In early 2024, First Horizon Corporation implemented a large client service initiative, #DeliverExcellence Retail, for its retail associates. This holistic client and associate experience framework sets the standards for how the financial services company’s purpose and values are set into action. It is designed to ensure consistent and exceptional client interactions partnered with consistent and exceptional associate development. The messaging emphasizes the correlation between delivering consistent and excellent client service and overall client retention. Associates are provided with useful tools and resources to help clients unlock their full potential with capital and counsel.
Program Details
Retail business partners collaborated with First Horizon’s Talent Center of Excellence to identify, educate associates on, and implement the five key standards of #DeliverExcellence”:
- The first standard, Excellence in Representing First Horizon, emphasizes how effective representation of First Horizon’s brand directly impacts the client experience, including community involvement, professional development, complaint and issue resolution, associate appearance standards, and communication standards.
- The second standard, Coaching for Excellence, gives leaders resources for effective coaching and prioritizes a culture of continuous growth to achieve individual and team success. Embracing coaching, fostering growth, and valuing feedback strengthens First Horizon’s ability to provide excellent service to its clients.
- The third standard, Excellence in Client Development, focuses on consumer and small business development and teller interactions.
- The remaining standards, Excellence in Client Engagement and Excellence in Communication & Celebration, deployed in the latter half of 2024.
Promotion and education of the standards occur via online learning courses, promotional videos, in-person workshops, and on-the-job observations. Utilization of proactive outreach, new-to-bank leads, client retention, pre-call planning, teller referrals, and tracking are key topics associates are educated on in relation to this initiative.
The program has a prominent, robust informational center (hub) on the Compass, First Horizon’s intranet, where associates can learn more, gather resources, and develop plans for maximizing excellence in client service. This includes a #DeliverExcellence Playbook of the five standards, guides for Teller-Client Interactions, Teller Observation and Coaching, and Community Involvement. Additionally, retail associates submit their #DeliverExcellence stories for publication on the Compass.
Reinforcement comes via daily team huddles in each of First Horizon’s 418 banking centers. These huddles foster communication, collaboration, accountability, and adaptability.
Results
Some 32 percent of First Horizon’s workforce has participated in this initiative. The company measures the success of the initiative based, in part, on teller referrals and client satisfaction score.
On the first day the Teller Referral Tracker launched in support of #DeliverExcellence, 29 teller referrals were submitted. Three days after launching, 199 teller referrals were submitted. Three months after launching, 14,390 teller referrals were submitted, with 5,997 resulting in a closed/won status.
Since the program’s inception in early 2024, the company has seen a 5-point increase in client satisfaction, with a 77 percent score.
