Wells Fargo 2006 Annual Report Download - page 7

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customer satisfaction with the way we originate and service their
mortgages. In Wholesale Banking, our customer satisfaction
scores were among the highest in our industry and have risen the
last four years—with more than eight of 10 customers rating
their total experience with us “above average” to “excellent.” Our
own team members—whose attitudes are the leading indicator
of customer attitudes—tell us they’re satisfied and happy in their
work by a ratio of seven to one, in the top quartile, about four
times the national average for all workers.
So, what keeps us from being known as absolutely off-the-
charts great in providing a superior customer experience each
time, every time? The fault lies not with our team members. They
try to give their all for our customers every minute of every day.
They try to do what’s right for our customers so we can satisfy
all their financial needs.
The Cost of Complexity
We’ve concluded that the problem lies not just with the growing
demands of customers for more simplicity in their lives, but in the
complexity of our organization. A lack of consistency across our
business lines in some processes and systems prevents us from
always asking, “How will this look to the customer?” Simple or
complex? Easy or time-consuming? Friendly or formal? Intuitive
or confusing? As a diversified financial services company, more
than just a bank, we have more than 80 businesses. That’s a great
advantage. We can offer customers more value and convenience
—and give them a better deal for bringing us more and preferably
all of their business. We can build relationships that last a lifetime.
We can drive more revenue through our large, fixed-cost
distribution network. We can diversify our risk and revenue
sources and thus achieve consistent double-digit earnings growth.
We can offer our team members lots of career opportunities
within a large, growing, dynamic company.
Being so large and diverse, however, also can be a disadvantage.
Complexity can have a hidden cost. Presenting ourselves to our
customers as 80+ different Wells Fargos can sometimes make it
“What we want to instill is a
culture of collaboration that
instinctively and naturally puts
what is best for the customer
first—and then deliver it.”
difficult for our customers to do business with us. So, in many
ways, our most formidable competitor is…ourselves. As Pogo in
the comics used to say, “We have met the enemy, and they is us.”
Customers aren’t waiting for companies such as ours to raise
the bar on service quality. They’re raising it themselves. We’re
No. 1 in our industry in the average number of products per
customer, but with that leadership comes a responsibility. The more
business our customers give us, the more they expect from us.
“One Wells Fargo”
To make it easier for our customers to do business with us,
we’re changing the way we think and act—as one company, not
80+ separate businesses. Among ourselves, we call this way of
thinking and acting “one Wells Fargo.” We’re asking ourselves,
“What are the most significant ways we can present ourselves to
our customers as one company?” We want our customers to see
us as one organization not separately as a bank, a mortgage
company, a consumer finance company, a commercial/corporate
bank, a wealth management company or an insurance company.
Likewise, we must see each customer not just as a bank customer,
a mortgage customer, a consumer finance customer, a commercial
customer, an investment customer or an insurance customer,
but as a Wells Fargo customer.
It’s not enough to make sure we incent all our businesses
financially to work well together or partner effectively. The self-
interest of our separate businesses is not enough, because from the
start it leaves the most important person out of the equation:
the customer! What we want to instill is a culture of collaboration
that instinctively and naturally puts what is best for the customer
first—and then deliver it.
Examining Our Processes
To think and act instinctively as “one Wells Fargo,” we’re
systematically examining the major processes inside our company
that are most important to make it easier for our customers to do
business with us.