedIn.

The post Meet The Board – Lisa Oswald – Delivering Value appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Ginna and her family.

The following is the first in our “Meet The Board” series. We hope you’ll enjoy getting the chance to know our EITK Advisory Board members a bit better over the coming months! 

Get to Know: Ginna Sauerwein, Managing Director, FedEx Services

My name is Ginna Sauerwein. My first name is pronounced like a bottle of “Gin” and then add “na”. My last name is pronounced like “Sour Wine”. I wanted to get that out of the way first because it is a constant opportunity! Thirty-two years ago, after working for good companies like J. C. Penney, Miller Brewery, and Delta Airlines, I was lucky enough to be hired by a young company named Federal Express – now grown up and called FedEx. I’ve worked in numerous capacities for FedEx over the years, and since 1993, I’ve served as a Managing Director in Customer Services. Based in Dallas, Texas, I oversee customer contact employees who provide multilingual customer information services for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Office. As a key member of the FedEx leadership team, I manage employees in customer contact centers and reps working remotely from home. I’m responsible for defining Premier Programs and implementing new customer contact channels including social media, chat, video-chat, and technical services support for fedex.com.

I believe customer experience is defined by every interaction. I think each interaction must end with a thoroughly delighted customer to ensure they will conduct business with FedEx again and again. My goal is to make it as easy as possible for the customer to interact with FedEx and to provide solutions that exceed their expectations.

My role on the Advisory Board is important to me and is best described by a two-part short story that began in 2000 and spanned two countries.

Part 1:  While living and working in Guadalajara, Mexico, I accompanied the FedEx couriers to an area of town that had lean-to houses made of cardboard and pallets, no running water or plumbing, and dirty, dusty roads. We were there to deliver toys and food we had collected for a Christmas Charity. My husband and four children went with us and we all passed out presents to the very thankful crowd. Later that year, my direct survey scores were 10 points higher than any Managing Director had ever received in Mexico. My curious boss asked how? What did I do? 

Part 2:  Later that year, FedEx moved me to Texas for a new opportunity. While we were preparing to leave Mexico, my oldest son informed me that Cinthia, a school friend who also played soccer with my daughter, wanted to move to Texas with us. I laughed and he responded with, “Mom, I am serious. Cinthia’s dream is to play basketball and you know this will never happen in Mexico.” I acknowledged reality because I knew my son was right. I told him to have Cinthia talk to me and she told me her story. Cinthia had not seen or talked to her mother in seven years because her mother only had time for her new family. Cinthia’s father supported her dream, but he had a girlfriend, a new baby, and not a lot of time for Cinthia. In that moment I said yes to Cinthia’s request. Departure day came and we arrived to pick-up Cinthia. I met her father for the first time in the driveway. My Spanish was so-so and he did not speak English. Despite the language barrier, he presented me with legal papers relinquishing his rights to his daughter. I was now her legal guardian. We got in the Suburban to leave and my thoughts were very judgmental. How could this man let his only daughter go with strangers to a foreign country? What was he thinking?

So what did I learn from these two experiences in Mexico? And how does it impact my leadership style, my thoughts about customer experience, and my role on the Advisory Board today? Let me try to explain.

Part 1: Stepping out of my office to deliver Christmas cheer in one of the poorest parts of town, reminded me that the shadow I cast as a leader – and as a parent – is extremely important. Working side by side with my team for all the right reasons, paid off professionally by improving relationships with the couriers. It also paid off personally by teaching my children a lesson. They learned that giving is as important as receiving and that helping others is the right thing to do.

Part 2: The school year started and the governing body over high school sports said Cinthia could not play basketball. We traveled to the Texas capitol to fight this decision, and after a lost hearing in Austin, our only option was to send Cinthia back to Mexico, pay for a different type of visa, and enroll her in private school. This was an expense I was not prepared for and a hardship on my family. I was feeling sorry for myself for putting us in this position, but I was not going back on my word.

A few years later, Cinthia asked me to read her senior thesis. I was shocked as I read how frightened she was the day we departed Mexico. She wrote, “I was so scared I almost opened the door on the Suburban to jump out, but Ginna turned around from the front passenger seat and flashed me that big smile, and I knew everything would be okay”. I wanted to cry. I hadn’t seen this. My perspective had been how lucky Cinthia was to escape her situation. How could I have missed how frightened Cinthia was and how incredible her father was to recognize the opportunity and let his daughter follow her dream?

Cinthia’s high school coach never gave up and was able to find her a full-ride to the University of Texas in Edinburgh. She had the highest GPA on her basketball team, graduated in four years, was accepted into grad school, and eventually played for the Women’s Mexican National Team. She has retired from basketball and now works for Microsoft.

All these years later I am grateful for my experiences in Mexico. I realize how lucky my family was to have Cinthia in our lives. We got as much, if not more, out of the relationship as she did and I now receive one extra call on Mother’s Day.

What if I had said no to Cinthia? What if I had said no to delivering gifts with my couriers? If I had said no, my family and I would have missed out on such rich experiences. So my message is this. Be aware of the power you hold in your journey, no matter if you are giving or receiving. Be conscious of the shadow you cast for others to see. Say yes to new experiences. Avoid being judgmental and consider how someone’s perspective may be different from yours. Participating on this board, and serving in a leadership role at FedEx, gives me the opportunity to enrich lives, say yes to new opportunities, adjust my perspective, help others, learn from others, and practice making the shadow I cast a positive one.

The post Meet The Board – Ginna Sauerwein – The Power of Perspective appeared first on Execs In The Know.