The Role of the Banker in an Omni-Delivery Environment
Refine strategies and investments around member engagement, acquisition, experience and revenue to remain relevant.
In today’s omnichannel environment, whether consumers are transacting digitally or physically, we still have the same desired outcome for the consumer – to feel known and personally engaged with their best interest in mind. While it is a fact that many branches have seen a decline in traffic and a change in the types of member transaction requests, the goal is still the same: Provide the right customer engagement model regardless of channel.
Credit union members are increasingly using the branch for complex transactions, issue resolution and advisory services. As a branch’s role diminishes, their member service and advisory roles increase. Members now want self-service, banker-assisted and full-service options, and the ability to seamlessly move between digital and human channels.
As a result, credit unions are redefining the role of the branch, contact center and banker. They are now deploying a variety of human-asset methodologies to meet member needs, including centralized bankers, branch-based bankers and mobile bankers. This requires an omnichannel solution that is able to optimize human asset utilization for engaging members effectively, strengthening member relationships, providing advisory services and handling complex member needs.
The ability to deliver a high quality member experience with the flexibility to reliably support all banker touchpoints is important in this digital business model. Credit unions often lose the personal engagement associated with face-to-face contact, as well as needs awareness in the early stages of the member journey – ironically, at the time it is needed most. Without technology equipped to detect and quantify member needs, the credit union suffers from missed opportunity.
Credit unions that use digital sensory technology are able to detect member interest and quantify propensity-to-purchase, routing well-timed and relevant engagement through digital and human channels. Additional self-disclosed member information gained through intelligent surveys and things like a self-service personal financial planning tool increase the credit union’s knowledge of member needs. Digital and human channels work in concert, proactively engaging the right banker at the right time.
The contact center continues to be important in this new digital environment. Contact center staff often fill the gap between digital banking and the branch by providing issue resolution services and direct support of digital channels. With the right technology in place, contact center agents can access digital account applications directly in the system to answer member questions and resolve issues. This allows them to focus on the member and serve them more quickly, increasing satisfaction and decreasing call times.
As the consumer preference shift has moved to a digital channel first, tomorrow’s winners will be the ones that can proactively engage with customers at the right time with the right advice. As more consumers engage digitally, we have to find ways to proactively engage through both physical and digital avenues. There are powerful technologies that sense and calculate propensity to purchase scores based on website navigation, length of time on page and call to action response. Arming credit union staff with the ability to work with mobile devices and solutions through omnichannel solutions to service members and open accounts at remote locations helps complete complex transactions such as business and commercial fulfillment and servicing, which are sometimes impractical for online self-service channels. This type of service provides a great solution for high-value transactions that are best conducted in person, allowing credit union staff to conveniently meet these members offsite and not requiring the members to take time out of their day to visit a branch.
The branch still plays an important role in this new digital model. Credit unions have a great advantage today with their branch assets, especially since members still want easy access to financial expertise. While digital banking offers many benefits, the one gap it cannot address is trust. Trust is driven by human interactions and remains highly valued by members. For example, branch and contact center personnel play a significant role in member acquisition, clarifying options and offering guidance and assistance. They can also focus personal engagement on serving broader needs that require a consultative approach. A holistic approach supports member financial well-being revolving around major life events such as marriage, home purchase and saving for a child’s college tuition. Doing what’s best for the member generates greater loyalty and ultimately increased profitability.
As the need and demand for digital self-service options continues to increase, credit unions can better serve their members by using technology solutions designed to offer a seamless omnichannel approach, which ultimately enables credit union staff to have seamless access to monetary transactions, services functionality, sales, fulfillment and advisory support from a single touchpoint. This way, members can perform tasks such as resuming a partially completed account application that the member began through digital channels but completed with the assistance of branch staff, eliminating roadblocks associated with switching applications or moving to a different physical station. As a result, credit union staff can focus on engaging with the member to meet their needs and reduce friction.
With the increased use of omnichannel delivery options within the financial services industry, credit unions that diligently study and refine their strategies and investments around member engagement, acquisition, member experience and revenue drivers will remain relevant. Those that continue to invest in the technology solutions available to assist in this evolving landscape will have a differentiated experience in this crowded space.
Todd Robertson is SVP of Business Development for ARGO in Richardson, Texas.