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Credit Union members are different. On average, they’re older than banking members, and they have higher levels of education and homeownership than non-members. On top of that, credit union members are typically members for over a decade. These differences are more than just interesting demographic details. They can have a huge impact on how you run your business and how you reach your members.
When it comes to crafting customer experience, credit unions need to choose their strategy carefully to meet the demands of their unique clients. For instance, social media tools might not make sense for serving credit union members. But there are many ways to take your CX strategy to the next level.
Here are five tools every credit union needs to create an amazing customer experience:
1. Complete Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software integration
Given the lengthy relationships between credit unions and their members, there is a huge need to track a member’s interactions and development. That’s where CRM comes into play. And we know – everyone has a CRM nowadays. But not everyone completely integrates their CRM with their contact center.
What does complete CRM integration mean? It means that any information from any member contact is immediately logged in your CRM. This helps you track engagement, interaction, and issues from the beginning. It boosts agent productivity, can reduce call resolution times, and promotes a personalized customer experience for your members.
This is a super broad topic, and we promised you tools, not topics. To make up for it, here’s a real tool to help with CRM integration:
1.5 Unified Agent Desktop
Even with CRM integration, your agents can quickly get overwhelmed with the number of screens and information in front of them. This makes it harder for them to do their jobs. A cluttered agent interface slows down interactions, as the agent is forced to spend time clicking from window to window. And when you have decades of data on your members, this problem only gets magnified. Explore a unified agent desktop tool to make life easier for both your agents and your members.
2. Workforce Management (WFM)
Paydays are the busiest days for credit unions. That is when members are most likely going to seek assistance and expect a quick resolution. How do you ensure your agents are set up for success during peak times? With WFM tools, you can conduct call volume forecasting, calculate the number of agents needed based on the desired average speed of answer, set up agent scheduling, compile reporting and even conduct “what if” analyses.
3. Analytics and Reporting
Data is king. Not just for learning about your members, but also for optimizing your employee experience. You can have the best tools in the world in your contact center, but without empowered employees, you have nothing.
Analytics and reporting can help credit unions compile data and compare it against key performance indicators to ensure agents are operating to their best potential. Your analytics tools should track data like handle times, call volumes and hold times. You can even implement member satisfaction reporting.
When it comes to your members, knowing what they do when they need help is powerful. With analytics and reporting, you can gather valuable insights about your members. These tools allow you to learn which channels your members go to when seeking assistance and track their every move until they find a resolution. For example, you can track when members go on your website, how long they spend on it, and what they do when they’re there. See point number 5 for AI’s ability to superpower your analytics function.
4. True omnichannel service
Omnichannel is the cohesion of all possible methods of contact into one seamless member journey. This means that a member’s contact channel can seamlessly change from chat to phone call to follow-up email without causing you, or them, any headaches. While many CX leaders are pouring resources into chat and AI tools, human agents and phone calls are simply irreplaceable. And given the older demographics of credit union members, it’s a safe bet that phone calls will have outsized importance for credit union contact centers. So, invest in chat and email, but make sure they can seamlessly transition to a phone call if the member wants.
5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) voice transcription
Voice transcription has long been a clunky tool that sounded cool in theory but never worked the way you wanted it to. But with AI, voice transcription has improved dramatically. And with this improved functionality comes greater value. AI gives you more accurate transcriptions of phone calls. But beyond that, AI allows you to search for specific words or terms, analyze sentiment, and quantifiably study your member interactions. You can learn more about the most common reasons your members call. You can look at which employees stick to the script best. You can see which topics or words tend to make people emotional. All of this data comes from voice calls you’re already making.
All CX Tools Available to Support Better Customer Experience
Do you work for a Credit Union that is looking to optimize their customer experience?
CXponent is a software solutions advisory firm that focuses on the communication pillar of the tech stack. Today’s buyers are overwhelmed with too much information and an abundance of vendor choices. We empower buyers to make smart purchasing decisions – the first time. From planning to selection to deployment, we’ll meet you wherever you are in the buying process.
To learn more about our services and how we can help Credit Unions better support their members, get in touch with an advisor today.
