BCU uses Tethr to meet enterprise-wide MX goals

Since 1981, BCU has grown into a powerhouse among the top 100 U.S. credit unions with close to $6B in assets and 360,000 members. They consider their member experience (MX) to be the most important measure of their success.

Turning member feedback into insights

As a member-centric organization, BCU is committed to developing the highest standard of excellence across their contact center. The Member Relations department considers Net Promoter Score (NPS) its North Star. However, as in most organizations, post-interaction surveys have not historically provided the level of insight needed to impact BCU’s enterprise-wide goals.

BCU knew they needed a more structured way to measure the factors influencing members to become net promoters or detractors so they could make improvements to their member experience. They also needed a deeper understanding of the reasons members were calling their contact center so they could help more members resolve their issues via chat and other self-service channels. They understood that their members were providing valuable feedback on their strengths and opportunities with every single call, but they lacked a way to capture and convert that feedback into structured, unbiased data and insights.

In 2018, BCU implemented Tethr’s AI-powered conversation intelligence platform to transform their voice-of-the-member data into actionable insights. The Member Relations department knew that with a platform to help them answer the “what, why, and how” questions about the member experience, they could build strategies to increase their NPS, drive more customers to self-service channels, and meet other MX goals.

Optimizing the member experience

Today, BCU uses Tethr alongside Genesys Cloud (their voice platform) and Glia (their chat platform). Tethr ingests calls and chats from Genesys and Glia, then pinpoints and tags specific events, behaviors, and sentiments based on the dialogue between members and agents. This enables BCU to quantify and measure the impact of their service within each member interaction and uncover trends across conversations. 

“Tethr is our first stop to understand not only what our members are saying but what's driving those comments and what we can do to improve that and get ahead of the curve,” says Keith Parris, VP of Contact Center Operations & Technologies at BCU.

BCU is also using Tethr to identify and address points of friction in the member journey. For instance, Tethr allows the contact center to track the top reasons for repeat calls and take steps–whether through process improvements, policy changes, or agent coaching–to improve their first-call resolution rate. 

Racking up operational wins

One of BCU’s top priorities is to shift more of their support volume to digital channels, such as chat. Increasing digital channel usage helps reduce call volume, which reduces the average cost per contact and gives agents more time to focus on activities that deepen relationships with members.

Tethr is helping them achieve this goal by providing insights into the top reasons members call. BCU uses this information to train their chatbot, enabling it to resolve more issues that members would have otherwise called about. By improving their chatbot outputs with Tethr, BCU has increased chat and self-service adoption by over 10% in the last year, saving them over $50k in servicing costs.

In addition to reducing operational costs, BCU is also reducing compliance risks with Tethr. The conversation intelligence platform flags any instances of compliance failure (e.g., an agent failing to verify a caller’s identity) and automatically notifies the appropriate team, allowing them to resolve the issue promptly. 

“You can’t overlook the value of reducing compliance risk with Tethr,” says Parris. “BCU is saving millions in potential fines and brand risk.”  

Improving the agent experience and reducing attrition

BCU is also leveraging Tethr to improve their agent coaching and experience. Using a custom scorecard and Tethr’s QA automation capabilities, the contact center tracks agent performance across 100% of their member conversations, enabling agents and managers to keep a pulse on their KPIs and identify opportunities for improvement. BCU has built Tethr metrics into their employee recognition program, helping them celebrate their agents’ wins. This focus on the agent experience has paid off: while the average contact center attrition rate is close to 40%, BCU’s contact center attrition rate is best in class at 10%.

Next steps with Tethr  

BCU and Tethr continue to grow their partnership. “The ROI is amazing,” says Parris. “We’ve actually spread Tethr to other groups outside of the call center. Once you start digging into Tethr, you understand there are so many other use cases that can benefit your organization.”

Tethr is now working with BCU on several new initiatives, including implementing predictive CSAT scores for every member interaction and automated alerts for anomalies and critical events. Every initiative ties back to BCU’s goal and commitment to be the most personal, trusted, and valued source of financial well-being for their members.