By Michael M. Neill, CSE
Since the start of the economic crisis, all organizations - financial institutions in particular - have experienced huge challenges. The crisis has directly affected consumers’ perceptions of financial institutions, causing a change to the landscape for all, even credit unions. Reduced spending and increased competition have added tremendous pressure. And new regulations and additional fees have added an overwhelming impact to profitability.
If a crushing economy, increased regulatory scrutiny and squeezed margins aren’t enough, we have also now begun to see the emergence of a new post-crisis credit union member. Consumers are emerging from the financial crisis with altered behaviors and attitudes. Members are focused on paying down debt, shifting to more secure, lower-margin products, and have begun to rely on technology and social media to help to regain control of their finances.
These post-financial crisis members have a clear focus on integrity, value for money, and quality of service.
To increase profitability, credit unions are finding they need to deliver more efficient, innovative offerings, through employees and systems that project confidence that we are the most trusted financial advisor in the marketplace. The focus is now on changing models to meet the needs of the new and changing needs of membership.
Concentrating efforts in those areas that can realize the most significant positive impact from change is our first step. Increasing efficiency by becoming a more high-functioning organization and ensuring flawless service delievery by building a culture of excellence in sales and service are key efforts that have the opportunity for great impact.
Building a Culture of Sales and Service
To compete, differentiate and grow in this new member era, credit unions must ensure optimal performance in member service and relationship sales. Those that do so will enrich their brands and protect and increase market share at a time when member loyalty is no longer guaranteed.
The components of creating flawless sales and service delivery include skill development, leadership, and systems. Behaviors, which create more business from more members, must be engrained into the culture.
In this era of new expectations, members are seeking to do business with those that not only offer great price but can serve as a trusted advisor. Given the significance of the personal relationship in the credit union-member relationship, this culture of sales and service is essential for best-in-class credit unions to deliver on member expectations.
Efficiency and Benchmarking
Finding ways to do everything your credit union does better, faster, and cheaper has never been more important. In the current climate, efficiency has become job number one for credit unions. Fortunately, creating greater efficiency can have a great deal of impact, even small changes in the way you do things can yield huge pay-offs.
Review your systems and processes with an eye on making them more efficient and more consistent throughout your credit union. The simple act of putting your processes in writing and reviewing them will quickly reveal opportunities to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Galileo is attributed to having once said, “Count what is countable, measure what is measurable, and what is not measurable, make measurable.” Never have these words been so true. If you want to reveal and correct inefficiencies, define the outcomes you are seeking and find ways to measure them. This means defining what the desired outcome looks like, finding ways to measure their achievement, and then comparing and benchmarking outcomes against other credit unions.
Tough times like we have experienced over the past few years have the beneficial effect of rewarding those who have the means to survive. The coming years will be owned by those that learn how to make further changes that will allow them to thrive. There will be those credit union who become more significant and stronger over the coming years. The question is will yours be one of them.
Michael M. Neill, CSE, is president of MNA Inc., Atlanta, CUES' strategic provider for ServiStar.
Mike Neill will lead CUES' School of Growth and Profitability, May 1-3 in San Diego. Learn more and register.
Get a free preview of the school by attending this Friday's webinar, Mastering the Customer Experience, with Neill. Learn more and register.
