Posted by Christopher Stevenson
I know you've heard it before. It seems every credit union differentiates itself on service. It has become the CU mantra, "Our service makes the difference; our service makes the difference; our service makes the difference." You've also heard lots of consultants saying that it's hogwash; not everyone can differentiate themselves on service. Nevertheless, there are some CUs that really believe deep down that their service is what makes the difference. But how do they really know? Member surveys? Questions like "Were you greeted with a smile?" and "Did you wait in line more than five minutes?" do little to determine if our member service is worth squat. Even more important, how do we communicate it to our members and potential members? Posters in the lobby boasting of our undying dedication to member service won't cut it.
Then today a friend sent me a link to CustomInk.com, a custom T-shirt company. By nearly all accounts, CustomInk.com is a typical T-shirt company, selling team jerseys, custom trucker caps, and the like. What sets CustomInk.com apart is the sidebar on its home page that shows "Uncensored Customer Reviews" for today. Click on it and you can see all the customer reviews, unedited and unfiltered, and sort them by catagories. There's no hiding behind marketing slogans or selectively printed testimonials. What you see is what you get. Talk about having faith in your service and product quality.
I wonder how many credit unions could pull something like this off. If we truly think our service is what sets us apart, then why not prove it? If we don't think we have the raving fans we need to try something like CustomInk.com's "Uncensored Customer Reviews," then we'd best surrender our ideas of differentiating on service and find the thing that truly sets us apart.
Remember, just chanting a mantra doesn't make it true. If it did, I'd be 20 pounds lighter and driving an F-150.
