Featuring insights from Ashish Garg, Co-founder and CEO of Eltropy, as he reveals three ways credit unions and community banks can streamline their contact center operations amid the ongoing labor and staffing shortage. Based on his original contribution to the Forbes Technology Council, here’s an in-depth look:

Recently, I’ve heard a lot of talk from people worried about the overall stability of financial institutions that serve local communities.

Some of this comes from macroeconomic factors, such as the long-term impact of digitalization, shifts in the preferences of the younger generation and the effects of the recent pandemic. These reasons—added to worries about a full-blown recession this year—are contributing to unprecedented labor and staffing shortages.

Community financial institutions (CFIs), which rely heavily on hiring customer service representatives, are particularly affected by this trend. In this challenging environment, CFIs are looking for innovative ways to manage their operations while maintaining profitability. It’s very possible—if they take the proper steps.

In this article, I’ll examine three ways credit unions and community banks can streamline their contact center operations during the current labor and staffing shortage.

1. Use Digital Channels—Including Text and Chat—in The Call Center.

In case you haven’t noticed, texting tends to be a significantly more preferred method of communication than phone calls. Eighty-five percent of consumers want to text with businesses. It may also be more efficient, as customers are, in my experience, typically more willing to communicate with you by text.

The asynchronous nature of texting can also up the efficiency of a call center agent. Member service representatives who are engaged in a one-to-one texting conversation can effectively have multiple texting discussions versus a single conversion that can be done via a phone call.

When incorporating texting into the call center, call centers should update their internal processes and respond differently to customers to ensure a successful implementation. For example, they should ensure they have the following.

• 1. A compliant and secure text messaging solution to protect sensitive customer information.
• 2. Training on proper texting etiquette and communication style for their agents, as texting differs from phone or in-person conversations.
• 3. Clear guidelines for when texting is appropriate and when it is not to avoid overwhelming customers with too many messages.

2. Leverage AI to Automate Call Center Operations.

AI tools can help transform the call center industry by automating operations using chatbots, speech recognition and natural language processing. This can reduce wait times for members, save staffing costs and allow human representatives to handle more complex inquiries.

Credit unions can start exploring AI, for example, by using chatbots to generate for personalized member advice. The bot can personalize conversations and generate relevant responses to inquiries. Additionally, ChatGPT can generate content for auto-mailers, monthly newsletters and other marketing messages.

While digital tools like AI can help reduce the need for human agents in the call center, there will always be a need for skilled, knowledgeable representatives who can provide personalized service to members. Because of this, AI can be used for routine tasks, and then CFIs can invest their efforts in attracting and retaining high-quality talent for the more complex tasks.

3. Invest in Training and Development for Call Center Reps.

Investing in training and development programs for call center agents is one way to attract and retain the high-quality talent mentioned above.

Training programs can be used to teach reps about your credit union’s specific products and services, as well as best practices for member interactions. Ongoing development programs can keep staff up-to-date on industry trends and changes, such as new regulations or emerging technologies. By investing in the development of their agents, credit unions can build a culture of excellence and differentiate themselves from competitors.

To implement effective training programs, start by tracking common problems. Once common issues are identified, create a curriculum that targets specific areas that need improvement. Additionally, institutions can track the effectiveness of their training programs by using metrics such as member satisfaction, call resolution rates and employee feedback to see if any training has improved these areas.

It’s important for institutions to balance the need for training with the potential pitfall of information overload. To avoid overwhelming employees with too much information, institutions should prioritize the most critical topics and provide ongoing support and resources for continuous learning.

4. Conclusion

The current labor and staffing shortage presents what may appear on the surface to be a daunting challenge for credit unions and community banks. While we may not be able to control the economy, community banks and credit unions should look for ways to optimize their call center operations, reduce costs and provide a better experience for their members, even when hiring is hard to do.