How Wells Fargo Adapted their Tiered Service Model
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Expectations for customer support have been trending upwards for quite some time. As brands work to deliver more personalized support in a highly seamless and intuitive way, the more customers expect a flawless end-to-end experience.
Adopting a model that meets these rising expectations, while keeping agents engaged and customers satisfied, has been difficult for many. Coming from traditional models that offer a ‘get what you get’ service style, many organizations have found it challenging to shift to an all-hands on deck strategy.
Heather Magaha, SVP Head of Global Treasury Management Service and Implementation at Wells Fargo discussed her organization’s transition from a traditional service model to a four-tiered model. After facing external pressures from the great resignation, the financial services company took the moment to reassess their support model and dissect their client base to offer more personalized, high-quality support.
In making this change, Heather and her team have been able to leverage white-glove service to customers seeking a tailored experience. Further, their team has empowered customers to do what they do best, by allowing them to focus less on banking and more on their bottom line.
The Path to a New Model
At her presentation at the CCW Exchange in Chicago, Magaha discussed the shift to a four-tiered customer service model. Wells Fargo, she shared, has been using a traditional model for a long time and in the past, their service subsisted on two levels: calling the 1-800 number or being included in their portfolio model.
When utilizing their phone channel, customers were met with an agent who was trained generally, giving a very fast path to resolution. The portfolio model, alternatively, consisted of a more specialized agent who had an assigned portfolio of customers. This tier allowed client services to get to know customers better and maintain a long-term relationship.
Although this dual-model served them well over time, the great resignation posed a new challenge to the structure. With greater turnover, the financial services organization had to figure out a way to navigate training, manpower and service levels. Further, they had to pinpoint how to best leverage their talent amid internal ongoing change.
The team at Wells Fargo ultimately decided that splitting up their customer service operations and adding more service-levels was their path forward to addressing some of these gaps.
“Last year we launched a four-tiered model, which on its surface, would have appeared as… you’re going to end up increasing cost and manpower and if you’re splitting up your customer service operation in four smaller chunks, then you’re going to be less efficient,” Heather shared. However, her team was actually able to grow their capabilities by dissecting their client base.
Adding Tiers for Enhanced Personalization
Heather reiterated that when given the choice, her customers still largely expect access to a live agent. Most CX leaders agree - CCW Digital’s most recent customer preferences survey confirmed that 70% of customers trust that the phone channel will successfully solve their problem.
With this in mind, Wells Fargo decided to insert a tier between their two traditional models offering a pod approach. When customers call in, it won’t be with a complete stranger every time - but a pod of about seven or eight people. This gives customers the opportunity to connect with a few agents, which ensures they feel understood while always having access to someone who understands their history. Rather than waiting for one dedicated agent who may not always be available, customers now have consistent access to tailored support.
Additionally, the team added one more differentiated tier of service for their top 1% of customers. This group of customers is not just the top by revenue but also the strategic opportunities the client offers. At this level, customers get their own support person with a dedicated assistant.
This service model is quite unique, Magah shares it may be typical in the sales space to have a relationship manager with a sales associate, but it's a first in their customer service structure. “Not only can these associates fill the gaps when someone’s overloaded, but if they move onto another role, that person already knows the most strategic client really well and can step in seamlessly,” she shares.
The most interesting part of the rollout was that even with more tiers, the initiative did not require any increase in headcount. “We simply made better use of the resources that we’ve already had and we’ve seen our customer satisfaction go way up,” she states.
Hiring and Training for a New Service Experience
Magaha mentioned the challenge that the great resignation posed for her organization in the initial stages of change, but the increased turnover remained an obstacle throughout the transition process.
The financial organization was hiring 50-80 customer service professionals at a time, which was previously unheard of on their team. The training team was struggling to keep up with the large influx of new employees, making the onboarding process extremely difficult. “If we didn't make a change we were going to dramatically water down that new employee’s experience - and we all know what happens when you do that, the customer ends up suffering,” Heather shares.
Magaha and her team were dedicated to shrinking their learning curve and getting employees customer ready without sacrificing the experience. With this in mind, they made the shift from a six-week 40-hour classroom training period to a more flexible learning model.
To improve ramp up time, the team broke training up into smaller sessions. They would bring someone in for 4-5 hours and then send them out to the floor to handle calls. The goal was to streamline their skills so that they would be equipped to handle direct calls that were appropriate for what they were trained on.
This shift prompted positive results, Magaha shares the impact, “A couple of things happened. One is we found people gaining confidence much faster, it didn’t take them three months to gain confidence. They had the confidence to try harder things or to know when to ask for help.”
The team also benefited from a decreased ramp up time. With a new training style of ‘Learn, Try Do’, it allowed them to get employees customer facing faster - this increased engagement and allowed agents to add value much faster.
Although this was a strategy driven by rapid turnover and the great resignation, Magaha shares that the program has been highly successful. She states that they won’t go back now, the new training model is here to stay.
The Next-Generation Agent Experience
With all of the success Wells Fargo experienced, it is truly exciting to see new ways in which the agent experience can evolve. Heather Magaha shares that the program has given agents a clearer career path and place in the organization.
In the past, this journey with the company was not always clear, but with a more defined service model, agents know how they can grow in their roles and contribute to the bottom line.
Career pathing and compensation were two of the lowest rated priorities for CX leaders in the latest CCW Digital market study, so it is exciting to see a leading organization like Wells Fargo offer a different path for their agents.
Giving agents not only the tools, but the structure to thrive is critical as we see agents take on more complex work. With the introduction of AI and self-service, agents have the opportunity to engage with customers more deeply. Giving them the framework to meet these new standards and expand their reach will be necessary going forward.
