Client Story
Five Star Credit Union
Customers aren’t afraid to ask questions when it comes to managing their money. That’s why Five Star Credit Union’s call center stays busy with inquiries from members in Alabama and Georgia who need help with their checking and savings accounts, consumer loans, mortgages, and more.
Five Star call center agents are on the front lines of member interactions, both in retail sales and ongoing member care.
Why Five Star Chose SharpenCX
When Five Star’s previous call center vendor warned of terminating access due to its own organizational challenges, the credit union needed to act quickly to maintain service for its 54,000 members. Five Star identified the top three contact center providers, ultimately choosing SharpenCX for its ability to quickly implement a functioning call center.
Five Star’s call center leaders could tell early on how easy it would be to work with a knowledgeable provider who cared as much about helping customers as they did.
“Sharpen was able to step in and provide what we needed very quickly,” said Kellie Eldridge, VP of Retail Sales and Service. “That and the great team we were working with were huge deciding factors for us.”
Industry: Financial
Agents: 30+
Business Size: Mid-Market
Location: Dothan, Alabama
Needed Functionality: Smooth implementation, fast support, reliability, agent performance tracking, ongoing development
Hear from Five Star on how Sharpen’s Performance Tiles improved agent confidence.
How Sharpen Impressed Five Star with True Partnership
Five Star was also looking for a contact center solution that could integrate with its core system — functionality that Sharpen didn’t offer at the time. Instead, Sharpen added the functionality to its product roadmap with plans to help Five Star achieve its goal. Now, Five Star has a partner who not only listens, but it can trust to continually improve the product.
“It’s super important to have a team behind you that takes your work as seriously as you do,” said Camille Richardson, Member Care Manager.
Five Star’s initial implementation went smoothly without any major obstacles or red tape to work through. As a result, the company added its collections, support and development, and consumer lending departments to the call center in just one week.
Client Testimonial
“Sharpen helps me coach and develop my team better so I can increase their overall confidence.”
Performance Tiles Improve Agent Service
Five Star began using Performance Tiles to personalize goals and track success for each agent. Call center leadership noticed a drastic change in the first 90 days of use, including a more competitive team. With performance data at the ready, agents can monitor daily performance, manage calls smarter, and listen more intently to customers’ needs. Individual performance data helps agents challenge themselves to provide better service, while goals provide a way for managers to offer incentives.
Faster Answers by Phone and Self-Service
When Five Star needs Sharpen support, leaders like Camille can call in, submit a ticket, or find answers at their own speed with the knowledge base. Even when Sharpen agents don’t know an answer, they escalate it to the Sharpen strategic team, making sure to follow up with a resolution as quickly as possible.
“You don’t really find that within large companies — that everybody knows exactly how to fix an issue,” said Camille.
Five Star can also search the Sharpen knowledge base and even start a ticket within a resource page. Just typing in a few keywords auto-populates relevant resources, helping users get answers faster and eliminating the need to submit a ticket.
Invest in People, Improve Service
Sharpen has helped Five Star agents improve as a team and as individuals. With robust performance data, Five Star can focus on more than success rates, including call quality and building customer service skills. While Sharpen does help reps improve performance metrics like first-call resolution, it also allows them to build member relationships and even enhance their professional skills.
“Sharpen helps me coach and develop my team better so I can increase their overall confidence,” said Camille.
See Sharpen in Action
Learn how Sharpen can help improve your Customer and Agent Experience.