Simmons Bank’s Kieffer on what’s next for CX, building trust, AI use and more

This interview first appeared as part of the BAI Special Report: The strategic contact center of today and tomorrow. Find more perspectives in the report on optimizing technology and enterprise-wide strategy in this crucial banking hub.

Nick Kieffer is a senior vice president, leading the customer service group for Simmons Bank, which has $27.2 billion in assets and roughly 232 locations, mostly in the mid-South.

Based in Little Rock, Ark., Kieffer oversees the bank’s contact centers, ATM operations, help desk and branch operations. He has worked in the banking industry for more than three decades.

What contact center trends have you been watching this year?

With staffing finally stabilizing across the industry (fingers crossed), I am watching how others are improving associate experiences through job simplification, offering more work-life balance and a more comfortable working environment.

To accomplish this, we need to understand what technologies are available, like robotic process automation (RPA) and tools such as generative AI, that quickly summarize why customers are calling, which allows us to quickly identify and address pain points. We need to forecast staffing needs using workforce management solutions to ensure we are not forcing too much overtime or frequently denying PTO requests to meet business service level agreements (SLAs).

Lastly, we need to review our workspaces to ensure we meet today’s expectations, like offering stand-up desks and comfortable break spaces. If we accomplish the above, we will provide a better customer experience (CX) through more focused customer interaction, free of technical or daily stressors.

Where does the contact center fit into your organization’s overall CX strategy?

It is part of Better Together, a strategic initiative for the bank where we are one of many channels that support customer interactions in addition to branches and digital banking. Our goal is consistency and commonality when customers interact with whichever channel they prefer. We also hope to be able to connect the channels so customers can start an interaction in one and seamlessly pick it up in another without the need to restate the pain point. An example of something we implemented that reflects Better Together is a hotline we created for retail bankers. When an associate dials the hotline, they will reach a group of experts within the contact center who can complete requests that the retail associate is unable to do. How have customer expectations for the contact center experience evolved?

With the availability of information 24 hours a day, customers are asking for information less, and instead, they are contacting us for help with more complex situations. Since they are conducting banking 24/7, when something goes wrong, they want help immediately, as it is likely they are unable to pay for something or reimburse someone. They also expect us to know that they have already interacted with us in another channel, not wanting to repeat themselves.

Finally, they are less tolerant of hurdles we may put in place to protect them and the bank if they are unable to navigate them successfully. These could be two-factor authentication (2FA) for an online banking login or a fraud rule we have in place for specific debit card transaction types.

How are leaders building personalization into the contact center experience?

While we try to add value to every interaction by suggesting relevant products or services that could meet the customer’s needs in addition to what they are requesting, our CRM solution will play a critical role in helping us get much better at this going forward— whether it is providing an alert on how long a customer has been with us so we can thank them for their patronage or containing AI-generated summaries of previous interactions so we can see what steps we have already taken to help the customer. These summaries allow for follow-up on a previous interaction to see if an issue still exists, further personalizing the interaction. With more data at the agent level, we are also personalizing agent coaching, focusing on specific needs and behaviors of each agent as opposed to the traditional scattershot approach to coaching where we teach the same thing to all.

What role does the contact center play in building trust and loyalty with customers?

We play a critical role, as we are often the first point of contact when something has gone wrong during the customer’s interaction with the bank. If we botch the interaction, we have worsened the situation and therefore increased the likelihood the customer may attrit. Conversely, if we handle the interaction well, we likely increase the chance the customer will remain and consider us for future banking needs, growing their relationship.

Nick Kieffer is Senior Vice President, Customer Service Group, at Simmons Bank.