6 Steps to a Successful Technology Implementation Process
What can you do to ensure a smooth technology implementation process? Coconut Software has the 6 best steps to ensure a successful implementation.
The Branch is Convenient, But Customers Want More
Despite the ongoing shift toward digital services and distancing banking, the branch is far from dead. That said, customers are increasingly expecting a seamless experience when switching between the convenient digital tools they use every day and the branch environment they trust for their most important financial matters.
Simplified Scheduling: Future Proof Branch Strategies
Innovative technologies and new digital tools are bringing massive changes to the retail banking landscape, and nowhere is this more visible than in the brick and mortar channel. But these changes don’t mean that the branch is becoming irrelevant. Even with the reduction in branch traffic and increase in mobile and self service solutions, customers still want to be able to sit down with a financial professional when making big decisions. And with millennials and Gen X ranking convenient branches as their primary consideration when selecting their financial institution, that’s not likely to change any time soon. What does need to change is the idea that they will continue sitting on hold, standing in a queue or waiting in an outdated lobby to meet with a teller or advisor at that branch. As a follow up to Part 4 in our series, today we will be examining the final of 5 different strategies that banks and credit unions can implement in order to set their branches up for success in this rapidly changing landscape. Simplify Appointment Booking If branches are going to remain relevant in the years ahead, it is vital for them to make it as easy as possible for customers to schedule a visit. Over 80% of a retail banking customer’s interactions take place through self service channels, and 67% of consumers prefer self-service over speaking with a live representative. This means that people are visiting branches less frequently, but when they do it’s for high-value face-to-face consultations. No amount of in-branch technology or improvements is going to eliminate the friction caused when they visit a location to discover that nobody can see them at that time. With a unified, self-service scheduling platform for all channels, financial institutions can streamline the appointment booking process across every customer touchpoint. Whether an appointment comes through via your website, mobile app, or even your social platform, customers should be able to book that meeting as quickly as easily as possible. With this in place, financial institutions can effectively remove the guesswork from the task of improving efficiencies in the booking process. This can not only provide the benefit of increasing the number of high-value appointments driven to your branch locations, but also enable better optimization of employee schedules to improve their overall efficiency. This is especially important considering that the branch is all about the people in it and their ability to serve customers. Tellers need to be available throughout the day, but in greater numbers for peak transaction times like lunch hours and Friday mornings. Universal bankers should be able to shift from service activities to sales activities like outbound calling when there is less branch traffic to deal with. Training and branch meetings can be scheduled to minimize impact on branch operations. With better management around staff schedules, customers can be better serviced, leading to further increases in the value of their appointments. What Comes After a Booked Appointment? Important to keep in mind is that self-service can’t stop after the meeting has been scheduled. As with any appointment, life happens and schedules change. Without a simple self-service method for making adjustments to their appointment, customers who have taken advantage of your self-service channel to create their booking are at higher risk for becoming no-shows. Likewise, providing more self-service channels through reminder messages and instant check-in can help to further improve the effectiveness of your self-service solution. 1. Rescheduling Most scheduling solutions provide a method for rescheduling via email, but with 9 in 10 consumers saying that they would like businesses to provide SMS text messaging options for communicating with them, and 52% saying that they would prefer texting customer support over their current method of communication, it’s becoming vital to include this channel as well. 2. Reminders Along with the initial message providing instructions on how to reschedule, text messages also allow for faster and more effective communication when it comes to reminder messages. In fact, SMS open rates are as high as 98%, compared to just 20% of all emails. And, on average, it takes 90 seconds for someone to respond to a text, opposed to 90 minutes for an email. Many companies have already begun providing appointment reminders via text message, with 51% of millennials saying that they are already receiving them. When asked why they enjoy text messages over other reminders, these millennial customers say it is because they’re “an effective way to be reminded on their own time” (60%), “one less thing to have to remember” (57%) and “the most convenient way to be reminded” (55%). Of course, with 51% saying that they are receiving them, that means that 49% of companies are still missing out on this opportunity to increase convenience and decrease no-shows. If these are things your organization is interested in (and they should be), it’s time to get started. 3. Check-in Beyond all the scheduling and rescheduling issues, text messages can take things even further by allowing for a simple method for customers to let staff know that they have arrived for their meeting. Rather than having customers wait to speak with someone to let them know they’ve arrived, providing them with the option to check in via text can help to streamline the process and allow for a more personal approach. A simple message sent out 10 minutes prior to the meeting that instructs them to reply ‘1’ to check-in when they have arrived opens a channel of direct communication between them and the staff member they are there to speak with. This allows staff to come out and greet them personally, setting the meeting up for greater success. Check out the other articles in the Future Proof Branch Strategies Series: PART ONE – Self Service Kiosks Examining the benefits and capabilities that self service kiosks can bring to your branch by eliminating many of the pain points that customers associate with their visit. PART TWO – Café Style Branches We discuss design changes in the lobby that
Remote Video Banking: Future Proof Branch Strategies
Photo Credit: https://writix.co.uk/ Deploying a digital-first banking platform is not only now possible, but mandatory for financial institutions of all sizes — but this doesn’t mean getting rid of physical locations altogether. 77% of customers still prefer visiting the branch when they want to discuss complex financial topics, and even for digital banking customers, speaking with a live representative still evokes the greatest amount of positive sentiment. Finding that perfect balance between digital and human services is the key to establishing a future proof branch. As a follow up to Part 3 in our series, today we will be examining the 4th of 5 different strategies that banks and credit unions can implement in order to set their branches up for success in this rapidly changing landscape. Introduce Remote Video Banking Video banking has been popular for years now, with many banks having installed ITMs — interactive teller machines — for their drive-up and in-branch kiosks. A number of financial institutions have been successful with this technology, but technology has evolved, and consumer habits with it. Today, millions of people are making video calls through FaceTime and Skype every day, video conferencing in the office is commonplace, and telecommuting is on the rise. With remote video calling becoming so mainstream, customers are beginning to question the need for a branch visit in order to engage with a banking assistant. The expectation that their financial institution extend the same capabilities that they enjoy everyday in communicating with their friends and colleagues to things like mortgage applications and investment consultations is on the rise. “We recognize that [SMB customers] work unconventional hours, are traveling or might not be able to visit a branch for a number of other reasons. Being able to access RBC Small Business specialists via video wherever and whenever they want helps them maintain that personal connection they expect with our bank.” Cathy HonorSVP Contact Centers, Royal Bank of Canada Currently, most remote video offerings like those of RBC are created for specific use cases — with RBC it’s SMB clients, while others like Barclay’s provide limited retail banking services. In these early stages, these constraints to service levels work to streamline implementation as specialized representatives are able to serve customers from central video contact centers. However, if remote video banking is to be extended to more services in the future, it should also be extended to include the branch itself. Along with allowing branches to leverage the talented and experienced staff they already employ, it would allow customers the option to engage in a video engagement with a local representative that they know and trust. This not only plays to the strengths of the branch in providing expert face-to-face financial advice, but also fits with what customers are expecting from digital services. According to research from Kony Inc, although 57% of customers want all products, services and support to be available digitally, they want those digital offerings to be supported by a named company representative. Customers want digital, but they also want the trust, security and relationship that comes from physical services. This means combining physical and digital services rather than separating them into two divergent channels — the branch and the video contact center should be working to support each other. Are Customers Ready? According to a recent study, the future of video banking looks bright, with the vast majority of consumers who try it rating the experience highly. Somewhat surprisingly, consumers who have used in-branch video banking rate their satisfaction with the service slightly higher than those using video services remotely. A difference that could be the result of remote video banking customers having to navigate the system on their own. The study also found that it is inaccurate to assume that younger, more upscale customers are the most likely to accept video banking. In their research, it was found that all consumers, regardless of age, gender or socioeconomic status, are generally open to trying video banking if/when their bank or credit union asks them. The fact is that as branches continue to shrink, customers are still going to want to get face time with skilled advisors. The numbers show that 50% of US financial customers are willing to try online banking if their bank offers it, and as illustrated previously, they are generally quite accepting of the technology once they’ve experienced it for themselves. With this in mind, a branch looking toward the future would do well to begin bringing video banking capabilities into their locations today. Doing so will not only enable them to differentiate themselves from the competition today, but to provide both themselves and their customers with a head start on the larger remote video banking transition that is almost sure to happen in the future. Check out the other articles in the Future Proof Branch Strategies Series: PART ONE – Self Service Kiosks Examining the benefits and capabilities that self service kiosks can bring to your branch by eliminating many of the pain points that customers associate with their visit. PART TWO – Café Style Branches We discuss design changes in the lobby that can help to encourage relationship building and conversations between advisors and their customers. PART THREE – Smart ATMs Exploring the changes that are being introduced through new Smart ATMs and where that may take us — and the frontline staff that many fear they replace — in the years ahead. What Next? Looking for more strategies to meet your customers’ changing expectations around the in-branch experience? Download the full report Becoming Future Proof: Five Proven Strategies for the Branches of the Future to learn more methods in technology, design, and service that branches can take advantage of to adapt in the rapidly changing financial landscape. Interested to hear what top experts in financial customer experience have to say about the coming challenges branches are looking forward to? Watch our panel discussion Embracing a Customer-First Mindset: Eliminate Friction Points in Your Customer Multi-Channel Journey. Ready to start taking
The Top 4 Ways Branch Technology Can Match Customer Interest
From Teller Lines to Teller Less: Highlights From the Future Branches Report With the rise of Fintech and a customer base that’s becoming increasingly comfortable with the ease and convenience provided by new technology, banks have had to work harder than ever at bringing people into their physical branches. Tablets, video conferencing, digital signage and other technology has become standard in most modern banks and credit unions, and investments in personnel training has risen significantly. But how successful have they been in their efforts? Which branch technology implementations have been successful in matching customer interest? And importantly, what strategies have been most effective at keeping the branch ahead of the competition? Diving into the facts around customer-facing technologies, this report investigates how changes in the industry are transforming the physical branch. To compile this research, Future Branches conducted an industry survey of 100 banking professionals to develop a clear view into the current state of the branch experience, and where it’s heading in the years to come. View a summary of some of the highlights from their findings below, or download the full report to discover what banks are doing to match customer interest. 1. Banks are investing heavily in self-service technology The top 4 investment priorities reported in this study were digital signage (61%), video conferencing (58%), self-service tools (54%), and tablets for customer use (54%). Based on these results, it’s clear that banks are prioritizing customer-facing solutions — specifically, self-service technologies and digital display technologies — above others. The fact that over half of respondents are prioritizing video conferencing technology is significant. This is indicative of an ongoing trend to expand branch services into new geographical areas by creating “hub and spoke” branch arrangements and by enabling internet-connected customers to reach trained personnel from the comfort of their own homes, which fits in with another reported priority of banks in the study — to make banking more seamless with their customers’ personal lives (50%). “The bank wants more customer interaction at the branch. We believe we can achieve the desired levels of interaction through technology services.” – Information Technology Professional, Regional Bank For more in-depth survey results and expert insights, download the full report now. 2. Larger banks have a tech advantage The study found that 21% of banks believe they are behind their competitors in terms of the sophistication of their in-branch technology—that is, the degree to which they have modernized their physical branches. This study found that the majority of banks reporting themselves to be in this situation categorize themselves as regional or community banks or credit unions, while every global and the majority of national banks tended to claim they were “already a leader” or that they were at least “competitive”. But smaller banks and credit unions are rising to the challenge. While 21% believe themselves to be behind the competition, 20% are confident that they are making meaningful progress. “We have been an attraction for technology consultants and service providers over the years to try new technology which they have developed, and which we can use in our branches.” – Marketing Professional, Regional Bank For more in-depth survey results and expert insights, download the full report now. 3. Customer-facing tech is viewed as the safer investment With the wealth of tech available to financial institutions today, it’s perhaps not surprising that nearly half of banks (48%) are prioritizing implementing new technologies across all their branches. To support these new technologies, banks are prioritizing the training of in-branch personnel on customer-facing technologies (47%) and to a slightly lower extent, back-end technologies (41%). Looking more closely at the numbers, it appears that the difference could be resulting from pain points in training for new back-end systems, with banks reporting pain in that area sitting 3% higher than those reporting the training as a priority. Conversely, just 36% of banks report pains in training staff on customer-facing technology — more than 10% below those prioritizing that area of training. Looking at this, it appears that in their aim to match customer interest, most banks view investing in self-service style customer-facing technology to be much easier to implement. “Our bank wants to give complete experiences to our customers and to keep them excited by introducing new technologies on a regular basis.” – Marketing Professional, National Bank For more in-depth survey results and expert insights, download the full report now. 4. Banks are keen on overcoming pain points in training As discussed in the previous point, in order to take advantage of the latest technologies, banks are prioritizing the development of robust training regimens to get their in-branch personnel up to speed. The value of this high investment in training is clearly reflected in responses showing that 68% of banks rating themselves as ‘competitive’ or ‘a leader’ in terms of their in-branch personnel, but it isn’t without its challenges. In the study, respondents cited the struggle to create comprehensive training programs which accommodate branch personnel of different backgrounds and different levels of experience as a major pain point. Furthermore, measuring the development of personnel after training, keeping training relevant as new technologies continue to disrupt the industry, and retaining personnel after investing in their training are all issues that came up multiple times. “Retaining the personnel after we have spent on training them on the technology that they have [is our biggest pain point]. When they choose to move to another organization, we have to spend on training the next person, which does have a cost challenge.” – Sales and Service Professional, Regional Bank For more in-depth survey results and expert insights, download the full report now. Discover A Modern Way to Engage Get In Touch What Next? Ready to learn more about the way customers view the role of the branch in this rapidly changing digital landscape? Download the full Future Branches Study — From Teller Line to Teller-less: Aligning Your Mix of In-Branch Employees and Technologies with Customer Interests. Looking for more unique perspectives on the
Smart ATMs: Future Proof Branch Strategies
While branches remain important, their role is changing. Customers are increasingly comfortable taking advantage of online and mobile channels, leading to lower branch traffic and fewer teller transactions. As more clients use digital channels to deposit checks, transfer funds and manage their accounts, banks and credit unions must continue to move away from their transactional focus and adapt to meet the expectations of the evolving relationship that customers have with their branch. As a follow up to Part 2 in our series, today we will be examining the 3rd of 5 different strategies that banks and credit unions can implement in order to set their branches up for success in this rapidly changing landscape. 5 Proven Strategies for the Branches of the Future Upgrade to Smart ATMs Introduced back in 1969, the ATM once again has the power to bring about a major shift in banking. Originally designed to perform withdrawals, they’ve evolved over the years to handle new routine tasks like balance inquiries, transfers and deposits, but they are long overdue for a more serious upgrade. In today’s self-service oriented world, ATMs are expected to be effectively entire branches contained within a single box. “As the ATM turns 50, some people may think that it’s reaching the end of the road – they’re wrong. In fact, the future of the ATM is bright in this shifting financial landscape, especially as the technology behind them continues to evolve and offer new services to customers… A combination of self-service machines and staff could be the ticket to reviving a dwindling supply of bank branches” Mark AldredBanking Technology Expert, Auriga The financial services industry is evolving faster than ever before, and digital focused millennials and Gen Zs expect the technology involved in managing their money to match trends seen in other industries — and that includes the ATM. Even with the fast-growing adoption of digital channels, the ATM remains a primary interface between customers and their banks for one simple reason: they’re convenient. By extending that convenience to additional actions like account openings, bill payments, mobile phone top-ups, currency exchange, and more, tellers in the branch will have more time to work with customers on complex banking needs. The Historic Precedent One of the biggest arguments against smart ATMs is the same one that people put forward in the mid-1990s when today’s standard ATMs were brought in in large numbers. Everybody assumed – including many bank managers — that this was going to eliminate jobs for tellers. It didn’t. In fact, since 2000, teller jobs have increased substantially. So how could a machine that was designed to perform many teller services provide a boost in positions for tellers? By making it cheaper to operate a branch. Where the average branch previously required around 21 tellers, with ATM machines that number was reduced to 13. So suddenly you are able to open a smaller branch, with fewer employees, leading to more branches, which required more tellers. So the 400,000+ labor saving ATMs currently installed at branches across the United States are directly responsible for creating more jobs and allowing banks to expand their operations, while simultaneously allowing tellers to provide a higher level of customer service. “What happened is that cash-handling obviously became less important for tellers. But their ability to market and their interpersonal skills in terms of dealing with bank clients became more important. So what the ATM machine did was effectively change the job of the bank teller… They became part of what banks call the customer relationship team.” James BessenAuthor, Learning by Doing With this in mind, the world today is not the world of the 1990s. In 2020, our lives have been inundated with convenient self-service options. In fact, 67% of consumers now prefer these options over speaking with a live representative. This shift is reflected in the fact that 90% of ATM machines shipping globally are newer, smarter models that are being sent to replace existing ATMs in order to meet rising expectations in terms of performance and convenience. These new ATMs provide contactless transactions, mobile pre-staging, and financial institution “branch-in-a-box” capabilities, delivering up to 90% of branch-based technology and services. Large monolithic branches have already become a remnant of the past, and smart ATMs will allow branches to have an even smaller footprint. By providing a self-service option for these transactional services, we could very well see a surge in branch numbers similar to the one experienced during the mid-1990s as more smaller branches with lower staffing requirements become the mainstream. And while it’s been forecast that teller positions will likely decrease as smart ATMs gain popularity, the decline is forecast at just 8% — hardly an industry killing technology. Instead, these machines should be viewed as complementary to the human role, and a tool for creating increased demand and efficiency while enabling staff to concentrate on building stronger human relationships. Conclusion The truth is, there is no benefit to having the many of the transactional processes that can be performed by smart ATMs to be handled through face-to-face interactions. Relationships are not built through these engagements, and convenience is not enhanced by them. And these two factors should be the primary goals for a future focused branch. For the few customers who simply prefer to perform these actions through a teller? They still have that capability. What’s more, if the lobby has been upgraded as discussed in the previous strategy, now they can do it while sitting in a comfortable lounge, speaking to a teller that comes to them. When you future proof your branch, everybody wins. Check out the other articles in the Future Proof Branch Strategies Series: PART ONE – Self Service Kiosks Examining the benefits and capabilities that self service kiosks can bring to your branch by eliminating many of the pain points that customers associate with their visit. PART TWO – Café Style Branches We discuss design changes in the lobby that can help to encourage relationship building and conversations
Café Branches: Future Proof Branch Strategies
Bringing self-service to the lobby is a sure-fire way to set branches up for success. Discover the second strategy to future proof your branches.
Self Service Kiosks: Future Proof Branch Strategies
The financial services industry exists in a rapidly changing environment fueled by evolving client preferences and emerging technologies. The growth and opportunity these changes are capable of bringing can be incredibly exciting, but what about the human side of finance? With so much technology disrupting the market, is the physical branch going to remain relevant in the coming years? The simple answer is, yes. But a more complicated response would have to explore the fact that while the branch will certainly remain relevant, it will have to evolve to do so. And so, in this series, we will be examining 5 different strategies that banks and credit unions can implement in order to set their branches up for success in this rapidly changing landscape. 5 Proven Strategies to Future Proof Your Branches Get the Full Report Introducing Self-Service Kiosks As the first touchpoint for any customer entering your branch, upgrades to the lobby should be a top priority when seeking to future proof the physical banking experience. While some companies have gone for a complete technological overhaul as seen in China Construction Bank’s or Bank of America’s robot-run branches, the majority of these upgrades involve bringing in technology to supplement the human experience, rather than replace it. And looking at human behavior, it appears that this relationship-centric approach to technology is more likely to lead to long-term success. “Digital technology and new forms of automated service offer many exciting opportunities for financial services to become more tailored and convenient. But there will always be a role for face-to-face service when it comes to banking. Money issues are complex and emotive. Customers like to talk through what it all means with a real human being.” Paul RiseboroughChief Commercial Officer, Metro Bank So how can you find that happy medium between technology and face-to-face human services? By far, the most efficient method is through replacing or augmenting the standard greeting desk with self-service kiosks. Through this relatively simple investment, customers are able to skip the queue and get face time with staff quickly, creating a streamlined lobby that’s more inviting to your customers. They also provide the added benefit of reducing labor costs and position your brand as technologically advanced, while allowing management to track and measure operations metrics across branch locations, providing them with the information they need to make more informed decisions and improve the experience even further. And perhaps most importantly, this forward-looking strategy shifts the focus of branch employees from answering routine questions and booking appointments to making sales as they are given more time to engage in higher quality conversations with customers about their financial goals. Which is, of course, the main reason that customers come to the branch in the first place. In fact, 77% of customers prefer visiting the branch when they want to discuss complex financial topics, and stick to digital for quick transactions, such as withdrawing cash or transferring funds. So it’s clear that there is a huge demand for strong personalized advice. This is highlighted even further with statistics on the primary pain points most likely to prompt switching banks: unprepared banking associates (68%), long wait times (55%), impersonal service (49%), and the unavailability of specialists (43%). Branches are vital in providing customers with the personalized service that they crave, and they want to receive that personalized service through face-to-face meetings. At the same time, they are more than happy to take advantage of a technology based self-service solution if it can smooth the process of getting in front of an advisor. In fact, the same study mentioned above showed that having an advisor who could greet them by name and be prepared for their arrival (62%), allowing customers to check-in or compare wait times at local branches via a mobile app (55%), and interactive touchscreen displays to explore products and get advice while waiting (53%) were among the top solutions that these customers are interested in to improve the branch experience. By implementing a lobby management kiosk that puts relevant customer information at the fingertips of frontline staff, eliminates long queues and uncertain wait times, and ensures that customers are matched with the appropriate advisor every time, the bank branch of the future can deliver on many of its key strengths while addressing many of the common pain points in the branch experience to drive continued success in an increasingly digital world. “There has been much debate around whether the branch is ‘dead’: this is an interesting theoretical discussion, but it has little bearing on reality. Just as the rise of new technology has threatened the branch in the past few years, it also holds the key to their continued relevance. By implementing the right solutions, a bank can ensure that its branches are cost-effective and play their role in offering excellent customer experience.” Lawrence FreebornSenior Research Analyst, IDC Financial Insights Check out PART TWO of this series, where we discuss design changes in the lobby that can help to encourage relationship building and conversations between advisors and their customers. What Next? Looking for more strategies to meet your customers’ changing expectations around the in-branch experience? Download the full report Becoming Future Proof: Five Proven Strategies for the Branches of the Future to learn more methods in technology, design, and service that branches can take advantage of to adapt in the rapidly changing financial landscape. Interested to hear what top experts in financial customer experience have to say about the coming challenges branches are looking forward to? Watch our panel discussion Embracing a Customer-First Mindset: Eliminate Friction Points in Your Customer Multi-Channel Journey Ready to start taking steps to ensure your branch is set up to meet your customer’s evolving expectations head on? Schedule a consultation with Coconut Software to learn more about how our tailored solutions can help.
Manage the Walk-In Appointment Journey
Give your customer experience and branch performance a boost with Coconut Lobby Management. The ‘phigital’ solution to mapping the customer journey.
Why Integrate CRM With Your Appointment Management Solution
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
The Top 3 Reasons to Implement Digital Customer Service Channels (2019 Update)
Take digital transformation to the next level by streamlining your self-service channels to meet customer need with Coconut Software.
5 Digital Trends Shaping the Future of Banking and Credit Unions (2019 Update)
The top digital initiatives in 2018 that are informing the future of the banking industry and how these trends are affecting organizations like yours.
Personalized Service for Appointment-Driven Businesses
Think back to the last time you interacted with your bank, or credit union; was there personalized service involved. Was it easy to get in touch? Did the organization recognize who you were–online or over the phone–and make you feel like a valued customer? How fast and easy was it to do business? These are all potential points of friction that can (and frequently do) create frustration for customers when trying to connect with their financial services organization. 87% of people think brands need to work harder to create a seamless experience for customers and for many forward-thinking organizations, this has become a corporate priority for 2018. While the motivation to change often arises from a combination of empathy for a poor customer experience, and a mandate to digitally transform customer-facing touchpoints, the business case arises when you begin to lose customers to competitors who make it easier to do business, online or in-person. Financial services organizations who are seeking to differentiate themselves can do so through the power of personalization. Why is this important? As a customer, you can probably empathize with the desire to be recognized, valued and respected as an individual, by the organization from which you’ve decided to buy a product or service. This can help inspire loyalty, reduce churn, and increase customer retention. While striving to deliver an exceptional customer experience is not a new concept, creating an ‘omnichannel experience’ is a relatively new buzzword circulating in the industry to describe how organizations go about providing a personalized service, at scale. For appointment-driven businesses, enterprise scheduling can play an integral role in the customer’s omnichannel experience. What is an Omni-Channel Experience? An omnichannel is an experience that is created by integrating multiple channels to provide customers with a seamless, personalized service. For example, whether a customer calls in with a support inquiry, is looking to book an appointment with you online, or visits a physical location, they will be recognized as the same person. Why is a Non-Omni-Channel Experience Frustrating to Customers? It’s terribly annoying to be treated as a different person on every channel that you use and every interaction you have with an organization. For example: Contacting an organization through their contact center for customer support means you’ll have to to recap all details with every new representative. Logging into the website, you’ll have to provide the same information again because it is treated as a separate channel. Walking into a retail location for an appointment, you’ll have to provide the same information you’ve already entered online and over the phone. Without integrations and information sharing between channels, it’s very challenging to offer a streamlined customer experience. Reducing Customer Churn with an Omni-Channel Experience How do you start to shift your appointment-driven organization towards offering an omnichannel experience? Base your strategy around customer experience trends that are sweeping your industry. Below, we’ve identified some of the key customer experience trends we’ve noted for 2018, and how implementing an integrated scheduling solution can help deliver a competitive edge. Customer Experience Trend #1: Build experiences that tie together online, contact center, physical locations 64% of customers expect to receive real-time assistance regardless of the customer service channel they use. Offering the same experience across channels, gives people the luxury of choosing the scheduling method that best suits them, which results in feeling valued and respected as an individual. How an integrated scheduling solution helps Implementing a scheduling solution can help your organization offer a differentiated customer experience, by providing easy access for customers to book appointments regardless of the channel that they prefer to use. Customers will be able to book appointments online, through your organization’s contact center, as well as in branch, and the integrated platform offers the same data and appointment availability, all in real time. Customer Experience Trend #2: Revamp the underperforming areas of the customer experience using collected customer data. Offering a personalized service is becoming a requirement to ensure the success of your business and 69% of people believe customer service expectations are increasing year-on-year. The financial services industry is competitive and customers have many options to choose from, making it imperative that your business offers a premium customer experience. The challenge that organizations face is that it is difficult to create a personalized service without accurate customer data. How an integrated scheduling solution helps Coconut Software enables organizations to capture appointment analytics which track the customer journey across channels, from the time the appointment is booked, through to the appointments completion. By tracking metrics across the appointment lifecycle, you can begin see which areas in the scheduling process have room for improvement, while gaining additional insights into your customers’ appointment needs. Here are just some of the analytics that we enable you to start tracking … Appointment cancellations, no-shows and completion rates Drop-off rates in online appointment scheduling process Weekly, monthly and yearly trends in appointment scheduling Customer appointment satisfaction Top performing locations and staff Customer Experience Trend #3: Evaluate your brand vision and redefine your customer service promise 78% of people say a company’s reputation for customer service is important to them when choosing a particular brand. Creating an omnichannel experience that makes your customers feel valued will make a lasting impression, which, over time, will reduce churn. Revamping parts of the customer experience to deliver a premium service doesn’t always require a huge time and resources investment. Making a simple change like implementing online appointment scheduling can have a remarkable impact on increasing customer satisfaction. How an Integrated Appointment Management Solutions Helps Making it as easy as possible to book an appointment with your organization will build your brand and help attract new business, as well as improve accessibility for existing customers. Coconut Software can help you streamline your organization’s scheduling applications and increase the efficiency and consistency of the appointment scheduling process through every channel. Parting Thoughts Offering an omnichannel journey to your customers is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity.