Are Members Happy or Not?

The eye-catching kiosks in the lobbies of USAlliance Federal Credit Union branches offer members a quick and engaging way to offer feedback, and they are taking advantage of the opportunity.

The HappyOrNot monitor displays a single, simple question, such as “Based on today’s experience would you recommend us to a friend?” or “Please rate our service today?” Members tap one of four buttons on a scale from smiley to frowning face. Even that limited data has helped underscore the importance of high-quality member service in every interaction and pinpointed service issues at specific times and days.

For example, when member satisfaction ratings at one branch dipped at the same time on the same day two weeks in a row—with one in eight members on average declaring themselves less than fully “smiley-faced”—managers investigated and discovered that at that time, the ATM was being serviced. As a result, members visiting the branch couldn’t use the ATM and were routed to a side door to enter and exit.

Sharing daily reports with branch managers, who in turn share them with their staff, has also helped improve already-positive results—97 percent of members pushing the best possible rating—to “near Six-Sigma-esque ratings,” says Kevin Randall, CCE, VP/information technology for the $909 million credit union serving 65,000 members in Boston and New York City.

Randall, a CUES member, suggested installing the HappyOrNot kiosks in USAlliance FCU lobbies after seeing kiosks in use at a conference and snapping a photo with his iPhone. The credit union was the first U.S. financial institution to use the kiosks, which are manufactured in Finland to customer specifications, purchasing them through U.S. reseller DoublePort. Ed Gundrum, DoublePort co-founder/CEO, says the kiosks sell for under $500 per unit when purchased in quantities of 10 or more.

USAlliance FCU rotated the kiosks through all its branches in a two-month trial this spring, experimenting to determine which questions offer the most useful information. The feedback vehicle is designed to support a strategic goal of measuring, monitoring, and improving member service, Randall says. Though the data is limited, the response rate is extremely high and available quickly via wireless transmission to a cloud reporting system. The credit union is even considering using the kiosks to gather employee feedback at in-house events.

“It’s very visible and engaging. Members have gone out of their way to comment, ‘Hey thanks for asking,’” Randall says. “And it seems to cross language barriers as well.”

Karen Bankston is a long-time contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Stoughton, Wis.