Bank Branch Managers as Choreographers—Skillfully Moving Staff to Meet Customer and Bank Goals

(This is the third blog in a series. For the previous blogs, click here.)

Think about it. On any given day a bank branch can see hundreds of walk-in customers, host numerous appointments with bankers and specialists, and perform dozens of operationally required tasks—all with a limited staff.

Shifting staff between roles and tasks to ensure customers are served quickly and efficiently is like choreographing a dance. Sometimes that dance begins outside the branch, on the bank’s digital channels. The branch manager needs access to real-time data about the entire customer journey to choreograph an exceptional, in-branch customer experience.

Watch the video, Choreographing the Bank Branch Experience, to learn how Tanya, a branch manager at Orbital Bank, is able to manage her resources and customer demand with Verint branch workforce solutions.

This is the second in a series of videos highlighting different personas in a bank branch. Check out this previous blog that discusses the role of the Branch Workforce Planner.

Let’s dig a little deeper into a few of the most common challenges a bank manager might face on any given day.

Dealing with Unplanned Bank Branch Absences

In the video, a banker at the Main Street Branch calls in sick. He lets Tanya, the branch manager, know he’ll be out for the rest of the week. Prior to implementing Verint Workforce Management for Branch, Tanya would have been in a panic, calling other branches to see if they could spare a banker. She’d also send email requests to the float pool manager, crossing her fingers there was someone available.

But now with Verint WFM for Branch Scheduler, Tanya simply opens her scheduling dashboard and changes her banker’s shift to indicate he is sick for the rest of the week. She submits a Roster Request directly from her dashboard, and the system automatically searches for eligible bankers with the right skills.

The solution notifies the bankers via email or an in-system prompt, which can be accessed by laptop or mobile phone if they’ve downloaded the Verint WFM for Branch mobile app.  An eligible banker accepts the shift request from his or her mobile phone, and the shift is automatically approved. Tanya receives notification and the filled shift now appears on her branch schedule.

Tanya republishes the branch schedule, which also automatically sends the updated information to the Verint Appointment Booking solution.

Managing Walk-Ins Alongside Appointments

Scheduled Appointments

Speaking of appointments, Tanya can see on her branch schedule any digitally booked appointments, which helps Tanya plan the day’s activities. The ability to book appointments online or through the mobile app gives bank customers the convenience and flexibility they want.

They can start their journey online, and then move to a more personal, face to face interaction easily.  The solution enables them to book a day and time convenient for them.  Tanya’s bank also lets them choose the bankers they’d like to meet with.

So, if customers have pre-existing relationships with certain bankers, it’s very easy for them to book an appointment with those bankers again and again. The solution helps the bank better choreograph customer movements between their digital and physical channels.

Having a digitally booked appointment also helps her bankers be more effective.  You see, when booking an appointment, customers answer questions around the topic they’d like to discuss, the outcomes they’d like to see, and any additional information they’d like their banker to know.

Armed with this data, the banker can better prepare for the appointment and personalize the exchange for that customer.

Should something happen, like a banker calling in sick, the branch manager or other authorized supervisor can quickly reassign the appointment to an available banker via the concierge portal (shown below). The customer and the newly assigned banker will receive automatic notifications of the changes.

Walk-in Queue Management

In addition to the scheduled appointments, Tanya must also address the needs of her walk-in customers. There had been times when a flurry of customers would arrive at or near the same time. Tanya was hard pressed to know who was first, and if one banker would be better at serving a customer vs. another.

The confusion and inability to accurately estimate wait time and assign customers to bankers efficiently created a poor in-branch experience. Thankfully, the bank now uses Verint Queue Management.

The solution enables customers to join a virtual queue or waitlist for service, either through a self-serve kiosk at the branch entrance, a QR code in the branch window, on a tablet the greeter or manager carries—or even from the bank’s website.

The Verint Queue Management does several things:

• Captures the time the customer entered the queue
• Captures the purpose of their visit through short, customizable questions
• Automatically sends a notification to the customer with their anticipated wait time and position in queue
• Sends updates and alerts the customer when a banker is available to help them
• Automatically updates the branch manager’s dashboard.

The Verint Queue Management interface enables Tanya to see all the customers waiting in the queue, as well as upcoming appointments, and their intended service. This same interface shows her all her bank associates and their desk locations, as well as who is already waiting on a customer, currently available, or on break.

Equipped with this info, she can easily assign customers to the best advisor for their needs, creating a better service experience and increasing the likelihood of sales conversions.

The customers benefit from a calmer, more informed waiting experience and the assurance that they are being waited on fairly, in the order of entry.

Ensuring Business Development and Operational Tasks Are Done

In addition to juggling appointments and walk-ins, Tanya is tasked with ensuring her bankers are performing new customer outreach and business development activities.  Fortunately for Tanya, Verint Branch WFM lets her build in time for these activities.

The solution’s forecasting model can incorporate third-party market demographic information to help identify branches and markets with a high opportunity for growth and new customer acquisition. Branches in these markets would have more time allocated for outreach and business development activities, shifting resources to align with the market.

Tanya also must ensure that operational tasks are executed efficiently—at times that won’t negatively impact customer demand. A recent study found that bank staff typically spend most of their time on operational activities (70%) instead of customer interactions (30%).1

These task types can be built into the forecasting engine, ensuring the tasks are built into employee schedules so that enough resources are on-hand to execute the tasks and serve customers.

As we have illustrated, having solutions specifically designed for the bank branch environment is helping Tanya, and the branch managers at over 4,000 bank branches, elevate their in-branch customer experience while ensuring operational and outbound business development activities are executed according to plan.

This helps her branch meet its sales, productivity and efficiency goals.

Watch the video, Choreographing the Bank Branch Experience, visit www.verint.com/branch, or request a demo to learn more.

And keep an eye out for the last blog in this series where we explore these solutions from the customer’s point of view.

1 Intelligent Banks Do More with Less, By Craig Guillot, The Financial Brand, March 18, 2024