By Ron Jooss
I receive a Google Alert under the search word "credit unions" each day in my mailbox. I don't get to it all the time, but awhile back I found an entry I found inspiring, and enlightening. Susan Epperson, VP/marketing at $68 million Henrico Credit Union, Richmond, Va., made this comment to David Weliver's Money under 30 blog. (Great blog by the way, David.) Susan's comment gave Weliver reason to come clean about his credit union addiction. Anyone familiar with blogs and Web 2.0 knows this drill, but this exchange struck me as significant during a very critical time for credit unions.
I thought Susan's post was persuasive and heartfelt without being too over the top. I gave her a call to see how often she spilled the credit union Kool Aid on line. As a marketer, she says she lurks on financial blogs and sites like Money Under 30 all the time, and when the right moment strikes her, she takes the time to share her very valuable knowledge—from a purely credit union perspective. "I take a lot of time to try and weed through the slick stuff and the fluff," she says. "We live and breathe this stuff all the time. So if I'm going to say something and put my name to it, I want to make sure it's reasonable, and tell people what they should look for, or not look for, or what not to be tricked in to."
I've read The Tipping Point, a wonderful book by Malcolm Gladwell, about how small ideas can become big ideas by simple word of mouth or through very special people who have a gift for sharing ideas with others, like Susan Epperson. Lots of other books tout similar ideas.
Right now, with our country in this financial mess, people are either angry or scratching their heads. Anyone who's not has their head in the clouds.
Credit unions may not have created this mess, but they are part of the aftermath. It's more important than ever to pat your employees on the back, let them know how critical member relationship building is—or whatmember relationship building is—and how important both your employees and your members are to the credit union. Then, encourage your managers to get on these blogs that fit their age group and interests and to spread the credit union gospel. At least get someone from your marketing department to do like Susan Epperson does for the good of your credit union, your community and the credit union industry. It's more important than ever that we leverage the Internet's power and ability to connect that we talk and read about so much.
As CUES members Tom Randle and Gary Easterling wrote in their posts, now is the time for credit union leadership. This won't solve the economic crisis, but it will be a small yet critical step in alleviating peoples' fears, especially those folks associated with credit unions.
Ron Jooss edits the General Management and Board sections of CUES' Credit Union Management magazine.
Read how another CU marketer, Laura Jensen, "spills the Kool Aid" in "Creating our own Buzz."
