Question

BLOG EXERCISE: You are writing a weekly intranet blog for the CEO of a large Canadian financial institution – ABC Financial. The blog is received by all 3,000 employees in the company and covers a wide range of topics relevant to the company. The CEO is committed to this blog as a means of motivating and engaging employees, informing them of the company’s achievements and challenging and keeping them focused on the company’s overall strategy. That strategy is to enhance shareholder value by providing outstanding customer service.

This week, the CEO focuses on these points (listed randomly below) in her blog:

Thank employees for their participation in the company’s annual United Way charity drive – which raised over $4 million in employee contributions.

Comment on the company’s recent quarterly results – which showed an increase in profits of 5 per cent. This is good news for the company. But it also experienced a corresponding rise in costs of 6 per cent, which could have a negative effect on earnings going forward.

Mention the launch of a new internal program – called “Extra Mile” -- designed to train employees to provide exceptional customer service that goes beyond normal expectations.

Tell employees about her trip to Vancouver where she saw an employee at one of the bank’s branches deliver great service to a customer – by processing her transactions quickly, suggesting a new wealth management product that was tailored to the customer’s needs, and then referring the customer to the bank’s wealth management department so that a financial advisor could help her put together an investment portfolio for her retirement And by the way, the employee also helped the customer find her keys which she had lost in the bank’s parking lot.

Note: Try to tie the above points together with a unifying theme. And remember – make it personal in tone.   

For examples of blogs – go on the Internet and search Linkedin, and corporate or organizational websites. Analyze for effectiveness. Look at tone. Layout. Clarity.

Answer 1

I take this opportunity to thank all of you for participating in the company’s annual United Way charity drive which raised over $4 million in employee contributions.

I would also like to congratulate you as we have increased profits by 5 per cent in the recent quarter.

Having said that, we also experienced a corresponding rise in costs of 6 per cent.

This could have a negative effect on earnings going forward but I have faith that we will work out a plan to lower these costs.

Recently I went for a trip to Vancouver where I came across a passionate & zealous employee who taught me a very important customer service lesson.

I saw her at one of our branches where she was delivering great customer service. She did this by processing the customer's transactions quickly, suggesting her a new wealth management product which suited her needs perfectly. She also referred the customer to the wealth management department so that the financial advisor could help her put together an investment portfolio for her retirement. But the icing on the cake was that she helped the customer to find her keys which she had lost in the bank's parking lot. She went out of the way to help her & probably established a relationship with the customer that could last a lifetime.

This made me realise that customer service is not a profession but a mindset.

Keeping this in mind & ensuring that we continue to deliver such exceptional customer service, we have launched a new internal program called “Extra Mile”

It is designed to train all of us to provide exceptional customer service that goes beyond normal expectations & leads to customer satisfaction.

I encourage all of you to participate in this program & take our organisation to new heights.

Thought for the week: Going the "Extra Mile" will bring you & your customers a "Smile"