Why Do Financial Institutions Need Call Center Software?

Do you know that 54% of consumers have higher expectations from customer service today than a year ago?

Even though financial services are experiencing a digital adoption boom, 88% of people still prefer to speak to live customer agents over the phone. One of the probable reasons for this is that when there is money involved, people want to get their issue solved at the earliest. 

Whether you offer banking services, mortgage, credit services, or are an insurance company, a call center software will help you attract customers and inspire brand loyalty. 

How Do Call Center Services Help Financial Institutions?

Whether you are a bank, mortgage company, or insurance provider, you likely play a vital role in helping people better manage their money. With few exceptions, everything you do for customers can be streamlined and made simple with a call center. 

The call center helps customers with various concerns, such as:

• • Making deposits (how-to)
  • Withdrawing money (how-to)
  • Checking their balances
  • Paying bills
  • Reporting stolen cards and blocking them
  • Determining their limits related to credit card and pre-approved loans
  • Getting insurance quotes
  • Providing investment information
  • Processing mortgage, loan applications, chequebook requests, etc.
  • Activation of debit and credit cards
  • Solving concerns of credit card fraud

And more…

Banks, mortgage companies, lending institutions, and investment firms can leverage call center services to keep their customers updated and ensure their queries are resolved at the earliest. 

Why Do Financial Institutions Need Call Center Software?

With Fintech platforms on the rise, financial companies are facing more competition than ever. 

In order to remain sustainable and profitable, you need a call center that handles your customers’ queries and makes their experience worth remembering. 

Call centers perform various tasks for a financial institution: provide information, submit inquiries, and approve/reject transactions. However, to serve their purpose efficiently, they need software. However, to serve their purpose efficiently, they need software, including fintech software development.

At the most basic level, a call center software allows you to offer self-service options (for basic tasks like account information, lodging a complaint, etc.) 24/7 to your customers. This ensures secure and uninterrupted services even outside business hours.

The best call center software comes with features that help enhance the customer experience, such as interactive voice response (IVR), phone call transfer, call barging, call recording, and third-party integrations. 

Besides, it routes customers to the right department and the most appropriate person depending on their issue. 

Banks even use call center software to validate transactions above the threshold amount. The software calls the customer on their registered number to ensure the transaction is authorized and validates or blocks the activity based on their response. 

Benefits Of Call Center Software For Financial Institutions

A cloud-based virtual call center software allows you to build a remote support team without investing in expensive hardware. 

This means setting up a call center in a particular location and employing people who are familiar with regulatory and compliance matters in that region. 

Wait. There are more benefits of call center software for your financial business. 

• IVR system allows you to offer self-service options to your customers for basic queries such as balance information, recent transactions, etc. It also lets you advertise your latest offerings. 
• Automated call-routing features to redirect the call to the appropriate department, thereby ensuring fast issue resolution. 
• For outbound calls, the power dialer feature allows you to automate calling customers. It even empowers your representatives with customer account information to better meet the customers’ expectations. It also helps in office calling for establishing effective communication withing organization.
• Cloud-based call center software prevents any disruption to your services even in case of disaster or pandemic (like COVID-19). Your agents can continue offering support from their homes.
• It allows you to choose a number of your choice. This means you can pick a local number (irrespective of where you are located physically) and establish a robust local presence. 
• A virtual call center software lets you pick different numbers for different departments, making it easier for customers to reach the right person. You can even choose a toll-free number to allow customers to call you for free. 
• It prevents your support agents from burnout by offering self-service options. It also provides callback options for customers who cannot wait in the queue during peak call hours. 
• You get access to analytics to assess KPIs like call volume, peak hours, customer satisfaction rate, average call times, and productivity, both agent and team-wise.
• It allows you to record calls that can then be used to improve agents’ efficiency and train new customer service representatives. 
• Cloud-based VoIP phone systems reduce your dependency on IT teams as your call center software provider manages them.

Is that it? 

No, wait. Did I mention that call center software allows you to send SMS to your customers and prospects? 

Leverage SMS to Attract and Retain Customers

95% of SMS are read and responded to within three minutes of being received. 

If you have not started leveraging SMS to attract and retain customers, now is the time. Use outbound call center software that offers texting capabilities to share updates and offers with your customers. 

Kotak Mahindra Bank uses SMS to nurture prospects. They send their USP (zero balance savings account with no maintenance fees) along with the link to open the account. Isn’t that interesting?

Credit Mantri, a credit analysis company. They ask a direct question (do you have a 750+ credit score?). It also mentions that “banks look for 750+ scores while approving payday loans and credit cards” to intrigue customers into checking their credit scores.

With advanced call center software like CallHippo, you can use SMS marketing to attract and retain customers and keep them updated about your services. 

How to Get the Most Out of the Financial Call Center Phone System?

Deploying a call center software isn’t enough. You need to follow certain best practices to get the most out of your investment. 

Let’s take a look at them. 

• Use cloud-based call center software to ensure your services aren’t disrupted due to uncontrollable situations (e.g., lockdown due to COVID-19).
• Hire skilled employees for your call center. Make sure to train them so they know the dos and don’ts of your financial institution. 
• Create a call center script to ensure a seamless and consistent experience throughout the customer lifecycle. 
• Leverage IVR systems to offer self-service options and route customers to the right department and agent.
• Use your software provider’s mobile app to stay updated about your customer interactions on the go. 
• Leverage features like call recording and call barging to ensure your customers get the best possible experience all the time. 
• Use the live feed dashboard to monitor your call center activity and enhance your operations as and when needed. 
• Employ call queue, callback, and voicemail features to ensure your customers don’t return empty-handed even during peak hours. 
• Ensure all your agents follow the call center best practices and comply with your region’s financial laws and regulations 
• Conduct regular agent analysis using data gathered from analytics to enhance their efficiency.

Integrate Existing Tools With Call Center System

A 2018 study found that an average employee wastes as many as 32 days a year switching between apps. 

Would you want your employees to waste as much time? Probably, No!

That’s where integrations can help. Integrations eliminate the need for switching between apps and enhances your agents’ efficiency and productivity. 

For instance, CallHippo integrates with more than 85+ apps. Here’s how it helps. 

• Zapier integration: Automates workflows for financial services.
• HubSpot integration: This integration automates data entry from call center software to CRM.
• Freshdesk integration: This allows you to dial and receive calls directly from CRM.
• Mailshake integration: Run email campaigns directly and manage all your activities (texts, call recordings, and voicemails).

These are just a few examples of how CallHippo integrations can help your financial institution. Check out the complete list of integrations here.

Wrapping Up

Businesses that make up the financial services sector (e.g., banks, mortgage companies, credit unions, etc.) need to find a good balance between offering great service and ensuring customer satisfaction. A cloud-based call center software can help you with the latter without additional hardware, equipment, and maintenance expenses. 

Have you started using call center software in your financial company? If not, what’s stopping you? Let us know your concerns in the comment section!

 

Key Takeaways

1. Call center software helps you offer most of your services via the phone (e.g., account information, payment-related queries, reporting, processing, and activation). 
2. Helps ensure customer satisfaction even outside usual business hours. 
3. Does not require any additional investment from your side except for the subscription. 
4. Cloud-based call center software reduces your dependency on IT teams to maintain and upgrade the system.