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Pat:
No one likes having to deal with financial issues and having to deal with companies over money matters is super stressful, but there are ways companies can make those experiences better.

Rochelle:
When a person is behind on their bills, it's because something's happening in their financial lives, it makes it impossible for them to pay. So by understanding the root causes behind those financial challenges, we can connect them to the helpers in their community that offer services.

Pat:
Creating experiences that connect people with ways to achieve financial health. On this episode of The CX Leader Podcast.

Announcer:
The CX Leader Podcast with Steve Walker is produced by Walker, an experience management firm that helps our clients accelerate their XM success. You can find out more at walkerinfo.com.

Pat:
Hello, everyone. I'm Pat Gibbons. Today I'm the guest host of The CX Leader Podcast. And thank you for listening. You know, we like to say it's never been a better time to be a CX leader, and we explore the topics and themes to help leaders like you deliver amazing experiences for your customers. You know, I think it's safe to say that at one time or another, most of us have dealt with financial stress. For some, particularly in today's economy, it can be particularly serious. But today we're going to take a look at what that experience is like and what the experience is like to get help. And we'll look at it from the viewpoint of several different stakeholders. This episode of the podcast is about a uniquely human experience, and to provide insights on this, I'm pleased to welcome Rochelle Gorey. She's the co-founder and CEO of SpringFour a Certified B social impact FinTech company. Rochelle, welcome to The CX Leader Podcast.

Rochelle:
Thank you so much. I'm really happy to be here.

Pat:
Well, we're pleased to have you and I think you have a really interesting company. You know, on the podcast we talk a lot about customer experience, how to gather the information and the data around customer experience, but your company is all about delivering that experience, so it's built into your business model. So I think it is a really interesting twist and a nice addition to our, our our episodes. But let's start I just want to talk a little bit about that term financial stress. It's a term that gets tossed around a lot. Obviously, you have a perspective on it because of the nature of your business. What do you see when you think about the term financial stress?

Rochelle:
Well, that is a great question, and I think I will have a lot to say about that. I think today in today's market, almost every single American is facing financial stress, right? Like we have historic high costs across everything that you can imagine, any household expense. So we're looking at groceries, you know, gasoline, heating and utility costs, um, you know, high medical and prescription drug costs. There's probably not a family out there that has not experienced high costs today. So people are financially stressed and it affects every part of their their life. Really. If you think about you're showing up at work and you're worried about how you're going to pay the bills this month, that's making you less productive in your job. It's worrying you. And we're also seeing a lot of studies now connecting financial stress to mental health issues as well. So it's very pervasive.

Pat:
Yeah, it has a huge impact. So obviously, this is an area of passion for you. I can't imagine you would have started a business without that sort of thing. Tell us a little about your background and what led you to start SpringFour.

Rochelle:
Yeah, so I've spent my entire career really before I founded SpringFour all the way back in 2005. But in the financial services industry, working between nonprofits and financial services companies, mostly banks, to help people obtain home ownership and make certain that homeownership opportunities were sustainable. And that led me to do a lot of work around foreclosure intervention and mortgage delinquency. And in the early 2000s, we were seeing lots of families who were having a hard time making their mortgage payments. And yet I knew there were lots of local, nonprofit and social service organizations that could help people who were experiencing financial difficulty or hardship that was getting in the way of them making their mortgage payments. So we wanted to build a solution that would make those connections easy and efficient for those families. And I think the important thing to remember is that when people experience a financial hardship, they're not sharing that information. There's a ton of stigma associated with having financial challenges. And that SpringFour were really looking to remove that stigma and to change the way that the industry is dealing with people who experience financial challenges.

Rochelle:
And personally, I know how that feels. I grew up in a low income household and at different points in my life we had to rely on food stamps and other food saving programs. Unemployment for my father when he lost his job. I went to college on almost complete financial aid, and I remember feeling really embarrassed by my family's situation. And so my goal is to remove the stigma associated with financial challenges. If you think about it, we're all potentially a day away from a financial emergency. And when you think about the vast majority of Americans only have have very limited emergency savings or, you know, can't afford a $400 unexpected expense. That means if a car breaks down or you have an unexpected trip to the E.R. or your furnace breaks in January and you live in Chicago like I do, that's going to cause a financial hardship. It happens to all of us. Let's figure out a way that we remove the stigma and we get people directed to the help they need and deserve.

Pat:
Yeah. So I was fascinated in learning a little bit about your company and preparing for this. And it really is a lot about connections, connecting to resources, connecting the right people to the right resources. Maybe you can explain a little bit about the stakeholders involved and who benefits from all this and how they benefit.

Rochelle:
Yeah, sure. So since we founded our company, we've definitely broadened and expanded our depth and our offerings. So really, if you think about any organization or financial services institution, we're helping to connect employees and customers to vetted, curated nonprofit and government resources that can help them no matter the financial hardship that they're facing. And at SpringFour, we really believe that when something when a person is behind on their bills, it's because something's happening in their financial lives. It makes it impossible for them to pay. So by connecting them or understanding the root causes behind those financial challenges, we can connect them to the helpers in their community that offer services and information in whatever hardship is causing them to be behind on their bills or their payments. So if you think about a person's household expenses, we most likely have a resource that relates to any of those household expenses. So food savings, utility and heating utility assistance, connecting people to financial counseling, legal resources, employment, job training we even have resources available when natural disasters occur. So we're really very comprehensive in our approach, trying to understand any single thing that could cause a financial hardship and connect people to reputable organizations, all non profits or government resources that could assist that person.

Pat:
And so the organizations themselves could be a financial institution or whatever they would offer this then to their customers. Is that correct?

Rochelle:
Yes, that's correct. So we have a couple of different products. We have a tool that's utilized by customer service or call center agents who are on the phone with customers or borrowers that are experiencing payment issues. And then we have a digital offering where customers, where people can access spring for resources 24-7 with, you know, confidence in that. You know, no one knows the hardship that they're experiencing. And we believe that if we give people those tools, they will use it. Our numbers show that they definitely want and need this information and they can begin to take those little steps that are going to put them on a better path to financial health.

Pat:
Right. And for those organizations that provide this service, it's not just a kind of a nice to do or something they do for P.R. I think the feedback they receive and the benefits in many other ways make it well worth their while, even from a business perspective. Am I following that correctly?

Rochelle:
Yes, absolutely. The ROI is there for SpringFour, you know, we wouldn't be in business 17 years later if this wasn't helping companies with their bottom line. So essentially, you know, by addressing why somebody can't pay, you will get paid back again, right? People don't want to be behind on their bills. It's extremely stressful. They want to keep their house. They want to keep their car. They want to be able to keep their credit cards. So for the vast majority that are behind on their bills, connecting them to resources that can solve that issue or help solve that issue for them by decreasing those expenses, you're increasing cash flow and they're putting that new found cash flow to paying you back again.

Pat:
Yeah. So, you know, like I said, kind of at the top of the podcast, this is really about the, the human experience. That's that's what I find so interesting about this. Do you have some examples of kind of, you know, how the service has helped and, you know, the situation that someone might be in and how they sought help and found it?

Rochelle:
Yeah, I love that you called it, you know, the human experience because really that's what it is about for us. We are trying to change the experience for that individual, for that person. You know, we talk about referral numbers a lot and for instance, last year we made over four, almost 4.5 million referrals. But the thing is, behind each referral is a person, a family, somebody that's experiencing a hardship. So we definitely want to convey to our subscribers, to our clients, that there are humans that are being impacted by our solutions. And one of the most exciting things for me as a founder for our call center tool, S4 Pro, is getting feedback from collections and call center agents who say through the use of SpringFour, we've given them a way to be empathetic, to be human, have this human connection and help people and assist them. And it's really changed the way they feel about the company that they're working for, their role at the company, which is really amazing to me. It certainly, you know, when we founded SpringFour, we weren't thinking about that impact, but it's super exciting and you can imagine what a hard role they have talking with people all day long who are behind on the on their bills. They're stressed. They're probably upset. They're probably maybe even a bit angry. And now they have something to say. I hear you. Would you like help in your community? Do you want to get connected to some resources that could help you?

Pat:
I want to take a moment to tell you about Walker's newest publication, "CX Now: Eight Themes Driving Evolution." Written by Walker experts, this report explores the most important topics affecting customer experience today. You can download it for free at walkerinfo.com/cxnow. And if you missed our podcast series on CX Now, you can catch up by listening to the episodes right on that page. That's at walkerinfo.com/cxnow.

Pat:
Rochelle, It's interesting. You know, in the customer experience world, we deal a lot with companies that have contact centers, and a big topic is enabling those employees to be able to help their customers in whatever industry it might be. And so particularly in this I guess I just want a reaction to this. I would imagine that if it's not done right, this can be a pretty tough job. You know, if it's about collections and, you know, trying to find out why people are behind or whatever, but just the simple ability to offer resources changes the way they they take on their their work. Is. Is that right?

Rochelle:
Yeah, absolutely. It is a super simple concept. But the thing is, it hasn't become standard operating procedures or standard strategies for companies who are interacting with customers or consumers every day. I really believe that it ought to be. We have amazing testimonials, references, statistics about how this impacts a company and their customers. In fact, we did a survey of consumers and 83% said that they would want this information from their financial institution. They're already talking, they're already interacting with their financial institution. And I think that this is a prime example of how you surprise and delight your customers. Right. Because they're not anticipating this. They're not expecting this. And I have a really great example. We have a bank that's utilizing our products and they had a customer who was behind on their auto loan because they lost their job. Well, the agent was able to connect this customer with SpringFour resources, specifically employment resources. And they were doing their duty, right. They were making another outbound call. And the agent we have the recording, the agent was talking with the customer and they said, Oh, I'm fine now I'm sending in my payment. I received a job through SpringFour and the agent is like, What? You received your job through SpringFour? And you know that recording and that example made its way through the entire bank. And it's a huge validation of what we're doing. And it was so simple for that collection agent to provide that referral, but it changed that that person's outcome. And the bank now has, you know, a current versus an outstanding auto loan.

Pat:
Yeah. Wow. A great example of how it's about making those connections to deliver this human experience. That's that's a great one. I love that. So give me an idea of the scale of this. When you mention that you are connected with not for profit organizations and businesses, you know, how broad is this?

Rochelle:
Sure. So we are we are very easy to scale with any organization. And one of the reasons we are perfectly suited to work with companies that have customers or employees all across the country is because we have in our platform over 22,000 vetted and curated nonprofit and government agencies or resources. Were in every city above 50,000 in population throughout the US, and we make referrals and recommendations in 30 different spending categories. Those categories I mentioned before, like food savings. Right now, every single person can benefit from direction to how to reduce my food costs. So we're very broad, we're easily scalable, our tech is super easy to deploy. We can get a company onboarded with SpringFour in under 30 days. So it really is a very simple solution. And you know, we've been doing this for quite some time. In fact, I'm really proud that we started our company long before anyone had coined the term financial health. And so we're proud to be doing the work we're doing. And it's it's really exciting to see more companies embrace the notion of financial health and looking for ways to help either their customers or their employees.

Pat:
Yeah, you know, one of the things that I think is notable is that your company is a B corporation. Not everybody is that familiar with it. I know a little bit and I know enough to know that it's not just simply where you fill out a form and you're accepted. Maybe tell us a little about that because I think it is reflective of kind of the human culture that I think companies are seeking today. What's involved in that?

Rochelle:
Yes, I'm very proud that since day one we were a social impact company, but we became a Certified B corporation in, I believe, 2015 or 2016. I mean, frankly, Certified B's weren't around when we started, but essentially it tells the world and it tells our customers that social impact is one of our main drivers of our company. And so we go through a certification process that, yes, you're right, it is not just filling out a piece of paper where we are judged really on every component of our company. You know, there's some social impact companies that are really more of a Certified B corporation as a result of environmental standards. So you're judged on social and environmental standards. For us, we're mostly a remote team. So where our Certified B status comes to fruition is around social impact.

Pat:
So, you know, at the heart of this is the kind of the experience that someone is going through when they're getting help. Do you have a method for kind of documenting that and kind of just checking to see even from the impact that you're providing? But ultimately you want to make sure that the experience that you're providing is what you intended. How do you go about that?

Rochelle:
Right. Well, we work very closely with our customers, our clients. And, you know, we see them as a partner. So I remember one of the first times one of our potential clients referred to us as a vendor. And I was taken aback because I really do believe that when we work with a client, they are a partner. And that is something that I convey to our clients and it's felt throughout our organization. Everyone that works at SpringFour understands that our clients are our partners and we're really trying to do everything we can to show them that they are the hero in this situation. Right? As I mentioned before, it's not something that is standard across every single company. So those companies that have decided to work with us and invest in our technology to treat their customers or their employees different, they are a hero. They recognize the good that SpringFour is doing for their brand, for their customers and for their bottom line. And so we do that through all sorts of different ways. We're always trying to highlight our partners work through case studies. We deliver ESG reports to them so that they can say to their stakeholders and their shareholders that they are providing social impact for their customers or employees and the communities in which they operate or where their employees live. We're happy to really shine the light on the work that our clients are doing when they work with us. It's it's it actually makes it super fun to do what we're doing. You know, we don't, we don't just deploy our solutions and then, you know, forget about our customers and just look at the numbers. We're so much more than the numbers. And I think if you ask any of our clients, they will tell you that. And they love working with us.

Pat:
Yeah. Yeah. I think obviously, you know, a big part of business today is about the social impact, whether you are in a transactional business. And that is just, you know, making a product that they're selling and so forth. But are you finding that in most businesses there's just a lot of interest in what's what's your social impact? How is that benefiting your employees or the people you serve? Or how is it affecting the experience that others are having as they interact in whatever way?

Rochelle:
Absolutely. We're seeing a real increase in interest in the social impact of what we do. I mean, everything we do is about social impact, but it isn't always for our clients that come to us or the clients that we're working with. We sometimes have to help illustrate that to them. And I would say too, with some of the large banks, their teams are not always connected. So if we're working with someone in a specific area within a bank, we're trying to help them see that, hey, you should connect us with the ESG people. They would be so excited to know that we're over here working together because this is absolutely social impact. It absolutely can be measured and it can be demonstrated. So it ought to be part of that reporting.

Pat:
Yeah. Well, Rochelle, we've come to that point in the program where we ask kind of our trademark question, and that is for we'd like to have one tip from you that ideally is something relatively simple that people can take back, that a customer experience professional can implement in their company or kind of launch a new idea around. So, Rochelle Gorey, what is your take home value tip?

Rochelle:
Look for ways to insert empathy into everything that you do, because when you do, it will come back to you in spades.

Pat:
I love it. I love it. Well, you have a fascinating company. I appreciate you being on today, Rochelle. Gorey is the co-founder and CEO of SpringFour. Thanks for being with us today. And, you know, I'd love to follow what what your company does and where you're headed because it's pretty exciting.

Rochelle:
Thank you so much. I loved it. I appreciate the opportunity.

Pat:
All right. And if someone would want to reach out to you, are you on LinkedIn? Is that the best way to reach you?

Rochelle:
Yep, I'm on LinkedIn. We're on Twitter. And you can also go to springfour.com.

Pat:
Great. And if you want to talk about anything you heard on this podcast or about how Walker can help you with your business customer experience, feel free to email us at podcast@walkerinfo.com. Remember to give The CX Leader Podcast a rating through your podcast service and give us a review because your feedback will help us improve the show and deliver the best possible value to you, our listeners. Check out our website cxleaderpodcast.com. You can do that to subscribe to the show to find all our previous episodes, the podcast series and contact information so you can let us know how we're doing. The CX Leader Podcast is a production of Walker. We're an experience management firm that helps companies accelerate their XM success. You can read more about us at walkerinfo.com. Thank you for listening and go out there, find ways to show some empathy with your organization, and we will see you next time.

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