Eliminate these inefficiencies in the back office. By Alissa Fry-Harris Sponsored by Bluepoint Solutions
What does back-office inefficiency have to do with attracting new members? Or retaining existing members? It’s a matter of priorities--time your employees spend on busywork can’t be spent on serving members. But in a world where every dollar is also in demand for mobile technology and community outreach programs, it can be difficult (or seem impossible) to prioritize process investments. Here are three red flags that mean you should dig deeper to unearth hidden sources of inefficiency and uproot threats to superior service:
- You need more resources. Catering to new and prospective members takes money. Ovum predicts global retail banking IT spending to hit a record high by the end of 2015 ($131 billion), largely composed of investment in mobile and digital channels. These services can be partially self-funded as new members and deeper relationships bring incremental increases in revenues. But growth also brings increased pressure on staff, which in turn magnifies the effect of any currently broken processes. What member-facing programs could you fund if you freed the equivalent of one, two, three (or more) full-time employees even while you grow?
- You see paper, paper, anywhere. No matter how efficient your employees are, if you buy or receive paper, there is room for improvement. According to a recent credit union study by Bluepoint Solutions, 84 percent of credit unions are still struggling to create, process and store content without relying on paper. Furthermore, 69 percent of credit unions are using document imaging solutions that are five years old or older, a third of them at least 11 years old—a surprising age for any technology. $228 million Cabrillo Credit Union, 2014 recipient of a Credit Union Journal Best Practice Award for document imaging efforts, reduced paper in its operation by 40 percent and created a 20 percent surplus in employee time previously spent processing paper. Where could you spend the cost savings and the employee time regained if you were truly paper free?
- You have a back office (upon which member service depends directly). In addition to saving time and resources, rooting out inefficiencies is about serving members. According to the 2015 World Retail Banking Report, a variety of back-office issues, such as “slow processing times, errors, and exceptions,” cause a large proportion of poor customer experiences—as much as 60 percent, according to 2013 research. Yet only 33 percent of banks’ budgets are allocated to back-office technology, and that percentage is expected to drop further in the next three years. The resulting rise in service breakdowns originating in the back office is clearly counterproductive. How much more attention could employees give your members if they could get out of the back office?
Even if you think you’ve excavated every source of inefficiency, if your resources are stretched too thin, you still see paper around the branch, or you have a back office, take another look. Funding and staffing member-facing services and programs take resources—resources that are squandered when back-office technology can’t keep up with growth. Leave no stone unturned in your quest to serve your members better, faster, and with greater efficiency.
Alissa Fry-Harris is director of marketing for CUES Supplier member Bluepoint Solutions, which provides integrated, end-to-end payment processing and content management technology solutions that help credit unions achieve the strategic goals of increasing employee productivity, lowering operating costs, enhancing member service and outreach, and adapting to relentless change. Sign up to get emails with links to Bluepoint Solutions' new five-part article series about capturing waste in unexpected places, setting your resources free to attract and serve your growing membership. Slated for Sept. 14-15 in San Antonio, CUES School of Member Experience will cover such key ideas as transitioning from tellers handling transactions to "universal agents" who can serve every member need; the findings of the Filene report, "Customer Experience and Credit Union Opportunities"; and making the move to a sales and service culture. Get a special rate when you register for CUES School of Member Experience before July 31!
