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VIDEO POST: Growing Your Credit Union–A Contrarian Strategy Worthy of Contemplation

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

It’s no secret that one of the keys to long-term success for credit unions lies in their ability to connect with the next generation of members. After all, there are more millennials than there were baby boomers.

But there is another demographic reality that may be worthy of consideration that would suggest a contrarian strategy that might work well for some credit unions.

Take a look.

ACTION ADVICE: Engage your planning team in a discussion about the strategy of delivering more services focused on the aging demographic. Consider the options that may be available for you to deepen your relationships with this group and create new products and services that meet their evolving needs. Don’t forget to ask how you can leverage their loyalty to bring in their extended family and friend networks as new members.

It’s Your Turn…What do you think about this idea? Does it make sense, or would it be a serious mistake for a credit union to consider it? I look forward to your thoughts…

Posted in Business Development, Connecting with Traditional Members, Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union, Improving Member Service, Video Posts | 6 Comments »

Effective Marketing Strategies: Social Media is Not a Fad, It’s a Revolution

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

In my work facilitating planning sessions across the past couple of years, one subject that is always on the table is social media.

Some participants see the potential and want their credit unions to jump in immediately. Others wonder whether there is a ‘next big thing’ right around the corner that will replace the current dominant players, i.e., Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

But the most disturbing comment that is sometimes made is that “social media is just a fad and it too will go away.”

I could not disagree more with this assessment. It is shortsighted, and it ignores that fact that the core business model of financial services has changed forever. We are living in a new normal, and social media is a key game changer.

Still not convinced? Watch this video.

ACTION ADVICE: Get serious today about defining your social media strategy. Start by setting up a Facebook account and monitoring what other credit unions and businesses are doing. After a few weeks of learning, launch your credit union’s page and start connecting with your members and engaging them in an ongoing conversation that will help you grow your credit union.

It’s Your Turn…What are your experiences with the world of social media? Has your credit union seen any results from your efforts? What is your vision of how to best leverage this tool to grow your credit union?

Posted in Building Relationships, Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union, Video Posts | No Comments »

VIDEO POST: High Performance Culture Building–Making Every Dime Count

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

One of my all-time favorite leadership experts is Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager–a classic that is always worthy of another read.

Ken is somewhat famous for his constant reminder to leaders to “catch people doing something right and tell them about it.”

Here’s a brief video sharing an idea for making the process part of your daily routine at your credit union.

ACTION ADVICE: Whether you choose to use dimes or some other tracking method, try this approach for the next two weeks: take time day to deliver personal appreciation to at least 5 team members each day…make it specific to their performance, deliver as close as possible to that performance, and don’t worry about whether others hear it or not. You’ll be amazed at the results, and as you keep doing it you’ll become better at it and your culture will begin to focus on catching people doing something right as people follow your example!

Reminder: You can deliver the message face-to-face, you can send a handwritten note, you can leave a personal voice mail, or (as a last resort) you can send an e-mail…just make sure you make it personal and to the point, recognizing the person for something specific that they did that was in line with the goals of your credit union.

It’s Your Turn…Tell us what you do to catch people doing something right, or share an experience of the impact it had on you when someone caught you doing something right. Post your comment and help us all learn from your experiences.

Posted in Credit Union Strategy, High Performance Culture Building, Improving Communication, Team Building Ideas, Video Posts | No Comments »

VIDEO POST: Increasing Efficiency–A Quick Way to Change Your Team’s Thinking

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Efficiency is an easy concept to grasp, but it is often difficult to achieve. It’s often even more difficult to quantify the costs of not being efficient for your credit union.

Think about it.

The simple reality is that small inefficiencies can creep into the way we do things on a day-to-day basis without us even realizing it. And over time the impacts can be significant.

Watch this brief video for an illustration of how costly inefficiency can be.

ACTION ADVICE: Share this information with your team and engage them in an effort to identify inefficiencies that can be eliminated to reduce costs. Chances are that there are some simple process changes that can yield very high pay-offs in a relatively short period of time. The ability to realocate the time, money, and effort that is being lost in these areas can be a significant opportunity for improving the overall performance of your credit union.

It’s Your Turn: Share your examples…where do inefficiencies creep into the day-to-day processes in your credit union? What have you done to address them? How significant would the cost savings be if you worked to eliminate at least one inefficiency per month for the next year? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

Posted in Credit Union Strategy, Improving Organizational Effectiveness, Increasing Efficiency, Video Posts | 4 Comments »

VIDEO POST: Growing Your Credit Union by Defining Your Ideal Member

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

One of the questions I often ask when facilitating planning sessions with my credit union clients is this: Who is your ideal member?

The question is often met with a combination of thoughtful and puzzled gazes, followed by comments reminding me that the credit union is open to all members who qualify under the charter, that the credit union treats all members the same, and that the credit union strives to deliver great service to all of its members.

But today I want to encourage you to seriously consider the question and what it means to the future growth of your credit union. Start by taking a look at this brief video that sheds some light on the ideal member concept.

ACTION ADVICE: Use your MCIF system to analyze your membership with an eye on defining your ideal member. You might base it on their overall profitability, the bundles of products and services they use, or the frequency of their interaction either in the branch or online. The point is to gain better insight into the members who really drive your credit union’s results. Armed with that information you can focus your marketing efforts on attracting more of these ideal members and converting those who are not there yet into better members…strengthening and growing your credit union in the process.

It’s Your Turn: Who is your ideal member? Are you actively building relationships with them and working to attract more of them? How do you use your MCIF system to help you in this regard? Please take a moment and share your insights with us by posting a comment.

Posted in Effective Marketing Strategies, Growing Your Credit Union, Leveraging Technology, Strategic Thinking, Video Posts | 4 Comments »