Bank of Montreal 2008 Annual Report Download - page 14

10 | BMO Financial Group 191st Annual Report 2008
PROGRESS REPORT
Defining great customer
experience
We understand that financial performance is linked to our ability to deliver
what customers want –less complexity and easier access to the help they
need to make their financial decisions.
Customers told us they want less complexity and more help in making financial decisions –and that banks
can do better. At BMO, we saw an opportunity: to remove that complexity and help people make sense of
their finances. Our commitment –to make money make sense –is our response to the fundamental reason
customers walk through our doors: to realize their ambitions, to build their financial futures and to manage risk.
Today more than ever, people bank and invest with us for the experience and insights we bring to the table.
Making sense of financial challenges and opportunities means that when customers walk out our doors, they
have a sense of confidence. They are confident in their financial futures and they are confident they have
chosen the right bank. This is critical to BMO’s long-term growth and competitiveness.
Focusing on our customers
When we launched the first phase of our customer
commitment two years ago, all employees, from
head office to the front line, sharpened their focus
on the customer. We introduced Net Promoter Score
(NPS) –a measure of customer loyalty –to many
more of our businesses. Today, NPS helps us gauge
how we are doing with custo mers across most of the
enterprise and points of contact. In 2008, we intro-
duced a program that defines service fundamentals
and promotes the consistent delivery of the service
our customers expect.
From small and large businesses to investors and
institutions, we’re working across BMO to raise every
customer’s expectations. This is why our advertising
campaigns in Canada and the United States now
carry simple but provocative statements that directly
address customer concerns.
These programs have played a critical role in
preparing us to be the bank that defines great
customer experience.
Everyone’s on board
BMO’s vision is a point of pride for our employees.
It puts the energy, strength and intelligence of
the entire organization squarely behind our cus-
tomers. And we’re signalling this commitment with
per formance measures that link all employees’
compensation at BMO to our success with customers.
Expanding our branch network
At the same time, we have been enhancing our
community presence with a campaign to add or
redevelop branches in prime locations across Canada.
The redesign will increase the street-level visibility
of BMO’s distinctive blue –one of the most recog -
nizable corporate colours in Canada. And to provide
a wider range of customers with a more compre -
hensive offer ing, we’re placing a full com plement of
retail and commercial bankers, as well as wealth
manage ment professionals, in more of our locations.
Similarly, at Harris we are primarily growing our
branch network through acquisitions. Under the Harris
banner, we have grown 44% over the past three
years and now operate over 280 branches in three
states in the U.S. Midwest.