By Michael Neill, CSE
I heard a consultant say that a credit union sales and service culture is like the Loch Ness Monster. Many claim it exists but no one has actually seen it! Pretty funny, but an overstatement. Still, there are far more credit unions that continue working to differentiate themselves by processing faster and more accurately, than there are excellent examples of sales and service cultures in our movement. Given that credit unions are “built for service” why do we see few top-notch sales and service cultures?
1.The “real effort” to develop a culture that will facilitate positively differentiating on service is still in its infancy in the credit union movement. Yes, we have been talking about it since the ’80s, but until a few years ago there was no member-centric service culture model for credit unions to adopt.
2.We can convince ourselves we have a sales and service culture much more easily than we can build it. For example, I hear someone tell me every week, “You know we already have a sales culture.” They then begin to explain that their credit union has a service culture because they have done sales training and have incentives. This claim is akin to me claiming that I am a qualified contractor because I have a hammer and a building loan.
3.It takes time to change the entire culture of a credit union that has been operating in a “processing culture” for years. We sometimes suffer from “organizational attention deficit disorder” i.e. difficulty in maintaining focus on long-term strategic initiatives.
4. Changes are not limited to the change in employees adopting service behaviors and moving from order-taking behaviors. It is much more challenging to teach ourselves how to move from managing to leading.
I hope I can address each of the above four challenges in the coming weeks in more detail. In the meantime, here are some of the pieces it takes to create a “real sales and service culture.” How would your credit union answer each of these questions.
1. We have a sales and service culture plan in place that provides a guide for implementing all the correct tactics in the proper sequence and in the correct spatial relationship. We wouldn’t covert our core processing system without a plan in place, would we?
2. Our mission is a statement of intent that provides an understanding of why we really exist. Example: Our mission is to enable members to fulfill their financial goals. CBC Credit Union
3. We hire employees and promote employees based on their attributes to fit into our culture of high quality service.
4. We exert as much energy developing, measuring and coaching internal service as we do on external service.
5. We work to develop a culture of “catching our employees doing things right.”
6. We have defined service with standards that we broadcast to our members and each other. Example: “I will treat you as an honored guest.”
7. We consider product knowledge so important our employees are required to pass a certification exam every year.
8. Our evaluations weight sales and service performance equally with balancing and accuracy.
9. We track service and sales delivery and results as often and with as much voracity as any process in the credit union.
10. We consider sales and service coaching to be something we do every day rather than another weekly meeting to conduct.
11. We recognize those willing and able employees who perform at a high level.
12. We hold accountable those employees who are unwilling and unable. It violates our code to submit our members to the indifferent service delivered by these people.
You may never see the Loch Ness Monster. But, I have seen a real service culture in a credit union. I’ve been to Boeing Wichita Credit Union, First Advantage Credit Union, Hughes Federal Credit Union and others…… I’ve seen it and it is beautiful to behold!
Michael Neill, CSE, is president of Michael Neill & Associates, Inc.
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