Case Study: Referrals sent within Reliance Financial

Every year bankers refer thousands of clients to different partners for loans, mortgages and credit cards. These referrals need to be tracked so bankers can receive credit from the bank, as well as create a record of these referrals for the branch managers to have an idea of business being generated. When I started on this project the bank didn't have a means of tracking the referrals made within the bank. I was tasked with finding out how referrals were currently tracked, and what improvements could be made upon the process. I was then to create a user flow that would integrate these processes into an easy to use tool within the bank's internal CRM platform.

Objectives

• Build a tool for sending and tracking referrals within the Engage360 platform, an internal CRM app

• Seamlessly integrate pre-existing tools into user flow to save on budget costs

• Research banker methods by conducting user interviews and incorporate findings into case study and user flow

User Interviews & Research

First, I created a prototype for a user flow that incorporated the different partners into the flow, as well as aspects of the current process. Then, 13 participants were selected for user interviews. They were a mix of bankers and branch managers.

During interviews participants were asked to go through the prototype commenting out loud on the process. I asked questions like:

• What is your current process of sending referrals?
  

• How do you know when a client is a good fit for a loan or financial service?
  

• What are some of your greatest challenges related to referrals?
  

• What do you expect from a system that tracks and sends referrals?

Through the interviews it was discovered that bankers used a variety of different methods to make referrals to partners. Many times these referrals were done right on the spot if the partner was "in-branch"; sometimes they could be transferred on the phone, other times an email was in order.

We needed a way to track all of these disparate methods in the system that wouldn't be a hassle for bankers to input, and would integrate with their busy day. Bankers also expressed a need for notes to be sent to accompany the referrals.

High Fidelity Prototype

After compiling our data from user interviews I started building a high-fidelity that incorporated all of the main use cases for sending referrals, as well as populated fields automatically with partners, with the option to modify. Notes were able to be input, and in person referrals could be recorded into the system in a matter of seconds. Visual indicators like the green financial tier tags helped bankers make decisions rapidly.

The release of the referrals tool was widely received and praised by bankers. Having a means of easily recording referrals increased volume by 75%.

Results

Designed enhanced, simplified referrals feature that increased referral volume by 75.4%