Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) has rolled out a new omnichannel system that enables customers to easily book telephone and in-branch mortgage appointments at any of its 200 locations.

The new software, provided by BookingBug, has so far seen a “dramatic increase” in appointment numbers, as well as a 50 per cent reduction in associated administration.

Previously, booking a YBS mortgage appointment could be done over the phone or in-branch, but online bookings were made through a basic contact form. Every channel was managed manually, with employees sifting through hundreds of submissions to match each appointment request with suitable colleague availability. Staff also had to make an initial call to customers to establish their preliminary mortgage eligibility, which was further slowing down the process.

The BookingBug tool now screens applicants through a series of qualifying questions provided by YBS. The system then schedules phone or face-to-face appointments with advisors in branches or contact centres, updating colleagues’ Outlook calendars automatically when a booking is made, amended or cancelled.

An initial trail of the technology was conducted at nine of YBS’ most popular branches, and the platform has now been rolled out to include all 200 YBS and Chelsea Building Society locations, as well as both websites. By analysing successful applications across the entire branch network, YBS said it was also able to allocate staffing resource accordingly and better understand high-value leads.

Steve Finch, senior manager of digital development at YBS, explained: “As well as seeing a significant increase in in-branch mortgage appointments, we’ve cut the admin time to book and qualify these appointments in half. This frees up our branch staff to focus on what matters most: delivering excellent customer service.

“We’re already considering this technology for other areas like savings appointments,” he added. “Working with leading tech providers like BookingBug is what helps us to keep ahead in such a competitive market.”

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