CFO Studio Magazine with David Chambers, CFO, Jaguar Land Rover NA

EVENTS 42 WWW.CFOSTUDIO.COM 3rd QUARTER 2016 EXECUTIVE DINNER SERIES O ne would expect CFOs from different industries to have very diverse opinions and concerns, but when customer service is the issue, “we all think alike,” says Brian Friedman, CFO of the New York Jets. “Whether your customers are 80,000 football fans or high net-worth individuals, at the end of the day, business is business and it’s all the same.” Mr. Friedman spoke on “Delivering Customer Service 80,000 Fans at a Time — The CFO’s Role in Managing Operations, Finance, and Risk” at a World-Class Companies CFO Dinner, part of CFO Studio’s Executive Dinner Series, held recently at Park Avenue Winter, a well-known restaurant in New York City. In an interview, he said he found it “professionally validating” that everyone in the room felt the way he did about “the complexities of customer service, the challenges of dealing with high-value/ high-expectation customers,” and the CFO’s role in fulfilling customer expectations. Mr. Friedman began the evening’s discussion by highlighting the scope of what customer service at the Jets entails: “On game day, we’ve got 80,000 fans in the seats [at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ]. The population of the city of Trenton is 85,000.” In contrast, he noted that one participant at the CFO Studio event had as many as 300,000 customers, while others had far fewer customers. Yet, as CFOs, their goals are identical: “We all have to make sure that we collect more cash than we send out.” And that is why the role of the CFO, he explained, has evolved to include a focus on customer service and not just accounting. “When all is said and done, we are helping to shape the company’s strategy, helping to determine the allocation of investments Customer Matters MORE THANNUMBER CRUNCHING, CFOS TODAY ARE FOCUSED ONDRIVINGTHE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE L. to R.: Brian Friedman, CFO, the New York Jets led the discussion on customer service; Andrew Zezas, publisher of CFO Studio magazine, hosted the event CFO Studio’s Business Development Partner, Tidemark, was represented by George Neal, Regional VP of Sales “WE’RE ALL LOOKING FOR SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT WILL HELP US ... DRIVE BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE.” BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS