Mac Has a Message for Credit Unions

Mac has built a very catchy ad campaign around its “Mac” and “PC” characters. The most recent ad really hits home the idea that Apple and its customers understand, appreciate and value excellent care and support.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZoGwZ9yiM0

Does your credit union have financial geniuses that are easy to reach? If a member called your credit union, would they get the department they need on the first call? Or would they be stuck, like our friend “PC,” yelling that they don’t want to talk to tech support, they want information about a mortgage?

Make sure you are there for your members. Make it easy for your members to get the information and help they need on the first call, without relying on transfers. Make sure your call center drives loyalty and revenue by exceeding your members’ expectations when they call.

Is Your Call Center Solving Issues? Or Just Answering the Phones?

A credit union’s call center is its busiest and largest branch, the primary channel current and prospective members will use to ask questions or resolve issues.

How can a credit union optimize its call center to be both effective in handling member concerns and efficient in its use of resources? There are many metrics to consider when running a call center, but there are seven I feel are the best. The first group is the basics – these measure efficiency. The second group is even more important – these measure quality and effectiveness. Effectiveness means that when you answer the phone, you actually meet and exceed the needs of your members.

The Basics

1. Average Speed of Answer (ASA): This measures the time it takes for an agent to answer a member’s call. This is an important measure, but do not focus too much here. You can answer the phone quickly and still fail your members.

2. Call Abandonment Rate: This is simply the rate at which calls are unanswered. The higher the rate, the more missed opportunities a credit union has for serving members. An ideal abandonment rate should be around 3 percent.

3. Call Handle Time: This is the amount of time an agent spends talking to members plus time spent following up on calls, emails or voicemails. This is a better measure than just call times. They will be spending time taking action on member calls, too.

4. Cost Per Contact: This is a measure of how efficient the call center is operating from a pure cost standpoint. Your credit union’s cost per contact should be between $3.18 and $5.30 per call.

Advanced Metrics

1. First Call Resolution Rate (FCRR): The best predictor of member satisfaction, FCRR is the percentage of calls resolved on the first call without being transferred to another agent. Credit unions should aim for an FCRR of 90 percent or higher.

2. Call Quality: This is the measure of an agent’s ability to do their job. A high call quality drives member loyalty and helps credit unions not just stay in business, but grow and thrive.

3. Agent Utilization: How productive is your call center staff? This is determined by looking a how much of an agent’s paid time is spent on member service. While few credit unions currently measure this, the ideal utilization is around 80 percent.

My next few blogs will explore each of these in more detail with real world credit union examples. Let me know if you have other ways of measuring your call center not listed here.

Are You “Hanging Up” on Your Members?

Have you ever arrived at a retail store just before closing? You beg silently – or not so silently – through the already locked glass door for admittance. There is just one thing you need. It isn’t even a “want,” it is a “need,” and it will take less than five minutes of the store’s time. You do a great deal of business at this store and would appreciate them acknowledging that by helping you now. Instead, the last employee in the store turns their back on you and walks away.

Above is a story of customer care gone wrong. Credit unions pride themselves on exemplary member service, but are you guilty of the same thing? Is your credit union turning its back on members that need help? I am sure you let last-minute stragglers pass by the closing doors at 4:59 p.m., but what if that member reaches out at 2:00 a.m. on Saturday or noon on Sunday? Below are three quick stories of credit unions that underestimated the number of members who try to reach them after hours.

1. A Northern California credit union with a worldwide membership expanded its contact center services to accept calls after hours (6PM – 6AM Monday through Friday). During call center testing, the credit union opened the phone lines, but did not advertise the expanded service to members. That month, the credit union received more than 1,500 calls.

2. We worked with a New England community-based credit union ($1.5 billion in assets) to break down the hours members were calling most for service. In one month, 28 percent of member calls came to the credit union outside normal business hours.

3. A small Las Vegas-based credit union realized after expanding its call center to 24/7 that the second highest spike in call volume typically came between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m., an hour after the call center closed prior to expansion.

Member service starts with a phone call. Credit unions that do not have 24/7 capabilities are losing business, because they have chosen to limit the hours they will interact with members. Instead of making sure they meet the members’ needs, they dictate the hours a member must do business with them. And those members will find other sources to meet their financial needs.

Four Credit Union Executives Explore Call Center Selection, Implementation and Management

Tomorrow, I will moderate a discussion among four credit union executives at the PSCU Financial Services 2009 Member Forum. I have included a description of the session below and will follow-up this week with a recap of topics examined and discussed.

Strategic Insights Session:
Total Member Care™ - 24/7 Contact Center Solutions For Service, Growth & Loyalty
Tues., April 7, 1:30-2:30 p.m. ET AND 2:45-3:45 p.m. ET

Listen to four credit union executives share their call center selection, implementation and management challenges and successes during this interactive, hour-long session. Audience members are invited to ask questions of the panelists who will delve into how they met an increasing demand for expanded member service, provided a revenue growth engine, reduced operational costs and built member loyalty for their credit union.

Forum attendees are invited to stop by the Total Member Care table at the Solutions Fair for product descriptions, demos and giveaways.

Moderator:
Pete Schmitt, executive director ContactUSA

Panelists:
Barb Baker, vice president, Contact Center, Delta Community Credit Union

Mitch Dormer, vice president, Strategic Initiatives, Chevron Federal Credit Union

Sally Fink, vice president, Member Services, Comstar Federal Credit Union

M. Brent Loyd, director, Member Care Operations, Texas Dow Employees Credit Union

Satisfaction vs. Loyalty

The other week, we discussed the need to move members from satisfied to loyal. To best achieve this in your credit union, it helps to have a better understanding of what separated satisfaction from loyalty.

Satisfaction means you met a very low bar of expectation. When I enter a credit union, I expect to have access to my money, make a payment on a loan or get answers to my questions.

Loyalty, however, means that I am an advocate for my credit union. I proudly tell others about the service I receive. I will go out of my way to use their services, even if another financial institution offers comparable terms.

William Bluel, a professor of Decision Sciences at Pepperdine University, explains the difference between satisfaction and loyalty at his blog this way:

Experience tells me, as do the definitions in several dictionaries, that satisfaction relates to the result of a process. The process may be a sales process, product performance process, or a service process. Loyalty relates to a relationship. Customer loyalty does not occur, but customer satisfaction can occur immediately following a successful process. Loyalty can, in fact, survive a negative process. Loyal customers will continue to purchase from a company even though they may have had a bad experience.

Even more surprising is the fact that satisfied customers will leave your credit union. Bluel also shares this:

Frederick Reichheld noted several years ago that between 65 and 85 percent of customers who defect said they were satisfied to very satisfied with their former supplier. As an example, Reichheld used the auto industry to make his point by showing that satisfaction scores are between 85 and 95 percent, while repurchase rates average only 40 percent.

What makes some customers loyal and some merely satisfied? The key is in building a relationship. Every financial institution – bank, credit union or non-bank lender – offers a variation of the same set of services. Some provide a way to store money and access that money with checks, debit cards and ATMs. Others lend money at various rates and repayment terms.

While some people will solely make their decision based on the final cost, the interest rate or the fee structure, most people involve other “intangible” factors. How am I treated when I have a problem? Does the credit union have my interests at heart?

Building loyalty is a three-step process. First, a credit union has to have a product someone needs – a loan package, a passbook account or a savings account. Next, that person must be able to conduct the transaction in a way that meets their needs and expectations. The final step is building loyalty. Loyalty requires building a relationship with the member.

Call centers and member service departments play a crucial role in the development of the final two steps. A member’s primary contact method with a credit union is by phone. Having a well-trained call center prepared to exceed member expectations is one of the easiest ways to build loyalty among your members.