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Automated scheduling and texting can enhance personal interactions.
Branches are expensive to develop and operate. Credit unions should work to understand performance per square foot, which aims to quantify the use of and return on each square foot of space. A physical factor is the percentage of space used for member contact in comparison to back office operations. We find many legacy branches have a ratio of 65 percent to 35 percent, while new branches should enjoy an 85/15 ratio. Other useful ratios report deposit and loan dollars per square foot or the number of members served.
Many branches are designed with space for conferencing. Often these conference spaces are underutilized; it is not uncommon for large conference rooms or community rooms to be in use only 5 percent of the time. This is a waste, especially with new technology available to substantially increase use per square foot and enhance member and community engagement and help build credit union awareness and growth in the bargain.
Smarter scheduling can help with this. Symitar, a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services, recently introduced Appointment 365. This scheduling tool enables credit union members and staff to book appointments from their phone or computer. Both members and nonmembers can use this tool by visiting a credit union’s website and then setting up an on-site meeting to open an account, apply for a loan, resolve an issue or get advice.
These scheduling systems can have a big impact on space use across an entire branch network. Most credit unions operate a variety of branch sizes, configurations and capacities, as well as high-value service provider locations. The system can maximize utilization of all conference areas across a large network of branches and offices. Loan and small business officers can meet members at the most convenient location. Staff know that when they arrive, the space will be reserved for them.
One of the issues with shared space is setting the scene for success. These scheduling systems not only reserve the room but can populate a vertical tablet with the room function, like Home Loan Center, Business Banking, Investment Services or Insurance, and show the staff member’s name and title and the member’s name, if desired.
These scheduling systems will likely help with branch efficiency. A credit union with 20 branches averaging 2,800 square feet per branch is operating 56,000 square feet of retail space. If branch use efficiency can improve by just 5 percent, this could generate thousands of dollars in savings per year, potentially delaying the addition of new branches while improving member satisfaction and relationship building.
In addition to scheduling, smartphones can be used to help make connections with branch-using members in another way: by leveraging text.
A few years ago, I completed a study, “Integration of Technology into the Customer’s Experience,” for one of the nation’s largest banks. In part, this study sought to develop better understanding of how to connect with customers in the most comfortable, seamless and efficient ways, to maximize branch use and productivity at a time when transactions were declining 5 percent to 7 percent per year. (More recently, several of our clients are seeing transaction volume leveling off, which may be the result of the lessening impact of early adopters of technological delivery, membership growth, and the addition of new products and services best delivered in branches.)
One of our recommendations was to send a text message to customers when their reservation is ready, similar to what many restaurants do today. Customers receive a notification five or 10 minutes before the financial services representative is ready to meet with them. This tool can reduce perceived wait time and help diminish the size of waiting areas and the need to entertain, particularly when retail stores are adjacent to the branch. We recently employed this method for a credit union developing a small campus branch. Members can preschedule their meetings or walk into the branch and be given a time estimate; if they go to the nearby cafeteria to wait, they can receive a text message when their meeting is imminent. We understood that phones are an anthropomorphic extension of their owners and, as a result, increase trust in the messages delivered and provide immediate access.
In another study for a large credit union, we observed members’ behaviors as they entered the lobby and waited for service. There was comfortable seating, a “Tech Table” with tablets, magazines and a large screen showing the news and occasional credit union messaging. Nearly all of the members were looking at their phones rather than engaging with any of the offerings. This suggests that if members are on their phones in the branch, we need to find ways to connect with what they are holding in their hands. We can certainly text them when a meeting is five minutes away and then greet them in person. We can also show them how to access new account and loan information on their own devices. They can likely fill out the forms about as fast as they can text a friend. With this strategy, we are making a near visceral connection through their most trusted device.
In all, these new scheduling systems and the omnipresence of personal phones support a good next step in branch evolution. They help make connecting easy and fast for members and an efficient tool for the credit union by combining automated engagement with human delivery.
Paul Seibert is an independent consultant under Paul Seibert Consulting, Seattle.
