Making an appointment at your local branch via web form can often take more time than the service you require. That’s why we’ve developed a more efficient alternative: the Bank Scheduling App.
Why banks need appointment booking
In an age where technology is an intrinsic part of everyday life, customers are always in for a rude awakening when they find out their bank of choice isn’t moving with the times. Equally, market-leading banks are in an incredibly competitive industry now that customers can open an account at a different bank using their smartphone in a matter of minutes.
As such, banks need to deploy Retail Choreography tools like Appointment Booking to perfect the customer experience and simultaneously boost sales.
The ROI potential for doing so is monumental. Soon after Bank of America rolled out virtual services, digital channels accounted for 29% of all account openings and loan originations.
It’s easy to see why when Google Trends reveals that ‘bank appointment’ searches have skyrocketed in recent years.
Ultimately, to drive profitability and customer loyalty while warding off competitors, every bank needs an effective Appointment Scheduling System.
“Qudini makes my daily life much easier, because the appointments that I get in for the day I know are going to go ahead. Customers have much more time to prepare and they’ve had notifications the whole way through the process. They’ve also had the ability to reschedule. For me there’s less admin time that I’m having to complete, giving me more time to get on with my day job.”
HQ, NatWest Bank
What services do customers want to book appointments for?
The top services customers typically banking appointments for include:
- In-branch banking advice
- Business client advice
- Video banking
- Mortgage services
- Loan services
- Community bankers/field bankers who meet customers out of branch in local community locations
- Accessibility (including assisted banking, wheelchair access and quiet store hours)
How the web form booking journey works
Lots of customers make the mistake of thinking that they’ve reserved a slot for service once they’ve submitted their appointment request via web form. Unfortunately, it’s a little (or a lot) more complicated than that.
Here’s a classic web form booking journey:
Miranda wants to book an appointment to discuss a mortgage at her local branch.
She googles her existing bank and stumbles upon their appointment web form.
She only has a couple of spare hours at the weekend to go into a branch so she submits a request for a convenient time.
She’s disappointed she can’t see the banks availability and slightly stressed because she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to get an appointment. When she finally receives a response from the branch team many hours later, they tell her that they’re fully booked on Saturday. She asks if they have, at the very least, a space for her on Sunday.
Unfortunately, the bank replies with available times on Sunday while she’s in the middle of something else and it completely slips her mind to pick a time. Soon, she forgets altogether about her prospective appointment and decides to nip into another bank to find out if they have walk-in available for mortgage advice. They do – she’s so impressed with her service that she ultimately gets a mortgage with the new bank.
Customers can seamlessly select a time slot, pick a service or product and receive booking confirmations using Qudini’s Appointment Scheduling Software.
Why is the Bank Appointment Booking Software customer journey better?
In comparison, the Online Bank Scheduling System customer journey is much more seamless.
Here’s how things could have gone if Miranda had gone to a bank with an Appointment Booking Software in place:
Miranda searches “appointment” and the name of her bank. She’s impressed to see that the bank’s appointment availability appears immediately in their Google profile (thanks to Reserve with Google). When Miranda picks a time slot for Sunday afternoon, she’s taken directly to her bank’s online appointment page.
Here, she gets to select mortgage advice as her service, before picking a venue and a preferred advisor. Once she’s filled in some details and submitted her booking, she immediately receives a confirmation email.
She also receives email and SMS reminders leading up to her appointment ensuring she does’t forget her booking. These emails include a link which allows her to easily cancel, reschedule or confirm her booking.
What are Qudini’s top bank scheduling features?
Qudini’s Booking App for banks has features for customers and your staff including:
Customer features
- Online appointment scheduling and service selection based on powerful time slot availability algorithms
- Select an advisor
- Confirm, cancel or reschedule booking
Store, call center and HQ team features:
- Cater customer questions depending on selected service with question type capabilities for free text, drop down, image selection, digital signature and much more
- Share feedback forms and after-service surveys with customers by email or text
- Full appointment management control on desktop, tablet and mobile
- Simultaneously let multiple staff members use the software
- Print paper list of appointments
- Let contact centre teams manage and edit bookings for customers
- Seamlessly use our booking system across different time zones and stores–at the same time
- Head office even receive regular reports sharing data insights on appointment booking utilization and much more
Does Qudini’s Banking Scheduling App get results?
Yes, Qudini’s Scheduling System gets great results for banks.
Typically banks should expect to see:
- Higher appointment traffic: By offering appointments, you’re making your banking services and branches a lot more accessible. As a result, your traffic will shoot up.
- Increased appointment uptake: Retailers significantly boost appointment foot traffic, drive sales and get the most out of staff using Qudini.
- Reduced admin time: Take the pressure off your banking experts by letting our system do all the admin surrounding your appointment schedule.
- Acquired more new customers: Typically, banks see around a 60% increase in new customers when they roll out our Appointment Software.
- Higher staff productivity: Our software ensures your branch team always knows who they’re meant to be serving and where so that idle time is as much as 25% lower.
- Fewer no shows: Thanks to our booking reminders which allow customers to seamlessly reschedule their appointments rather than simply fail to turn up, we’ve reduced the no show rate by 70%.
“Qudini allows me to allocate resources more effectively so that the team functions more efficiently than ever before.”
– Branch manager, NatWest
Learn more about Qudini – market-leading Retail Choreography provider
Want to know more about what type of software you should roll out in your branches? Check out our banking infographic and discover why you need to upgrade your appointment process.
