A ANGE
and your charitable activities. Advertise and use the benefit of full deposit insurance – this emphasizes to new members that their interests come first. Help them become and feel a part of the movement! SIXTH : Recognize that you cannot do this alone. We must collaborate to spread costs across a larger economic footprint. Even the largest credit unions will have difficulty with the necessary changes. If you think you can do this alone, you are wrong, and your credit union will suffer the consequences. SEVENTH: You and your board must realize that your digital branch is the most important branch office you have. It is there that the consumer battle for wallet share will be decided. This concept needs more than just recognition – most of your branch budgetary dollars must be committed to developing and operating this digital platform successfully. Your “brick and mortar” branches are important for consumers’ sense of your legitimacy, but foot traffic in those branches will continue to decline dramatically. There is no going back on this trend. EIGHTH: As you go through this difficult process, you, as the CEO, need to objectively evaluate the competence of your operation and assess how you are doing in the eyes of your members. Customer service is something we pride ourselves in, but far too often our customer engagement is woefully lacking and we are falling behind the competition. These are not “nice to have” suggestions: These are the keys to the long-term survival of your institution! We are not here to tell you what you want to hear. We are here to help you thrive as a financial services leader, and thereby, your credit union will succeed. As a member of MSIC, your credit union is a member of a true cooperative – the first in the nation deposit insurer for credit unions – and an organization totally committed to your success. We are here to help, but you have to decide that you want this help in the first place. The winners over the next ten years (and beyond) will heed this advice and follow these steps. The future of our important credit union movement lies in your hands.
FIRST: We need to learn to be much better competitors! This will require a survey of our products and an expansive operational change to create a genuine sales culture in our credit unions. Don’t fool yourself – culture change
is very hard. SECOND :
We need to attract new, younger members. What do they need? Loans. Once we have updated our lending products and procedures, we then need to sell to these younger consumers and welcome them into the fold as members. THIRD: We need to advertise our unique business model in a new way. We need to use peer-to-peer marketing, digital formats and social media to get the word out about the value of credit union membership. We need to commit time, resources and technical competence to effectively tell our story. FOURTH: We need to connect our customer service operations to our lending activities. Just because a young consumer gets a loan from us does not mean they become members for life. Long-term membership requires attention and coordination to secure and retain an increasing slice of their consumer financial needs. FIFTH: Let your members know that they matter to you. Demonstrate your good works in your community
2022 ANNUAL REPORT
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