4 DIY Tips for Optimizing Your Self-Service Offerings

By. Jason O’Brien, SWBC

Recently, the attention placed on institutions’ mobile and online banking capabilities has grown. As consumers move their banking relationships, or consider moving, they will be equating your self-service options to those of other financial institutions, and you will need to make sure you measure up in order to retain these new members and lure those on the edge of making the transition. That’s why we are giving your four inexpensive DIY tips for optimizing your self-service channels.

Tip 1: Audit self-service touch points

The number of ways your members can interact with your institution has grown dramatically over the past several years. Without a clear understanding of all your touch points, you run the risk of letting a member interact with an environment that makes them feel abandoned. Areas to consider include your website, mobile applications, ATMs, social media, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). For each channel, identify your maturity by asking:

• Is there an identified owner?

It should be clear who is responsible for monitoring and maintaining each channel. The channel owner should be someone who has experience with that channel and is dedicated to continually refreshing the content so the communications are up-to-date and relevant to your members.

• Are the appropriate policies in place?

You wouldn’t want an IT programmer posting information to your Facebook or YouTube account, and by the same token, you wouldn’t want your marketing team to take payments over the phone or reprogram your mobile application. Having policies in place and enforcing them is key to ensure all channels are being utilized appropriately and by the right people.

• When was the last time each channel was reviewed?

If it’s been more than a year, it’s time to revisit to guarantee that your user experience is the best that it can be. Reviews are also a good tool for accountability, as it will be evident which channels need more dedicated support.

• Are we measuring utilization?

Measuring your self-service channels’ utilization will ensure your team is making educated decisions on your investments and recognizing the full potential of each channel. Without these details, you will be relying on your gut feeling to make decisions and not understanding the result of your efforts.

Tip 2: Review your audit inter-departmentally to determine needs

Your service representatives communicate with your members the most, so go over the channel audit with them and get their feedback to help identify regularly reported concerns. If there are any other departments that have direct contact with your members, allow them to give their input as well to make sure all the bases are covered.

Tip 3: Determine your approach for problem resolution

With the feedback from tip #2, you can then figure out solutions and implement them. If upon further review, the channel doesn’t offer the value you need, is still under-utilized, or the expense to address the issue becomes too high, you may determine that it’s time to eliminate the channel.

Tip 4: Monitor each channel

Interview your team for “noise” about self-service channels on an ongoing basis so that any issues can be resolved in a timely manner. These days, if you don’t fix something that users perceive as a problem, that could mean the difference between them staying with your institution or moving their funds elsewhere. Also, continue to monitor usage because as time goes on, your members will change the way they want to self-serve.