How to manage customer support during your banking app redesign

Banking app redesigns have traditionally created headaches for financial service contact centers. Usually, they require you to pull agents away from their work and create large-scale training sessions to teach them about the new layout or features. This can make it difficult to manage customer support effectively, since call scripts quickly become outdated with each update, making it harder for agents to provide quality tech support.

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There’s a better way. Below, we go over a few common challenges as well as tips that can help your agents manage customer support during your banking app redesign.

What are some current tech support challenges during mobile banking app updates?

The need to update your app’s UI is inevitable, but it can lead to some common mobile banking issues. Changes to the app’s interface can confuse customers and agents, increasing wait times and creating friction for both parties.

For example, if your interface changes and customers can’t quickly figure out how to do daily tasks related to mobile payments and transfers, they may reach out to agents over the phone or through video chat support for help.

However, if the available agent scripts aren’t up to date, or your knowledge base has stale answers, agents might be just as confused as the customers they’re trying to help. As they scramble to find answers, this can lead to longer call wait times and a poor customer service experience.

Traditionally, banks and credit unions have had to resort to having large training sessions for call center employees or manual rewrites of call scripts. Not only is this time-consuming, but it makes it difficult to provide effective tech support during a transition, arguably when your customers will need your agents’ help the most.  

How can we effectively manage customer support during a banking app redesign?

You don’t need to hold a major training session to provide effective banking customer service during your app redesign. Here are a few things you can do to provide seamless support without pulling your agents away from their desks or manually rewriting scripts after every update:

• Communicate new updates with your customers and agents

• Ensure you have a strong self-service knowledge base

• Leverage emulators that update dynamically

  
  

We dive into each of these more below.

Communicate new updates with your customers and agents

A critical first step to heading off increased call volume and mitigating confusion for both customers and agents is clear communication. Communicating when your banking app redesign will happen and what to expect can help both agents and customers manage expectations.

Imagine walking into your office, and someone has reorganized it. They’ve gone beyond emptying the waste bin and dusting. Your desk is now in a different part of the room, everything in your drawers has been put in a different spot and critical files you need to access aren’t where you last left them. This would be extremely frustrating, and beyond being a source of aggravation, it could make it more difficult for you to complete even the most basic job tasks.

It’s the same for your customers and agents with your banking app redesign. That’s why it’s important to take a proactive approach to digital banking customer service and communicate any changes ahead of time. This can help mitigate frustration and potentially lower call volume by telling them when the new changes will roll out and what they will be. For example, you could send an email or have a “What’s New” message pop up in the app, telling them to find the mobile check deposit button in the lower right corner or under a new navigation menu.

Ensure you have a strong self-service knowledge base

A strong self-service knowledge base can help you provide proactive tech support to answer customer questions without them ever having to pick up the phone. A good knowledge base not only ensures customers and agents have the answers they need, but it can also help deflect calls during key transitions such as your banking app redesign.

Your knowledge base can be a critical tool for helping both agents and customers navigate changes made during your banking app redesign. A strong knowledge base should update dynamically, meaning that as soon as you make any changes, the answers your knowledge base surfaces should reflect them.

This helps agents provide the fast, accurate support customers need and can boost agent confidence for effective troubleshooting. This helps minimize disruptions to service quality.

Additionally, a self-service knowledge base is critical for providing a good customer experience. More and more customers are trying to resolve issues independently. In fact, 88% of customers expect businesses to provide self-service options. With a dynamically updated knowledge base, you can provide the experience customers expect, which can help reduce the risk of customer churn.

Leverage emulators that update dynamically

Virtualization, sometimes called virtualized tech support, refers to digital simulations of your mobile banking app. A digital simulation of your new app interface lets your agents provide effective tech support without taking time off for a large training workshop.

Virtualization uses emulators that provide a digital representation of your app. Good virtual device solutions should update as soon as your actual app, saving your team valuable time in a world where customer expectations are higher than ever.

Additionally, virtual devices can help agents provide accurate, step-by-step guidance without accessing a customer’s device or account. This can help your call center balance quality support without sacrificing customer privacy.

However, while some customers may update their apps right away, a few may be slower to make the change. With virtualization, your agents can switch between various versions of the app, allowing them to create a more personalized customer support experience for customers.

Help your agents provide seamless support during your banking app redesign

Traditionally, banking app redesigns have created confusion for both agents and customers. It required time-consuming workshops and training sessions to educate agents, which pulled them away from their jobs. It also meant they had to memorize every update since call center scripts and training manuals quickly became outdated.

However, thanks to new technology, many training sessions and manual script updates are no longer necessary. By leveraging new tools such as emulators and self-service knowledge bases, combined with clear communication, you can ensure your agents can confidently manage customer support tickets during your banking app redesign.

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Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What are some common challenges banks can expect during a mobile app redesign?

Traditionally, changes in your mobile banking app’s UI means that your call scripts and agent manuals become outdated. This can make it more difficult for agents to provide effective customer support, which can negatively impact key contact center metrics. It also usually means banks have to hold large agent training sessions, which can cost time and money.

How can financial services institutions manage customer support during a banking app redesign?

To head off major issues and help agents minimize disruptions to service quality, you can try to communicate updates with both agents and customers, use a strong self-service knowledge base and leverage emulators that update dynamically.

What is proactive digital banking customer service, and how does it apply to banking app redesigns?

Proactive support means providing the guidance customers need before they have to pick up the phone. This can be critical during your banking app redesign to minimize customer frustration and ensure seamless support. For example, you might send an email ahead of your redesign to tell customers when the update will happen, what to expect and how they will benefit from it.

How can we prevent our digital support content from getting stale?

To help agents provide seamless support during and after your mobile banking app redesign, you should ensure your knowledge base dynamically updates to reflect the new changes. That way, when agents search for answers, they’ll have the information they need to provide accurate troubleshooting and issue resolution.