Online banking has dramatically affected how people manage their money and connect to institutions ranging from big banks to credit unions. Yet customers want and often demand a human interface. You can’t afford to ignore what they want, given how easy it is for them to move their money. Here are four common reasons credit unions fail in terms of customer service. We’ll explain why these mistakes happen and how to avoid making them yourself.
Failing to give them the digital interface they want
Mobile banking is becoming the default for the younger generation. If your credit union isn’t giving them a way to access their data via secure portals and apps, you’ll lose their business. If you can’t give them a reliable self-service touchpoint for everything from transferring money to ordering checks, they’ll go somewhere that does. Give them the ability to reach advisors via chat and email as well as by phone.
Ignoring the human connection
There are many ways that this could happen. One is failing to provide customers with a way to reach customer service without having to go through a digital interface. Another is not giving people a way to reach people through your portal so they can connect with services digitally whenever it is required. A third one is missing the human connection when sending emails and communicating via chat sessions.
Don’t rely too heavily on self-service or your customers will get fed up when they can’t get help. Instead, post phone numbers on your website and allow people to call you via your app. Don’t force them to rely entirely on digital services since that can fail for a variety of reasons. And don’t ignore the value of little touches when customer service is chatting with you via instant messaging. Taking the time to communicate clearly with people as individuals will go a long way.
On the flip side, failing to help people when they transition between touchpoints is a failure in customer service. You’ll lose new customers if they want to purchase a product or service and can’t figure out how to do so. Customers get frustrated when they call to follow up on a customer service email and they’re forced to repeat themselves. Try to create omni-channel service so that all customer information is saved in a shared database. This makes it more accessible to whoever is interacting with the customer. Don’t let data get segregated into different databases that take longer than necessary to search.
Not surveying your customers
It is a major mistake not to be surveying your customers. In one survey, nearly nine in ten bank customers said it was very important for the bank to ask them their opinion. Surveys allow you to identify dissatisfied customers in need of careful handling and under-served customer segments. The solution is to set up IVR surveys and other automated systems to get their opinion. You could use role-based reporting so that someone who is dissatisfied with a customer service rep can be handed off to a manager, while those who didn’t get the help they needed may have their ticket escalated.
Working with a group like Avannis allows you to set up systems where customers don’t see you unless you want them to see you. With their expertise and guidance, you’ll set up standardized workflows for handling issues that minimize the cost of customer support while providing excellent service to everyone. You’ll be able to collect data on individual staffers so they can be given coaching and training as required. And you can benchmark your customer satisfaction and call center performance relative to industry standards.
Conclusion
Financial institutions can and do go out of business. The success of credit unions depends on staying on top of what customers want and need, regardless of what that is.
