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How 3Rivers Credit Union Replaced Guesswork with Data

Since 1935, 3Rivers Federal Credit Union has been empowering their community to achieve financial wellness by offering personalized service, tools, and education. The member-owned, not for-profit cooperative has $1.1 billion in assets, more than 80,000 members, 16 branches, and over 340 employees. 3Rivers offers a wide range of financial solutions, in addition to trustworthy, lifelong guidance and relationships. For more information, visit 3riversfcu.org.

The Challenge

As a popular and fast-growing credit union, 3Rivers needed an appointment scheduling solution that would support its goals for continued innovation and impeccable service. 3Rivers also understood that, given the dynamic financial needs of its members’ lives, it was essential that their members be able to schedule an appointment with the right 3Rivers team member at a time and location that met their needs.

“Your financial needs are one of the most important aspects of your life,” explains Jennifer Schmidt, 3Rivers’ AVP of Retail Operations. “Unfortunately, unlike being able to easily schedule a doctor or car appointment, members were unable to make an appointment with us to address their finances. Instead, they’d come in and wait—sometimes over an hour—just to see someone.”

Prior to working with Engageware, 3Rivers did not have a set way for members to make appointments and was staffing locations based mainly on historical traffic patterns. According to Schmidt, “We knew that Fridays were busy, and Saturdays were getting busier, but we just kind of guessed.” The credit union had no specific way of measuring how much member traffic an individual branch could expect at different times, or what services were most needed at that branch. With 16 locations, and more being opened each year, 3Rivers also needed a flexible scheduling solution—particularly for traveling team members, like college loan experts, investment advisors, and mortgage specialists.

Finding the Right Solution

3Rivers’ President and CEO, Don Cates, wanted the credit union to perform careful due diligence to make sure that, among other things, they were “not trying to use technology to solve a people problem.” Once this due diligence was completed, the 3Rivers team began a comprehensive investigation of available solutions and, after seeing a Engageware demonstration, they carefully compared its features with that of other vendors they had been considering.

Engageware’s deep domain knowledge and proven experience with credit unions, along with the service that 3Rivers received during the sales process and Engageware’s commitment to innovation, impressed the 3Rivers team. “We don’t fit into the bucket of traditional banking,” states Schmidt. “We like to kind of be ‘outside the box.’ And so we really felt that Engageware’s innovation and forward-thinking matched our own.”

Finally, seeing Engageware’s success with large national brands such as Best Buy, Sprint, Logix, and DCU gave 3Rivers the confidence that Engageware could meet their needs.

The Solution

When 3Rivers’ team members talk about Engageware, they use the word “easy” over and over again, noting that Engageware was “easy to learn, easy to use and easy to customize.”

“Embedding Engageware on the 3Rivers website was seamless, and Engageware was up and running quickly,” says Schmidt. “When the team wanted to make a change, they were thrilled to see that the change could be made instantly and could be functioning in under one minute.”

3Rivers currently drives member appointments through their website, mobile app, and marketing campaigns. They also recently launched Reserve with Google powered by Engageware, allowing both current and prospective members to book appointments in a nearby branch location, directly from Google search and Google Maps results.

When scheduling appointments, members are automatically matched with the employee who is best suited to accommodate their needs. Powerful Smart Matching™, Appointment Routing, and Microsoft Exchange™ integrations review employee skills and job functions, and govern business rules and personal calendar availability to provide guaranteed appointments to members. Today, 3Rivers is using Engageware to schedule appointments for business accounts, commercial loans, personal savings, investments, college planning, mortgages, and trusts.

Create high-value customer engagement – by appointment

See Appointment Scheduling

In the branches, employees greet members as they arrive using Engageware’s Concierge Mobile solution. Employees are able to see all pre-scheduled appointments, the reason for each member’s visit, and the branch associate to which each member is assigned. Members who walk in without pre-scheduled appointments can easily be added to the queue, and are matched with the right employee based on their needs. Estimated wait-time calculations keep members up-to-date regarding when they will be served, all of which furthers a great member experience.

The data and insights Engageware provides to 3Rivers has helped them understand more than just appointment volumes and staffing needs across their branch network; it has also given them visibility into what the most common member needs are, which services their team members need to be trained to provide, and whether those needs are being met.

“I can’t tell you how many team members have reached out to me and said, ‘Thank you for the push for Engageware because I don’t know what we would have done without it’.”
– Jennifer Schmidt, AVP of Retail Operations 3Rivers Credit Union

Success In-Branch and In-Market

The 3Rivers team was particularly thankful for Engageware after they saw a more than 25% increase in appointment requests and branch traffic following the exit of a large bank competitor in their area due to an acquisition. During this one-month period in late 2018, 3Rivers saw the same number of new account openings as it had in the previous 12 months combined. Even more rewarding, 3Rivers was able to accommodate this unprecedented spike without adding new team members. “Engageware actually saved our bacon and our reputation,” says Schmidt. “Had we not had Engageware, it would have been very hard for us to manage the crazy influx of business that we experienced in December.”

3Rivers notes that working with Engageware’s Customer Success team has been “terrific.” “When a 3Rivers team member has an idea or suggestion, Engageware is quick to respond and genuinely considers the suggestion, working with 3Rivers to implement it,” adds Schmidt.

The credit union loves that Engageware fits so seamlessly with their brand, and that their marketing team can easily add appointment scheduling in marketing emails and other member communications. 3Rivers reports that adoption rates are high, and that positive customer feedback and appointment volumes continue to grow. Looking ahead, the credit union plans to expand their use of Engageware via email campaigns, a website redesign, and by launching Queue Manager Kiosk.