Whenever customers (who are old enough to remember) walk into a credit union, they will likely get reminded of the ”Cheers” theme song, “Where everybody knows your name and we’re always glad you came!” But credit unions are under siege from traditional banks, online banks and diversified financial services companies. Their customer satisfaction ratings (CSAT) have dropped, with banks tying them for the first time in a decade in the annual American Consumer Satisfaction Index survey from the University of Michigan. To make matters worse, as consumers go digital, many credit unions are falling behind in their ability to reach and retain them, having relied on physical branches to do so in the past.
How can they not only survive — but thrive — in the digital era? Here are six steps that can help them get there.
1. Go deep with digital engagement
A big reason why banks have been ascending in CSAT is their digital and mobile customer service and engagement capabilities, which are especially appealing to next-generation customers. If credit unions want to reach and retain them, they need to excel in digital member engagement. They should implement solutions with deep digital capabilities, covering channels such as self-service, chat, messaging, co-browsing, social and mobile, with a view to digitizing as much of the customer lifecycle as possible. For example, contact center agents can use co-browsing to help members securely fill out web forms while talking to them. Likewise, digital-rich tools can improve customer service through proactive and reactive messaging.
2. Go omnichannel
While consumers continue to go digital-first, phone and brick-and-mortar interactions are here to stay, especially for complex queries. Per PwC, 65% of consumers still think that having a local branch is important in selecting a bank or credit union. Moreover, more than 50% of consumers would prefer to open an account or get a loan at a physical branch.
All that said, credit unions mustn’t ignore the digital tsunami sweeping across demographics and the member lifecycle. The answer lies in adopting an omnichannel member engagement strategy. With a unified customer engagement solution based on an omnichannel platform, credit unions can leverage context, knowledge, process knowhow and resources across digital, contact center and brick-and-mortar channels to orchestrate seamless customer journeys.
3. Don’t forget the agent desktop
Credit unions often forget that today’s millennial and Gen Z agent in the contact center is also digital. They are used to digital-life tools and expect their work tools to have the same ease of use and digital richness. However, many credit unions still have the ‘90s-style phone-first desktop tools for contact center agents and branch advisors. No wonder 84% of agents across industries say that their tools do not help them handle service issues when the customer is on the line, according to a recent Gartner study. The solution is to go with a modern, digital-first omnichannel desktop for agents.
4. Leverage AI for conversational guidance
When it comes to driving from Place A to Place B, paper maps have fast become a relic. Many of today’s drivers may have never even seen maps and probably cannot imagine driving a car without the step-by-step guidance provided by a GPS. This analogy applies to customer service as well — today’s digital agents don’t like to read and interpret documents to find the answer. Moreover, they don’t like training either — 65% of Gen Z agents like to just learn on their jobs, per Capita’s research. They bring these preferences to the workplace, where customer service leaders are still relying on traditional onboarding methods.
Many credit unions are also looking to merge with other institutions to form a critical mass for their very survival. This makes member service agents’ jobs even more challenging as they will often need to support a broader array of products and services. There is also the issue of compliance in content, access, workflow, conversations, communications, privacy and security. For example, TILA and UDAAP regulations mandate that agents inform customers about not only interest rates but also late fees and loan terms at specific points in the loan approval process, while staying away from deceptive or misleading practices. A GPS analogy for compliance would be to keep on the right of the double yellow lines on roads in the U.S.
The answer lies in AI-infused knowledge, which, when done right, can be a GPS for customer service, providing step-by-step directions on what to say and do, and adapting to the conversation in progress while complying with regulations. AI knowledge can guide next-gen agents to answers or through a problem resolution or advisory process in an era of complex regulations and compliance requirements.
5. Get personal with digital, too
Credit unions can replicate the personal touch of their brick-and-mortar customer service at digital touchpoints with extreme personalization. With an omnichannel engagement solution, personalization can be done across touchpoints through consistent answers, promotional offers, advice and even conversational guidance, based on groups in the field of membership, and the real-time and historical context of member transactions and interactions, leveraging AI techniques such as reasoning, machine learning, and analytics.
6. Optimize with connected analytics
Analyze your customer’s omnichannel journeys to identify points of friction and the use and effectiveness of knowledge and offers. Optimize contact center operations with real-time and historical analytics. Go with proven vendors, who offer best-practice dashboards, metrics, and reporting out of the box that connect the insights together to make them actionable. For example, such analytics can make the connection between an ineffective knowledge base article and escalation from self-service to a human agent for certain queries or topics.
Credit unions can thrive in the digital era with digital-first, omnichannel engagement that is guided by AI, knowledge and analytics. They can also maintain their competitive edge in retail customer service by leveraging contact center and digital tools at branches.
