$230M
Assets under management
Originally established in 1957 to assist with the specific financial needs of the education community in Minnesota, Expedition Credit Union has experienced an ongoing evolution of technology changes over its 65+ years. To accommodate further growth and its expanded demographic—including members from younger generations—Expedition launched an initiative to digitally transform the member experience.
Part of Expedition’s transformation journey included upgrading its digital banking platform to offer easy self-service options that members can conveniently access online. The credit union realized, though, its digital banking conversion was going to create friction for members. Research has found contact center volume can double during conversions, creating a burden on contact center staff. Expedition needed to prioritize how it supported its members and employees through this transition.
Expedition had previously deployed a chat solution, allowing members to connect directly with the support staff online. While chat alone was helpful for simple requests, such as helping members with account balance or login questions, it was not well suited for more complex concerns. Members unable to resolve an issue in chat had to make a phone call and start all over to continue, creating a digital disconnect.
While Expedition initially was planning to implement Glia to solve its Digital Customer Service challenges, once the credit union saw Glia Call Center, it realized it didn’t need a separate platform to manage phone interactions. Expedition jumped at the chance to unify digital and phone interactions with a single vendor to drive efficiencies in management, staffing and reporting.
Despite the crunched timeline ahead of its digital banking conversion, Expedition was able to execute in part because of how easy the solution was to learn, making training quick and easy. The intuitiveness of the Glia Interaction Platform enabled the staff to spend their time focusing on providing the excellent member support Expedition prides itself on, instead of battling the previous technology while they tried to assist a member.
When Expedition was seeking to reinvent how it supported its members, its aim was to consolidate and centralize its digital service platform to deliver one seamless experience. Managing both its digital and traditional phone interactions on a single platform was critical to that, but Expedition also valued how it effortlessly streamlined interactions, even for complex issues that required multiple channel transitions.
Now with Glia implemented at Expedition, members can start in one channel and seamlessly transition to another without starting over. For instance, a member can start a chat engagement in member services, upgrade that interaction to OnScreen Voice, and then when they have a loan question, be easily transferred to a loan expert in a different department within the same interaction. Further, the context of the interaction is passed along, allowing the new rep to easily begin assisting the member.
With this ChannelLess architecture in place, Expedition has seen an increase in member satisfaction as well as conversions and cross-sell opportunities. Being able to seamlessly transition the conversation to the appropriate department, without having to restart the interaction, keeps members on the line and engaged where they may otherwise drop off.
Expedition has been in a state of digital transformation for the past 7 years, and despite checking off substantial milestones in recent years, the credit union is continuing to push for more digital innovation. Part of that is educating members on the new digital-first service options available at their fingertips.
The credit union has replaced the “contact us” page on its website with the Glia bubble options to connect by chat, OnScreen Voice, or to have an Expedition rep call them by phone. Expedition is leveraging its digital tools—like CoBrowse and audio upgrades—to educate members and shift their communication preferences from phone to digital. CoBrowsing in particular has been helpful for visually guiding some of the older members who may not be as technically savvy to a resolution online.
As it seeks to continue its journey from phone-first to digital-first member service, Expedition has rolled out a competition among staff members to continue to increase the number of digital interactions by educating members on the new digital interaction tools available to them. Phone calls now end with staff sharing with members how they can use digital alternatives to more seamlessly resolve their needs the next time they’re thinking of picking up the phone.
