RELATIONSHIP BUILDER

Amex country manager Marlin Brown says everything starts with asking customers what they really want.

Sitting casually in a stylish suit next to colleagues who seem at ease around him, Marlin Brown is explaining how he fuses his passion for business and life to ensure the delivery of a topnotch customer experience. “You’ll find it hard to separate me from business,” says Mr Brown, the vice-president and country manager of American Express in Thailand, setting the tone for the interview with Asia Focus.

Personally, he says, he is not too concerned about having a “deep line between work and personal life”, suggesting that the person you see in the office is the same one you’d see in his home.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Mr Brown not only shares a hometown with one of the biggest names in the music industry — Beyoncé — but also her famous work ethic. He is driven by a desire to deliver only the best results.

“I’m passionate about what we do and about taking care of other people and we have a unique opportunity to do that in our daily life,” he says.

Having lived in Thailand now for four years, Mr Brown says the experience has taught him a lot about the Thai market and Thai consumer tastes and perspectives. But his familiarity with Asian culture goes back to when he was completing his bachelor’s degree in accounting at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. There, he had to take a Chinese culture course as pat of the core curriculum. “We had to read a Chinese novel Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong,” he recalls.

This early exposure to Asian culture instilled in him “the understanding that there is a whole different way to see the world in different parts of the world, and they’re not necessarily wrong”.

Ever since then, Mr Brown knew he wanted to work in a global company, and when he had the chance, he was blown away by the dynamism of cities such as Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai. The exposure left a profound impact on him. The love he developed for Asian culture and people has proved to be long-lasting as he is married to a Chinese national, Joey Chen, and they have a beautiful, two-year-old daughter.

The experience, coupled with an open mind, allowed him to adapt and navigate cultural differences. After working at the New York headquarters of the accounting and advisory giant KPMG for a number of years, he joined American Express in 2011. That led to an opportunity to move to Hong Kong, and then Bangkok in 2016.

“I was fortunate working in Hong Kong where I oversaw small teams in seven countries, so I had an opportunity to interact with people across China, Japan, Taiwan and Thailand and get some introduction into different cultures,” he says.

One constant in the various transitions he has made has been open-mindedness and the desire to understand what the other person is trying to convey.

RELATIONSHIPS MATTER MOST

Drawing on his love for travel, Mr Brown applies that passion to delivering the best customer service from American Express, which has been in the Thai market for 37 years. That starts with looking at everything from the customer’s perspective to understand what they want.

“It is constantly changing, so how do we continually keep up with what their desires, wants and needs are?” he asks rhetorically.

All players in the financial services industry are striving to deliver the best service to customers, who have grown used to instant gratification in a digital world. What differentiates a brand from its competitors, in Mr Brown’s view, is the “continuous relationship” that it forges with the customers.

“The world is constantly changing and while other things may change, fundamentally what does not change is the personal side — the relationship and how we engage in that relationship,” he says.

Building a lasting relationship with customers is the modus operandi of both Mr

Brown and American Express. It’s a mission that energises him and inspires him to come to work every day, he says.

“It gives us a reason to continue the conversation, continue the dialogue and continue the relationship. So that’s what we’re excited about.”

The idea resonates in the brand as well. American Express in Thailand, starting this month, is replacing its plastic cards with metal ones and ramping up benefits for cardholders, in a move to deliver enhanced customer satisfaction and cement its reputation as one of the leaders in the luxury card segment.

Metal cards still have novelty and rarity value, adding to their appeal. What most people don’t know is that Amex actually pioneered the metal card 20 years ago with the Centurion Card. The invitation-only card is not an easy one to get, requiring a US$7,500 initiation fee and a $2,500 annual fee.

LEADING IS SERVING

For Mr Brown, leadership is all about serving others. This belief is manifested in his presence among his colleagues. He is warm yet encouraging and treats his peers with respect while always encouraging them and recognising their good work.

Communication is fundamental to business and leadership, he stresses. This applies both in his working relationships and the relationship American Express is trying to forge with its customers.

“It’s about listening more and understanding what people want to do, and how can we help them,” he says. “What people want to do seems to be continually expanding further and further because the world is changing, and people are consistently wanting to travel to new and different places. The customers want unique experiences.

“In Thailand, people are looking for inspiration in new places that they bring back to their activities back home, which is very exciting. They go out to see some new culture and bring the inspiration to their work every day.”

Therefore, the big question in proving excellent customer experience is: how do we understand what they are looking for? How do we enhance it? How do we help them get what they want? But most importantly, how do you know what they want?

“To know that, you have to talk to people,” he says. “We at American Express have made an effort to reach out and talk to people and ask them. We don’t just assume that we know because you don’t know until you ask people, ‘What are you trying to do?’ and ‘How can we help?’ and there’s an incredible thing in relationship building and that’s where the excitement lies.”

One of the natural benefits that makes American Express unique, in his view, is that the company operates in a closed loop. “We are a bank. We issue cards. We are the entire ecosystem. The amount of information is there transparently through the entire customer experience.

“We have is a single experience for the customer and we have the whole ecosystem, so we control the whole experience, or I say we influence the whole experience and we have the knowledge. Therefore, it gives us some unique insights into customer behaviours and habits and that helps us design and enhance experiences for them.”

EVERYTHING STARTS INTERNALLY

Building relationships is the fundamental mission that Mr Brown emphasises throughout the interview, because for him, relationship building has to start from the micro level: in the work environment.

“What we strive to do every day is to give more than we receive from customers,” he says. “We are trying to do it with each other in the office. We always ask ourselves, how do we support each other? How do we collaborate and how do we utilise each other’s experiences and skills to help each other accomplish their goals?”

As a leader, he tries to foster a team-oriented environment. “There’s something gratifying about it if you spend your day working with a team and you help them grow. The person next to you helps the person next to them. It just feels good and it perpetuates,” he says, praising his colleagues for encouraging him to grow and change for the better every day.

“That’s why I like going to work every day. My colleagues have helped me change and grow and help me feel energised and be passionate about work. You never finish. This gives you energy for the next day,” he says, stressing that he champions open communication.

“You always want to live with inspiration and positive energy. It’s a challenge. Every day is not easy. We have 330 people in our office, and they see the world in 330 different ways. I can assume that I am right but that’s delusional. Therefore, how do you navigate 330 perspectives in the same direction?”

Claiming not to have the perfect answer to successful leadership, Mr Brown says that what works best for him is being open and listening.

“As a leader you need to have the confidence to continually move forward while never losing the ability to listen,” he says. “But if you listen and don’t push, then you are not going anywhere. Therefore, you have to listen and adjust along the way.”

He encourages his colleagues to adopt that approach — listening and learning from each other — across their teams. “We want everyone to be open-minded. We want to make sure everyone feels safe to actually get their views out.”

While he views himself as “100% easygoing” in working relationships, Mr Brown says that view of himself doesn’t have to go unchallenged. When it comes to perceptions, other people may not look at him the same way he does. “I might think I’m being very warm and relaxed,” he says. “My colleague may not perceive me that way. Her input is just as legitimate as mine.”

The idea is fundamental to his working style, as he describes himself as open to feedback. “If I have to say it, I would probably tell you that I take feedback extremely well. We have come up with an analogy of how to think about it: I can’t just be an open cup. I must be an open and empty cup because you can’t put anything in a full cup. I have to listen, and I will listen.

“We have to talk about it in an open way, and sometimes it takes two to three conversations to get where we want to go. This way, we get better answers and make better decisions. We see results that make us feel better, which creates more opportunity, and then it creates a virtuous cycle.”

As our discussion nears an end, Mr Brown stresses that his life’s mission is simple: to serve others and make a positive impact. “The ability to serve others is gratifying. I have the opportunity to make a positive impact in the workplace where people spend 8-12 hours a day,” he says.

“I want to make it a place where people grow and learn. I have the ability to make the environment better. And if we can create a world where 330 people feel like they have the ability to serve a larger group, that’s satisfactory.”

Even though the world is going through tough times with many uncertainties, Mr Brown remains a firm believer in people, stating that the key to navigating through tough times is optimism. “I always think that we will always find a way in the long term. I believe that fundamentally people are good.”

The key, he says, is to always stay positive about the long term. “You have to be optimistic. There’s no downside to being optimistic and there’s no upside in being pessimistic.”

What people want to do seems to be continually expanding further and further because the world is changing, and people are consistently wanting to travel to new and different places. The customers want unique experiences

We have 330 people in our office, and they see the world in 330 different ways. I can assume that I am right but that’s delusional. Therefore, how do you navigate 330 perspectives in the same direction?