3 Ways to Fast-Track Your Bank Appointment Scheduling Process
Why is booking appointments with banks such a laborious process? Oftentimes, frontline staff can’t see everyone’s schedules, advisors are playing phone tag with high-value customers, and staff are parsing through endless email threads—all leading to slow response times.
The truth is, clients have come to expect the ease of booking appointments offered by their dentist or hair stylist—and it’s time for financial institutions to catch up to these streamlined experiences. We’re here to show you how.
In this article, we’ll walk you through three strategies for increasing the speed and efficiency of your appointment process. First, by creating a customer experience that prioritizes self-serve features. Second, by increasing clients’ convenience through thoughtful choices and routing. And finally, by automating your appointment processes.
Create a five-star appointment experience with our comprehensive guide ⭐ →
1. Make Your Appointment Scheduling Process Self-Serve, Digital, and Accessible
The key to increasing the speed and efficiency of your appointment process is using the right appointment and queuing tool. By setting up self-serve digital bank appointment scheduling software, members can easily book appointments online, which are automatically added to advisors’ calendars.
Make this service accessible by adding a booking link anywhere your clients regularly connect with you. Consider adding an appointment booking button to your:
- Website’s top navigation bar, next to the “login” button
- “Find a location” page
- Support page
- In-app help center
- Staff email signatures
- In-branch self-sign-in kiosks
- Branch front door, via a QR code
But don’t stop there. Save even more time by adding custom booking links—a link that’s just to book with one campaign, team, or individual—to save customers those extra clicks. If you’re promoting your wealth management services, you could include a booking link to meet directly with one of your wealth advisors. An easy win.
2. Offer Multiple Appointment Channels and Route Accordingly
You may be thinking, “Wouldn’t offering more choices be less efficient for my appointment process?” The truth is, you’re better able to direct your clients to exactly who they need to talk to. Instead of going into a general queue and talking to frontline staff who’ll refer clients to a specific advisor, people get to the right person—a net time savings for staff and clients alike.
Start by offering customers multiple ways to meet: in person, by phone, and via video call. These options also give your staff the flexibility of taking meetings whether they’re working in-branch, remotely, or if they’re traveling across branches. In just a few clicks, they can be available for any customer’s or member’s meeting preference.
Also, collecting information about clients’ needs allows you to route them accordingly. Add a few extra required questions to your booking process, like:
- What is your desired location?
- Desired service?
- What is the reason for your appointment?
- What is the level of urgency?
Don’t forget to give your clients the option to change their minds. Allowing clients the ability to edit their appointment reduces no-shows and wastes less of everyone’s time when clients need to change the appointment location or desired service.
3. Automate, Automate, Automate
Did you know you can automate several parts of your appointment process? If your new customers are automatically added to a welcome email nurture, include an appointment booking link to onboard them and answer questions.
Once new appointments are booked, automate any instructions or document requests in the “success” page, confirmation email, calendar invite, reminder texts, and emails.
Do they need to bring a pay stub to their appointment or their identification? Automate reminders at least one day and one hour before so your clients never show up unprepared.
Similarly, when banks and credit unions automate the collection of appointment reasons and personal information, staff are better prepared to serve clients right away—as opposed to requiring a summary from the client during their first meeting. This shortens the length and number of appointments needed to serve your members (and leaves room for more appointments).
On top of automating staff’s tasks like—booking appointments, changing times, dates or locations, documentation reminders, and collecting pre-appointment information—appointment scheduling software also simplifies follow-up reminders. Think signing documentation or booking further appointments. With all that automation, it’s no wonder why appointment booking platforms are fast becoming many banks and credit unions’ CX secret weapon.
We’re in the Fast Lane Now
Making your appointment booking process self-serve, digital, and accessible is what your clients expect from a modern financial institution. Routing your clients by appointment type to exactly who they want to see leads to a better experience. And automating processes removes the guesswork and helps you scale appointments faster.
When you increase the efficiency of your meeting scheduling process, you’ll likely see that appointment quality and duration improves, too. Sometimes, moving fast doesn’t break things—it makes them even better.