Janice Bourbon
Do you suspect any of your branches could be going bad—or stale? Not as fresh or effective in 2017 as they were in 2007?
We’ve found that there are 10 common barriers to effective sales and service found in most typical traditional branches: bad first impressions, poor engagement, long waiting times, to name a few.
If you’ve noticed issues like these impacting your branches, you’re not alone. Clients are coming to the branch less often but with higher expectations, according to a survey from Accenture. 50% of bank consumers aged 18-34 last went to a branch for a non-transactional activity, like getting information or opening an account, etc. And more people than ever are leaving their financial institution if they aren't getting the value they seek.
So if every trip to the branch matters more, what can be done to improve the client experience? Here are three causes of bad branch experiences and a few ways to fix them.
Bad Branch Experience #1: Siloed Service & Hand-Offs
There is nothing more annoying than standing in a teller line only to get to the front and be told you have to go wait in the lobby for a banker to come help. Don't be that financial institution. Ditch the siloed service experience and bring in the new and already-loved Universal Associate. These associates are capable of completing 99% of the needs of a client, minimizing hand off and improving the experience.
You can even equip these associates with a tablet transaction interface like Nomadix so they can complete any transaction from anywhere within the branch.
Bad Branch Experience #2: Wait Times
Wait times, even short ones, can tank client experience—especially for people in a hurry, or getting their first impression of your organization.
So if all your tellers are busy assisting other clients, and the rest of your staff don’t have access to cash drawers or recyclers, they’ll probably have to wait—but not if you have Remote Transaction Assist (RTA).
With RTA, any staff member can securely process transactions with a cash recycler from anywhere in the branch, without disrupting other clients or tellers. Clients can get transactions handled faster, with more privacy, while giving staff more time have conversation about products or services and build client relationships.
Now, what if you have clients who’d prefer to help themselves? Self-service options at have become the norm at stores like Target and Home Depot. Now branches can offer self-service with NEXT.
NEXT offers virtually every transaction your clients could need, without the restrictions of ATMs. So during those busy times your clients can get in and out fast, while letting your staff handle more challenging or more personal service.
Bad Branch Experience #3: Your Experts Aren’t In
It can be a huge disappointment when clients walk into a branch expecting help with a home loan only to find out they’ll need to set up another appointment.
Most branches can’t always have subject matter experts in the office, but there is a better way with Expert Nearby, a video conferencing model that allows experts to be on-call.
Expert Nearby allows your clients to use their local branch to get advice from experts across your network. Clients can even review and sign documents. And your experts can help serve more clients and branches without having to be on location.
Bad Branch Experience #4: Cold Conversations
How can your staff start a sales conversation without scaring off your clients? Warmer conservations happen with the right data—and you can get it with Financial HealthCheck.
Financial HealthCheck is a tool that allows clients to get a quick snapshot of their financial health. By answering a few simple questions, they can see how they compare their peers. Then Financial HealthCheck gives your team the data they need to have a meaningful and relevant conversation with that client about their financial needs.
(And the great news is that 63 percent of consumers say they want to share their data in order to receive more relevant product and service options!)
You can also learn what clients are interested in is by having them show you. With Interactive Digital Signage, people can browse and discover the products and services they’re interested in. And our tech, Incyte, gives your staff an alert (to a watch or tablet) about which digital signage content they are clicking on and interested in, giving them an opening to strike up a warm and more relevant sales conversation.
Change Your Branch Experience
These are just a few ideas transforming a bad branch experience, but are they right for your branches?
It all depends on your goals, your budget, and your markets. If you'd like to see if the solutions above (or others) would be fit for you branches, let us know!
