Nearly every creative consultant, marketing executive, and industry journalist has an opinion about your credit union’s brand. They may even go so far as to say your brand is “good.” But “good is the enemy of great," right? And most advice you’re going to get is based on opinion, not facts. In this 4-part series, we will approach the question about the strength of your brand more pragmatically and review some key data points that you can easily access, track, and measure to determine how well your brand resonates.
And it’s time to examine what the root issues are and ask yourself a few questions.
You want to earn PFI status. In order to achieve that level of loyalty and ongoing engagement, you must find ways to activate members to get engaged from the initial account opening experience. In every training, employee review, and incentive plan, emphasize getting members to open a checking account, engage in mobile banking and debit card transactions, as well as open a credit card or loan. The more deeply rooted a member is in the first 6 months, the more likely they are to be with you long-term.
TIP: Measure your attrition in multiple parts - Total Attrition vs. Attrition of Members with Loans | Members with Checking | Members with CD | etc. The more granular you can examine your attrition, the better able you will be to recognize problems within your product and/or service offerings.)
If you’re constantly churning through members, you’re doing something wrong. Perhaps you aren’t paying attention to when members are paying off loans. Maybe you have too much hot money that leaves every time the term is up. Or it’s possible you have more older members than younger ones and your membership is LITERALLY dying. Get to work right now to build long-term brand ambassadors who will spread the word to friends and family (especially the younger ones!) about the difference you’re making in their lives.
