Regions Bank

Regions Financial Corporation is one of the nation’s largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, mortgage and insurance products and services, with $129 billion in assets. Its subsidiary, Regions Bank, operates 1,500 banking offices and 1,900 ATMs, with approximately 9,000 employees serving customers across the South, Midwest and in Texas. Regions Bank serves its loyal customer base well. A recent survey found that Regions Bank had the “best overall reputation among top U.S. banks and the best reputation among customers.

One Regions Bank team member in charge of maintaining that stellar reputation for customer satisfaction is Eric Dixon, the Assistant VP of Omni- Channel CRM in the bank’s Consumer Solutions Group. “Our group is truly customer focused— our focus isn’t on pushing products or sales, but on building relationships with the customer and making sure we have care built in—finding out what their life goals are, and helping each customer have financial freedom and stability to get to the points in life they want to get to.”

To put that customer focus into action, Regions Bank relies on Engageware to drive new and existing customer engagement by ensuring that every contact point leads each customer to the right employee at the right location—at the right time.

Benefits For Customers And Employees

Today’s customers expect instant engagement on their terms, with flexibility, connectivity and expertise. Mr. Dixon reports that Engageware makes it possible for clients like Regions Bank to give consumers exactly what they are looking for: “a real omni-channel approach that lets the customer interact with it whenever they want, whether it be by phone, online or mobile.” And, while online banking continues to grow, customers still want to meet in person with their bankers. Intelligent online appointment scheduling makes it possible not only for the customer to find convenient locations and times, but it also allows team members to be prepared for each appointment, avoid double-booking and avoid making  customers wait.

Using Engageware to schedule appointments also allows employees to manage their time, avoiding wasted time waiting for no-shows, or interrupting other work when an unexpected appointment appears. “It gives our bankers a tool to plan out their day to make sure they can have really fruitful interactions with customers, and not really be on a time crunch,” says Mr. Dixon. Regions Bank employees know ahead of time that a particular hour is set aside for one particular customer, allowing them to prepare for that customer’s individual needs, and letting them focus on the customer during that hour without interruption—providing exceptional customer service.

Popularity And Measurable Results

The intelligent online appointment scheduling forms Engageware created for Regions Bank give customers both flexibility and specificity—allowing them to choose location, time and the services they’d like to discuss, whether it be a mortgage, an existing account, or opening a new account. And  customers can book appointments from the channel they’re using—online, on the Regions Bank website, via their mobile device, or at the contact center.

Bank customers have long complained about waiting in branches. Customers want the ability to walk into their bank branch and meet with an employee or have their questions answered without having to sit and wait. Engageware is solving this problem at Regions Bank locations where customers can use QR codes, scanning them in the branch and setting up an appointment right then and there so they’ll know exactly what time they will be able to meet with a Regions Bank team member.

These improvements in customer service and ease of scheduling appointments has had measurable results. When Regions Bank started working with Engageware, they were seeing 25,000-30,000  appointments booked annually. Since employing Engageware, Regions Bank has seen a steady 30% increase in appointments booked each year. “The adoption has really gone through the roof on the associate side and on the customer side,” raves Mr. Dixon.

He adds that “the customer feedback has been very positive….customers really enjoy the tool. It gives them the ability to schedule time with a banker on their terms…And the customer adoption rate is great.”

Meeting Every Challenge

As is happening more frequently and in more parts of the country, a recent hurricane in Florida caused a crisis for residents and Regions Bank customers. Mr. Dixon explains that many branches were affected and closed, with many customers and employees impacted. Customers facing the crisis needed to access their safe deposit boxes, and Regions Bank “turned to Engageware to help us find a solution for that.”

Mr. Dixon explains that Engageware created a system in under 12 hours to solve the problem of damaged branch locations. Instead of arriving at a closed bank, customers could access a QR code on the branch door with their phone and set up an appointment to access their safe deposit boxes and assets. “That was a really quick response to a crisis which wouldn’t have been possible without the ease of use of the Engageware system and the help and support that your support team gave us.”

The Future

Regions Bank is currently expanding their use of Engageware both in other verticals and in adopting other Engageware products. Mr. Dixon says that “due to the success of the Engageware tool in our retail banks, many other lines of business really want to jump on board to use this tool.” Mortgage is a quickly growing area in the banking industry, and Regions Bank believes that using Engageware Enterprise in that area will have a marked increase in customer contact rates and customer satisfaction.

Regions Bank is also planning to implement new technologies in their branches, like Engageware’s Queue Manager, which will allow customers to have a better and more personalized in-branch experience. Mr. Dixon knows that Engageware will change the traditional sitting and waiting that happens when a customer walks into a bank branch, allowing Regions Banks to immediately greet and match each customer with the right associate, so that they “feel that they’ve been addressed and talked to, and are not left in limbo until somebody notices that they are sitting there.”