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How Automation Eliminated Thousands of Unanswered Customer Service Calls for This Financial Institution

Sherry Graziano of Truist Financial

Truist took advantage of artificial intelligence to tame a pandemic-spiked call volume 700x above average.

Imagine if your company’s daily call volume was reduced by 75%, hold times reduced by 80%, and call abandon rates reduced by 85% in just a couple of weeks. When COVID hit, Truist, a year-old financial institution (resulting from a merger between BB&T and SunTrust), was slammed with thousands of daily phone calls from customers nervous about the state of their mortgage, creating an almost insurmountable challenge. 

Truist Head of Digital Commerce Sherry Graziano knew the company needed to preserve their dedication to T3: Technology, Touch, and Trust. In just five days, automation tools tamed Truist’s phone lines. Self-service chatbots, better informed customer success teams, and scheduling tools to give clients one-on-one service helped the company automate numerous processes for both customers and employees – and the results were staggering. In this conversation with Martha Walchuk, Salesforce’s vice president of product marketing, Graziano discusses what automation means for Truist’s commitment to satisfied clients.

Sherry Graziano, Truist Head of Digital Commerce speaks with Martha Walchuk, Salesforce’s VP of Product Marketing

Highlights from this episode of Leading Through Change

  • For employees, particularly the customer service team, there is a heightened expectation of knowledge for teammates, and a heightened expectation of quality service from customers. Digital intake forms help meaningful conversations spark more quickly. Cloud-based phone solutions for teammates working from home offers clients options for a call back and a known hold time. Truist is always looking at how tools and technology can help them educate customers and keep them on track to meet their personal goals.
  • Truist’s use of automation has prompted the customers of this sixth-largest financial institution to share that they feel a level of care because they were able to engage with the financial institution more easily. They want to be kept informed along the way. Automation tools have helped Truist deliver the knowledge that customers want as they need it.

Learn more from Truist

Head of Digital Commerce Sherry Graziano shares what they learned from the 2008 financial crisis that can help banks assist homeowners now.

This post is the latest installment of Leading Through Change, our video conversation series with industry and thought leaders who use Salesforce products to transform the way they work.

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