Many branches have seen a decline in traffic and a change in the types of customer transaction requests. As a result, financial institutions are redefining the role of the branch and contact center as consumers adopt digital self-service technology.

 While there are still consumers and small businesses that prefer to come to branches for simple transactions such as cash needs, many consumers no longer rely on branches for routine transactions and service requests. Consumers still value the local branch, but they increasingly use it for complex transactions, issue resolution, and advisory services. In today’s Omni-channel environment, customers want self-service, banker assisted, and full-service options, and the ability to seamlessly move between digital and human channels.

This evolving business model resulted in institutions deploying a variety of human asset methodologies to meet customer needs including centralized bankers, branch-based bankers, and mobile bankers. A successful institution employs a solution that delivers high quality customer experience with the flexibility to reliably support all banker touchpoints.

 Since financial institutions lose the personal engagement associated with face-to-face contact, this reduced visibility results in a loss of needs awareness in the early stages of the customer journey, ironically at the time it is needed most. Without technology equipped to detect and quantify customer needs, the institution suffers from missed opportunity.

 Digital sensory technology detects customer interest and quantifies propensity-to-purchase, routing well-timed and relevant engagement through digital and human channels. Additional self-disclosed customer information through intelligent surveys and a self-service personal financial planning tool, and access to online appointment scheduling, increase the institution’s knowledge of customer short- and long-term needs. Digital and human channels work in concert, proactively engaging the right banker at the right time.