CONTEXT

One of Israel’s largest and most established banks sought to reduce the mounting volume of customer calls to its support centers. Despite investing heavily in comprehensive digital platforms, customers continued to rely on phone support for actions that could have been resolved independently via online self-service. This strained resources and prevented the bank from fully realizing the efficiency and cost-saving potential of its digital infrastructure. Beyond operational efficiency, the bank also aimed to improve the customer experience, recognizing that independent digital self-service can be a faster, more convenient, and more seamless option for customers.

The bank was already highly proactive in tackling this challenge before our involvement. This created both an opportunity and a challenge: to build on the bank’s existing momentum to maximize impact.

OUR APPROACH

From the outset, we set a clear guiding principle: lead a measurable shift in customer behavior without harming the customer experience and without limiting or reducing access to the call center.

To address the challenge, we designed a structured interdisciplinary methodology, divided into two main phases:

1.Gaining Insights into call center reliance : Uncovering the ‘Why’

We began by investigating the drivers behind customer reliance on call center support, leveraging a range of research methods:

• Stakeholder Interviews: We engaged with key bank stakeholders to align on priorities and uncover gaps in existing strategies.
  
• Preliminary Quantitative Analysis of internal data was used to identify 5 key financial services that hold the highest potential for impact. 
  
• In-depth customer call analysis (qualitative + quantitative):
  We analyzed 500 customer calls across the 5 identified service topics. This large sample allowed us to combine qualitative insights with quantitative rigor. Each call was coded according to recurring themes, scenarios, and psychological needs, enabling both:
  a) Identification of the underlying psychological drivers behind calls.
  b) Definition and mapping of recurring scenarios typical for each topic, along with their relative frequency.
  
• Mapping customer journeys: We conducted an in-depth review of the bank’s digital tools, including the app, IVR system and communication messages sent to customers in order to identify usability gaps and areas for optimization.
  
• Behavioral analysis of interfaces:
  We reviewed the bank’s digital touchpoints (including the mobile app, IVR system, and customer communications such as SMS and emails) screen-by-screen and message-by-message. The goal was to identify usability gaps, unclear messaging, and other friction points that could lead customers to call the center instead of completing actions digitally.
  
• Customer journey mapping:
  For each of the dominant scenarios identified, we mapped the full customer journey across both digital and phone channels, highlighting the steps customers take and the psychological or behavioral factors influencing their decisions. This stage brought together insights from the call analysis, stakeholder interviews, and interface review, creating an integrated picture of how customers experience each scenario.

2. Designing Solutions That Drive Digital Adoption

Using insights from the research, we developed creative and actionable solutions tailored to customer needs by employing a robust methodology for solution development.

For each scenario, we identified multiple possible solutions, such as:

• Addressing triggers that led to avoidable calls.
  
• Incorporating nudges and choice architecture to guide customers toward digital channels.
  
• Redesigning decision-making environments through improved interfaces, clear terminology and refined messaging, to make digital interactions more intuitive and effective.

Our solution design process included:

• Internal development: Synthesizing research insights into concrete solution concepts, each accompanied by implementation guidelines.
  
• Collaborative workshop: A half-day session with stakeholders and subject matter experts to refine and expand the solutions, ensuring feasibility within the bank’s operational context.
  
• Illustrative mockups: Visual examples to help demonstrate how certain changes could look and function in practice.

The final deliverable was a comprehensive set of solution concepts, each linked to a specific scenario, with practical guidance for implementation across relevant channels. The bank subsequently prioritized, implemented, and measured these solutions, assessing their impact on call volumes and digital adoption.

FINDINGS AND SOLUTIONS

Key Findings- Our analysis of 500 customer calls revealed that customers do not call the bank out of laziness or a simple preference for human interaction. Instead, they seek the phone channel because it meets one or more of five specific psychological needs that we identified and categorized. These include a desire for rapid resolution or flexibility in the bank’s response. In other words, the phone channel holds a distinct advantage in addressing certain customer needs.

To reduce call volumes effectively, our strategy addressed this relative advantage through two complementary approaches:

1. Enhancing Digital Channels: Ensuring that the identified needs are met equally well—or better—through digital channels.
2. Proactive Mitigation: Preventing these psychological needs from arising in the first place by making operational changes that remove the underlying triggers.

This required a dual focus on a broad, systemic perspective and targeted interventions addressing specific scenarios identified during the research.

Focus Areas and Behavioral Insights – Together with the client, we narrowed our focus to 5 key banking services. For each of these, we identified and defined 14 dominant scenarios, accounting for approximately 75% of all call volume in these categories. Each scenario was analyzed for its behavioral underpinnings, revealing significant psychological factors driving customer behavior.

Proposed Solutions – From this analysis, we developed 21 tailored solutions to reduce and redirect calls to digital channels, ranging from simple text changes in messages and interfaces to the introduction of entirely new features. These solutions were validated with bank employees and divided into three categories:

1. Quick Wins: Solutions ready for immediate implementation.
2. Development Projects: Solutions requiring further refinement and development.
3. Systemic Interventions: Broader solutions addressing underlying operational or systemic issues.

Each solution was designed in order to promote desired behaviors. The range of solutions spanned the entire ecosystem of customer interactions, including:

• The mobile app.
• Various website interfaces.
• The IVR system.
• Customer communications, such as SMS and email notifications.

For every proposed solution, we provided a comprehensive information package that included the specific implementation details across all relevant communication channels, as well as the behavioral rationale underpinning the recommendation. 

IMPACT

The collaboration between Q and the bank not only yielded tangible results but also inspired a significant cultural and operational shift toward customer-centricity. Here’s how the project impacted the organization:

Quantifiable Impact

The initiatives implemented as part of the project had a measurable impact on the bank’s operations and customer experience, including:

• Significant Reductions in Call Volumes: By addressing common customer pain points and streamlining digital interactions, the bank observed up to 30% reduction in calls related to specific services, such as credit card issuance and account inquiries.
• Broader Application of Methodology: The structured approach developed during the project was adopted across other initiatives, enabling teams to apply data analysis, qualitative research, workshops, and iterative implementation to new challenges.

INSIGHTS

Contrary to common assumptions, customers do not primarily call the call center out of laziness or simply a preference for human interaction. Instead, they turn to the phone channel because it provides concrete value, addressing at least one of five specific psychological needs identified during the research, such as a desire for immediate resolution or flexibility in negotiations. Effectively addressing these needs through other channels can significantly reduce call volumes.