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Tag: Credit Unions

Manage the Walk-In Appointment Journey

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Give your customer experience and branch performance a boost with Coconut Lobby Management. The ‘phigital’ solution to mapping the customer journey.

Partnering With Vendors Providing Custom Branding

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Have you ever visited a company website, clicked on a link from a call to action, and been redirected over to a web page that no longer looked or felt like the brand? If so, did you continue along the customer journey? Or did you bounce? Inconsistent branding can lead to brand confusion as well as a poor customer experience. Your organization’s branding is its public representation.  Ensuring that your third-party partner can offer custom branding that matches your guidelines is crucial when you’re aiming to create a cohesive journey for your customers. Here are the benefits of partnering with a vendor that fully supports custom branding and the risks of choosing a solution that fails to do so. Create a Cohesive Customer Journey Customers expect to have pleasant, streamlined interactions with their service providers, and with the increased demand for efficient customer experience, it is imperative that your organization provides the high level of service customers are beginning to demand.  Creating a cohesive journey for your customers includes keeping your company messaging and visual appearance consistent, no matter what steps they take through your customer-facing channels. The Importance of Custom Branding with Third-Party Tools When your organization builds the customer journey with touchpoints powered by third-party vendors it is crucial that those platforms can support your organization’s custom branding to keep the customer journey as consistent as possible.  For example, let’s say you have implemented a scheduling solution into your organization’s online platform.  When a customer clicks on ‘Schedule an Appointment’, it will take them off your website and into the third-party tool.  If the branding on the page is not consistent with your company’s branding guidelines, the customer could abandon the process, thinking the site is not affiliated with your organization due to lack of branding consistency.  This can lead to lost revenue due to your customer abandoning their appointment scheduling journey, and leaves you open to the risk of churn. Losing customers to something as simple as inconsistent branding is a scary thought, but it’s something that is easy to avoid.  When the vendors you choose to partner with offer full support for custom branding, your customers will not be able to distinguish between your home platform and the third-party solution, providing them with an enhanced yet consistent experience.  According to Capgemini, 91% of banks already want to collaborate with FinTechs to provide their customers with an enhanced experience. Why Brand Messaging and Tone is Important with Third-Party Tools Consistency in brand messaging is just as important as a consistent appearance for third-party solutions.  For example, if your brand’s voice is friendly and whimsical, yet the tone used in the third-party solution is cold and stark, it can quickly change your customer’s attitude towards your organization, potentially causing them to abandon their journey and costing you business. Whether you are using a third-party vendor within your online platform or using it to communicate with customers through email or social media, it is crucial that you have the ability to provide consistent brand messaging to create a cohesive experience for your customers. Custom Branding ROI When you invest in a solution that fully supports custom branding your organization will experience a return on investment.  The main benefits that come with custom branding are that it reduces churn by creating a cohesive experience for your customers, as well as helps acquire new business due to brand recognition.  In fact, 77% of B2B marketing leaders state branding is critical to the growth of an organization. Recognition for Current Customers Marketing efforts are not just for acquiring new customers.  They also help promote new services and products to your current customers. If you are using a third-party solution to communicate with customers via email or social media, consistent branding is crucial so customers recognize and acknowledge the information you are trying to communicate.  If the branding of your customer messaging is off, it could cause customers to disregard your message entirely since they do not recognize who the content is coming from. Another scenario is that the customer does see the content, but is wary of the source due to the inconsistent branding and proceeds to ignore it. Brand Recognition and Customer Acquisition When an organization is recognizable due to their consistent branding, they are perceived as more dependable and reliable.  According to BrandExtract, “A consistent brand helps increase the overall value of your company by reinforcing your position in the marketplace, attracting better-quality customers with higher retention rates and raising the perceived value of your products or services.” When partnering with a vendor that does not support full branding, you are placing your organization at risk of customers ignoring or not recognizing your communication efforts.  This is problematic because if customers do not recognize your communication efforts they might feel as though your organization is dropping the ball in terms of providing a premium customer service.  Additionally, this could result in a loss of potential revenue because your customers are missing out on communications regarding promotions or new service offerings. Experience Full Support for Custom Branding with Coconut Coconut Software’s enterprise appointment scheduling solution fully supports your organization’s branding, from the messaging style for email and SMS notifications, to the shape and color of the buttons in your scheduling solution. With our solution, customers can schedule appointments directly through your organization’s website.  They’ll also receive confirmation messages after the appointment is scheduled and reminder notifications leading up to the appointment.  With full support for custom branding, the look of the scheduling interface will match the rest of your company’s website, and the custom emails will follow your brand guidelines so that your customers recognize the consistent look and feel they are used to and know which organization is contacting them. Looking to boost revenue and deliver a premium experience to your clients? Schedule a consultation with Coconut Software to learn more about how our appointment scheduling solutions can get you there.

Why Integrate CRM With Your Appointment Management Solution

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Appointment management software plays a critical role in any organizations digital transformation. To get the most out of your solution, integrating your CRM software is a necessity. Doing so avoids a disjointed operations and a silo’d workforce, not to mention setting your organization up for future success. If you choose to implement and integrate a appointment management solution with your business CRM, you’ll want to ensure both applications provide an open API. This will allow your business to integrate both systems and experience the ultimate benefits of enhancing your operational processes. The Risks of Not Integrating Your CRM If your organization chooses a appointment management solution that does not provide integration options, you are placing yourself at an increased risk of slowing down operational processes, increasing informational gaps, and creating a disjointed customer experience. Impact on Operational Processes The information necessary for appointment management appointments, that also has to be stored in your CRM application, will require duplicate data entry if your appointment management solution is not integrated with your business CRM. This is going to be a nightmare for staff responsible for recording customer information, as they’ll have to re-input data that already exists in another application. And it will cost your organization money due to wasted staff time. Duplicate data entry is also problematic since it leaves room for error when an individual is asked to manually transfer information from one application to another. Disjointed Customer Experience Not integrating your appointment management solution with your CRM application may mean you are inadvertently delivering a disjointed customer experience. At the time of the appointment scheduling, your customer can give additional insight into their needs, and what they hope to accomplish in their upcoming appointment. But, if up-to-date information is not available when your customer-facing staff check the scheduling system to gain insight into a customer’s needs, they’ll end up working with outdated or no information at all. If you were the customer who scheduled an appointment with your financial services provider, imagine how frustrating it would be to answer several questions during the appointment scheduling, only to find out their advisor doesn’t have access to that information. Now, they have to answer the same questions again, since their advisor prepared for the appointment based on outdated information. Process without a CRM, appointment scheduling integration in your contact center Individual contacts your organization to book an appointment Contact center representative asks the individual for their basic information Contact center representative has no idea if the individual is a current or new customer Contact center representative has to input all the customer’s information to schedule the appointment Once the appointment is scheduled, the representative has to log into your business CRM to manually input this information for the second time, taking up time and leaving room for error Process with a CRM, appointment scheduling integration Individual contacts your organization to book an appointment Contact center representative asks the individual for their basic information Contact center representative can see if the individual is a current or new customer If the individual is a new customer, the information put into the scheduling system will also be saved to your organization’s CRM If they are a returning customer, the CRM will be able to populate the fields in the scheduling system, saving time for both the call center representative and the customer The result is a more streamlined reporting and back-end process The 3 Benefits of Integrating CRM When you are an appointment driven business, you want to ensure you are providing a premium experience to your customers, so they want to continue working with you. Integrating your appointment management solution with your CRM will enable your institution to communicate more effectively with your clients, streamline operational processes and improve communication. 1. Streamline Operational Processes Having a single, integrated platform, it will eliminate the task of duplicate data entry. Once both of your applications storing customer information are integrated, your staff will no longer have to input the same customer data into multiple applications. Not only does this streamline operational processes by removing a time-consuming task, but it increases the accuracy of customer information. Coconut Software’s appointment management platform allows your appointment analytics to directly sync to your CRM application so you can track metrics such as attempted and completed customer interactions with your business, and the customer information collected when the appointment was scheduled. The customer and company data is updated in real time, ensuring your advisors have the most recent customer data, allowing your organization to provide a premium customer experience and enhance operational efficiencies. 2. Enhance the Customer Experience Having your appointment management solution paired with your CRM application allows for all customer information to be stored in one place, enabling you to use multiple channels and streamline operational processes. Coconut Software’s appointment management platform allows you to capture and track information about the products your specific customers are using, and their previous behavior with your organization. With this information, you can tailor future interactions to meet their needs. For example, one of your customer-facing advisors checks the history of a customer with an upcoming appointment to discuss insurance plan options. While looking into their history, the advisor can see the customer has invested in a TFSA with your organization in the past. With this insight, the advisor prepares a pitch for another type of investment account to share with the customer during their appointment. This allows your organization to potentially up-sell customers and shows you are in tune with their needs and past behaviors. 3. Enhance Company Communication Another benefit of integrating your appointment management solution with your CRM application is that you can improve communication within your organization by having all of your employees working from the same platform. When a customer schedules an appointment through either your business’s online channel or contact center, the information collected at that time will also be visible in your CRM. This allows your customer-facing staff to have the necessary insight into

5 Benefits of Appointment Scheduling Software

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It’s a jungle out there. These days the competition will take every advantage to break out from the pack. That’s why it’s so important that businesses strongly consider the benefits of appointment scheduling software. According to industry analysts, appointment scheduling software use is projected to grow in business by 9.8% between 2017 and 2021. There’s no denying that appointment scheduling software provides a ton of benefits for your business. But for the lingering skeptics out there, here are 5 ways appointment scheduling software can put companies one step ahead of the competition. Benefit 1. Reach More Customers, In Less Time A customer no-show represents a wasted investment of time and employee resources. And too many no-shows will adversely impact a business. An appointment software helps businesses maintain their competitiveness by reducing no-shows and optimizing the customer service experience. By cutting down on customer wait time, you’ll be reducing their frustration and improving employee performance in one fell swoop. The efficiency of the software also saves employee time, allowing them to service more customers. More customers mean more revenue opportunities for your business, and that’s never a bad thing. Benefit 2. Automated Communication Ensures You Stay in the Loop Most scheduling software packages worth their weight also include automated phone and text reminders for customers. Automated communications ensure that customers never slip through the cracks and also contributes to employee productivity. Benefit 3. Gain Actionable Insights & Analytics In an age where businesses are making major decisions based on customer data, companies can’t afford to be left behind. A premium appointment scheduling software package designed for enterprises allows them to monitor valuable employee productivity and customer data with the push of a button. This provides a better understanding of customers and this knowledge helps drive disruptive, actionable processes in all aspects of the business, from product development to marketing and communications. Benefit 4. Deliver Personalized Experience to Customers In order to stay competitive, it’s critical that businesses take every opportunity to make a good impression on their customers. White label features allows for delivering a personalized customer service experience that is consistent with the company’s brand. In addition, sending tailored email communications and notifications also helps keep a company’s brand top of mind and provides a more holistic experience. Appointment scheduling software gives companies the power to start conversations that customers look forward to coming back to. Benefit 5. Superior Project Management and Efficiency Go Hand in Hand Calendar-syncing, single sign-on, and technical support when needed are some of the important features to look out for when choosing appointment scheduling software. Companies that avoid the upfront investment to use this software risk the possibility of operating inefficiently and leaving revenue on the table for competitors. A centralized customer-oriented scheduling solution helps manage projects efficiently and minimizes bottlenecks by making appointment scheduling quick and easy. The decision to take the leap and invest in an automated solution to customer appointment scheduling requires a lot of consideration. It’s important for businesses to find the right mix of features and cost to fit their specific needs. The ease of appointment scheduling can make you stand out from the competition. The time is now to jump on the bandwagon and get a leg up on the competition before it’s too late. If you’re interested in learning more about the value that online appointment scheduling solutions can add to your business, check out our value report. What’s Next? Interested in learning how appointment scheduling can help your entire organization engage more efficiently and effectively with customers? Download our Customer Experience Whitepaper. Ready to get started? Schedule a consultation today.

Top 3 Credit Union Scheduling Pain Points

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Depending on the size of a credit union, scheduling pain points arise for both advisors and members when it comes to their appointment management system. Pain points generally culminate around staffing requirements, research and preparation and system limitations. These pain points lead to unproductive meetings with members, missed meetings and lost time and revenue for the credit union. We’ve recently compiled the top 3 scheduling pain points that we have come across in meetings with our credit union clients over the past year. Additionally, we’ve highlighted the ways that enterprise appointment software addresses these issues, leading to less missed and more productive meetings. Credit Union – Top 3 Scheduling Pain Points 1. Establish the Omni Channel Within the Credit Union industry, the idea of the omnichannel is very important. Credit Unions understand that their members are diverse and prefer a choice for how they interact with its advisors. In order to create a fully optimized omnichannel experience, Credit Unions are looking to offer an opportunity at every level of their member interaction to book an advisor meeting. This means, over the phone, in person and online. Credit Union’s currently have a tried and true model when it comes to in branch and contact center interactions. What ends up being the missing piece is a quality digital option to help your members connect with your team. With online appointment scheduling, Credit Unions are able to empower their members by allowing them to select the branch and meeting time that works best for them. It creates efficiencies and a seamless experience for all involved. 2. Visibility of Resources and Expertise across the Branches The ability to provide a visual of which advisors can perform specific services within each branch has been very difficult for tellers, members and contact center agents to book appointments in real-time. Real-time online scheduling maps out which advisors are certified to perform what services at which branch, creating a simple online view and scheduling ability for your members, branch staff and contact center. 3. Wait Times and Hold Times Credit Unions are challenged with longer than desired wait times for contact center and walk in traffic. These wait times are resulting in frustration from its members, busy lobbies and potential missed opportunities to connect with drop-off and walk out traffic. Online scheduling creates visibility into the advisor’s real-time schedule, alleviating wait times and spreading traffic within the branch across more time slots. On very busy walk in days, providing times to meet with your advisors is convenient to your members and respects everyone’s time. Automated reminder messages reduces no shows, eliminates wait times and increases your member experience. Learn about the key features and integrations that enterprise organizations need from an appointment management solution. Download Coconut Software’s Appointment Management Data Sheet today. Looking to boost revenue and deliver a premium experience to your clients? Schedule a consultation with Coconut Software to learn more about how our appointment scheduling solutions can get you there.