The Missing Piece in Customer Engagement Strategies

Usage of appointments in banking has increased significantly since the outbreak of the coronavirus, and is expected to continue in a post-pandemic world.

Appointments increased nearly 50% in the second half of 2020, according to customer usage data, allowing banks to manage limited branch capacity while ensuring the best possible customer service. For example, Middletown, Rhode Island-based BankNewport experienced a month-over-month increase of more than a 466% in appointment volume between March and April of last year, with numbers remaining steady into May 2020. The $2 billion bank noted that these appointments allowed them to prepare for customers, solving their needs efficiently and safely.

Now, nearly a year later, appointment setting is helping banks to meet the transformative and digital-centric needs of their account holders. Online appointments enable any customer or prospective customers to schedule high-value meetings with the right banker who is prepared to speak on a specialized topics. In addition, these appointment holders can choose their preferred meeting channel, such as in-person, phone or virtual. But, how does this translate to customer engagement?

Customer engagement begins when a question or task needs to be done. As the customer or prospect starts searches for an answer on a local bank’s website, banks can use appointment scheduling to ensure that customers have options beyond self-service or automated customer service to connect one-on-one with staff. By optimizing consumer engagement strategies with high-value appointments, banks can increase revenue, boost operational efficiency and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Increase revenue
Today, many branches are faced with the challenge of maximizing revenue opportunities with highly compressed margins. This leads banks to search for more cross-sell opportunities such as opening new accounts, loans or alternative revenue-driving sources.

Appointments help banks maximize these opportunities by connecting customers or prospects with the most knowledgeable service representative to handle sensitive topics, such as account openings or wealth management inquiries. Banks should take full advantage of these crucial meetings because engaged customers are more apt to expand their relationship with an institution when provided with the right resources at a time they’ve scheduled. In fact, TimeTrade SilverCloud data shows that appointment scheduling increases the likelihood that a person will move forward with a loan or deposit by 25% to 40%; customers and employees are better equipped for the meeting’s purpose and have stronger intent to transact.

Boost operational efficiency
Proper branch and contact center staffing levels allows banks to be more efficient without adding to the overall headcount. In the absence of appointment scheduling, employees can be burdened by prolonged rescheduling of meetings and correcting inconsistent information, stemming from unproductive customer interactions and resulting in wasted time.

Appointment scheduling allows employees to prioritize their time to address complicated issues and ensure their full potential is being used during business hours.

This can be further optimized with customer self-service. As more account holders reach a resolution without staff interaction, employees can spend more time with complex customer inquiries. Bank of Oak Ridge saw technology-related questions decrease by 64% after implementating a consumer self-service solution, allowing employees at the Oak Ridge, North Carolina-based bank to expand existing relationships and focus on more critical tasks.

Improve customer satisfaction
Like employees, customers’ time is valuable and their money is personal. When their time is wasted by a low-value interaction, this can greatly impact the overall customer experience. Negative comments about unprepared or ill-informed staff can be detrimental to an institutions’ reputation and consumer trust.

It is paramount that banks route customers to the employee best suited to meet their financial needs and questions. Banks that cultivate a comprehensive customer engagement experience, using online appointment scheduling, will be well equipped to meet customer needs and provide a great experience.

Banking by appointment is a powerful tool in today’s new business environment. Banking competition is increasingly prominent, and going the extra mile to make financial transactions and consultations as easy as possible will be an essential differentiator among institutions. Enabling customers to connect with the right person at their right time, and capturing pertinent customer information at the time of scheduling, allows banks to provide the right answer, resulting in more satisfied customers, better served employees and a healthier bottom line.