Zandra Bylund is part of a team that manages all routines for the bank’s advisors and creates instructions on how to execute tasks for clients. She is also business owner for Telia ACE Knowledge at SEB.
Hi Zandra. You have been a key player in the implementation of ACE Knowledge at SEB. Can you tell us a bit about your background?
– I am an economist by education and before getting my current position, I worked in customer service. In other words, I went directly from taking care of customers to work on the project for implementing what we call Solution Finder. Understanding how customers act and what tools you need in the customer meeting has been valuable.
Can you tell us about the background to why you chose to implement a smart knowledgebase?
– Actually, it started out as two separate initiatives, one that was customer-oriented and one targeted at our internal instruction library. In the customer project we wanted a solution to guide customers to self-service on the website, the app or the Internet bank or to route them to the right contact based on their needs. Whichever they prefer.
– Previously, our advisors didn’t all have the same instruction library. The call center had one and the advisors in the offices had another. Since they were not 100% coherent, we who worked at the call center sometimes had to call the offices to ask what the customer should bring to a scheduled meeting.
And now you have the same knowledgebase at the core, both internally and internally?
– Yes, now we control everything from one place. We avoid duplication, we have a consistent tone of voice and all information is in one place. Internally we have divided it into “physical meeting” and “distance meeting” and the instructions sometimes differ. The agent in the call center has the view for the distance meeting as default, but there is also a tab where the employee can check how it works in the office. We have also chosen to add a customer view so that we can see what the customer sees when we need to guide them. It helps us provide better service.
Can you tell us a little about how the solution helps your customers contact you in the most effective way?
– Previously, we had a regular “contact us” page, but now we automatically direct the customer to the right contact channel based on what task she or he needs help with. We can also offer relevant information so that the customer, for example, has the right documents and signatures when he or she comes to the office to complete their task. Obviously, this increases customer satisfaction.
What are your success factors? What is it that you have done and thought about that has made the implementation such a hit?
– We spent a lot of time at the beginning of the project thinking about the structure of our routines and finding a uniform tonality in the language we would use. The language would be both consistent and customer friendly. It is very easy to get stuck in bank-jargon with unnecessarily complicated words. For example, we have chosen to use the term “available amount” instead of “disposable amount”, and if it is a child under 18, we say it rather than “unauthorized”.
– Another success factor is that we chose to give all advisors the opportunity to give feedback on individual instructions and on the tool as a whole. We have not delivered a static tool in the organization. On the contrary, there is always room for development. This is something we do together!
Have you made any major changes as a result of customer service staff feedback?
– Initially, our aim was to use the same headings both internally and externally, but we realized that the slightly longer and more chatty headings that suited the customers made it difficult for us to search internally. It wasn’t fun to realize, but we went back to the drawing board and created a new structure for the internal headings.
The implementation of Solution Finder started as a tool for customers and customer service, but you have moved into several areas. What’s that about?
– Pension and insurance as well as our HR department are already using the platform and we have several more waiting in line to get started. Anyone who has customers or stakeholders who need information, need help to solve problems or carry out tasks, whether internal or external, can benefit from the solution. Our HR department has a self-service portal on the intranet. Having a common platform where all information is stored and can be easily adapted to different target groups is very useful.
