Bank of Oak Ridge

Bank of Oak Ridge is an employee-owned community bank with locations in Greensboro, Summerfield and Oak Ridge, North Carolina. The Bank was established in 2000 with the goal of delivering Banking as It Should Be. With a focus on providing personal attention and convenience for every client, they offer a complete range of banking services for individuals and businesses including Saturday and extended weekday hours, Interactive Teller Machines, ATM usage world-wide, mobile banking, remote deposit for consumers and businesses, and a full line of checking accounts; savings accounts; mortgage services; insurance services; lending options; and wealth management services.

The Challenge:

With a call volume exceeding the department’s capacity, Bank of Oak Ridge was searching for a solution to gain increased efficiency and employee focus by reducing backlog without adding additional headcount. Investing in additional full-time resources is both costly and time-consuming, including the cost of recruitment, salary, benefits, and bank training.

Bank of Oak Ridge also hoped to refocus employee efforts toward key initiatives and revenue-driving activities. The bank’s call center representatives spent the majority of their time answering basic and routine informational questions from clients, causing a backlog of account maintenance functions. Over time, the backlog made it challenging for the employees to focus their time and efforts on tasks and activities that supported the Bank of Oak Ridge’s strategic efforts.

“The call center was working very hard and feeling stressed – they spent the majority of their time answering routine questions with less time to focus on deepening client relationships,” said Jason Woods,Vice President, Manager of Interactive Services.

The Solution:

Bank of Oak Ridge implemented Engageware’s Customer Self-Service solution on both its website and mobile platform. This solution allowed Bank of Oak Ridge to digitally alleviate redundant and technology-related “how-to” questions. With the help of the online platform, customers now find answers to their questions both during and outside normal banking hours. Engageware provides a customer self-service experience by integrating across banks and credit unions’ mobile, web and banking channels. The solution centralizes all digital inquiries and instantly answers 95% of all questions, significantly reducing FAQs that often clog banks and credit unions’ call centers. Additionally, with Top Content Widgets, Engageware’s Customer Self-Service solution increases product engagement and calls to action to positively influence revenue and loan growth without impacting headcount.

“Through the mobile and web-based solutions, we measured an immediate reduction in the amount of technology related calls,” said Woods.

The Results:

Post implementation, overall daily call volume decreased by more than 20 percent, while the account maintenance backlog dropped more than 66 percent. The solution provided significant customer experience improvements, including the ability to answer customer questions outside of normal banking hours. For employees, technology related questions decreased by 64 percent, allowing time for employees to deepen relationships with existing clients, proactive calls to new accounts, and the ability to focus on strategic, revenue-driving initiatives.

“To provide banking as it should be, customer convenience has to be a top priority. If customers can get questions answered quickly even when the bank is not open, we’ve succeeded”, said Woods.