Relationship managers were being held back by a contact management system that prevented them from doing their best work.

• Limited filtering and prioritisation meant the same customers appeared at the top of contact lists, leaving others overlooked.

• Only one future contact date/reason meant opportunities for helpful conversations were missed.

• Information stored in multiple unconnected systems meant that relationship managers had to spend unproductive time and effort to serve customers better.

The challenge from senior executives was to provide something fit for purpose, equipped with all the tools they needed. In short, to “revolutionise Private Banking’s customer management activity.”

Listen & learn

We visited sites to talk to users. We looked at the tools they had, and the processes they followed. We conducted user workshops that involved all front line roles, their managers and senior bank staff within that division, as well as stakeholders from marketing, risk, compliance, and security. This way, we confirmed wider business objectives as well as user requirements.

Share the strategy

We built prototypes of the main screens and workflow and then held sessions with front-line users so they could tell us straight what would work – and what wouldn’t.

Onwards!

We ran a pilot for three months with around 130 users in different roles, gathering real-world feedback and tweaking things prior to full rollout. We also put champions in post, who were on hand to help users adapt to the new system.

Shortly after the pilot we took the plunge, rolling out to the remaining 2,500 users with an improved, refined solution. We were on site in a few locations for the first few days to gauge user reaction and make sure everything ran smoothly – and it did. Users were quick to accept the new solution and the feedback was excellent.

All together, now

We unified data from unconnected systems for a much smoother workflow:

• Users can trust the information now, because it’s all up to date.
• Users can see everything they need about a customer quickly and easily – a click away at most. Time saved switching between systems makes for faster responses and happier customers.
• Users can now find the right customers for the right reasons, easily creating complex searches to find customers who had previously been overlooked because of limited search capability.

• Only one future contact date/reason meant opportunities for helpful conversations were missed.

It’s attentive

• Users have a place to capture useful information accurately and
  consistently; every conversation is now a source of valuable data.
• Users can create follow-up actions, giving other users visibility of what needs to happen next.
• Users can set unlimited reminders for contacting customers in the future– and see where they originated from.

• Proactive alerts based on changing customer circumstances ensure users always know when and why they need to be in touch.
• The rich contact history timeline brings previous contact to life (regardless of who made it) with context and notes.
• The bank can now set how often customers should be contacted, to make sure relationship managers keep in touch.

Joined up

• Customer contact is more joined up because all relevant
  teams from different areas can see the same information, add notes and create icons for colleagues – for example, if a customer calls the 24hr contact centre overnight, the relationship manager can see that the next time they log in.
• ‘Out of office’ notes tell users when a given customer’s relationship manager is unavailable, and who to go to in their absence, so customers feel cared for, directed to the right person every time.

Shine a light

Managers can now see what their teams are doing with greater clarity, enabling them to identify those team members working hard and having successful customer conversations, and those that may need a little more support.

The big result here is that customers feel valued, which improves customer loyalty, and customer loyalty boosts long-term revenue.

• More contacts are made with the right customers, for the right reasons, at the right time. More worthwhile conversations, providing the bank with valuable insights.

• A serious boost in staff engagement, happiness, pride, and sense of ownership – they now have the right tools for the job.

• Improved visibility helps team managers to spot those employees doing great things and those in need of a little help.

• Even if a customer’s primary contact changes (due to leave, illnesses…), the quality of service is the same, because their past contact history, current information, and future contact alerts are all in the system.

Relationship Managers love the solution, and why wouldn’t they? They now have exactly the tools they need to make the most of their customer contact – wherever and however it happens. It’s had a fundamental impact on how customer contact is handled for the bank’s high net worth business arm and has won the attention of other areas of the business in the process. But most of all, it has made the bank’s most valued customers feel just that – valued.