'The brand is special': Warren Buffett called on American Express' CEO to protect its reputation during the coronavirus pandemic
'The brand is special': Warren Buffett called on American Express' CEO to protect its reputation during the coronavirus pandemicWarren Buffett called on American Express CEO Stephen Squeri to safeguard the company's brand and customer relationships during the coronavirus pandemic.
"The one thing he has and will continue to always point out to us is that the brand is special," Squeri said about the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway boss in mid-March. "The most important thing about American Express is the brand and the customers that aspire to be associated with the brand," Buffett told Squeri when he became CEO, Squeri said this week. American Express followed Buffett's guidance by prioritizing service, adjusting rewards, and offering relief to struggling customers.Warren Buffett gave a key piece of advice to American Express CEO Stephen Squeri about navigating the coronavirus pandemic as it threatened to spark a surge in late payments and defaults: protect the company's brand and customer relationships. "I talked to our largest shareholder, Warren Buffett," Squeri said on an investor update call in mid-March, according to a transcript on Sentieo, a financial-research site. "The one thing he has and will continue to always point out to us is that the brand is special," the head of the financial-services titan continued. "That brand needs to be cared for, the brand needs to be invested in and we will continue to do so through tough times and through the good times," he added.An elite 'ultra growth' investor explains how he's beating the market in 2020 — and analyzes 4 stocks he thinks will help him stay on top for the next 5 years"It is so important that we take care of our customers during this time," he said."Some of them are going through stressful situations."Buffett offered similar advice to Squeri shortly after he became American Express CEO in 2018. The investor told him that"the most important thing about American Express is the brand and the customers that aspire to be associated with the brand," Squeri said at a Bernstein conference this week, another Sentieo transcript showed. Squeri took Buffett's guidance on board as US officials began shutting businesses and issuing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the virus, hammering the economy and spiking unemployment. American Express focused on maintaining its customer service after it was forced to shift from a fully physical operation to a virtual one, he said. Call volumes didn't drop with"lots of people looking for refunds," but the business made picking up the phone a top priority, he added.
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