Thing 6 of 30: Make membership mean something

September is 30 things I would implement or consider implementing at my credit union if I was a credit union leader.

Thing 6: make membership mean something

You have to be a member to shop at Costco. Costco members happily fork over their annual membership fee because they are rewarded with great prices, huge selection and discounts on gas, eyeglasses and 50-gallon jugs of mayonnaise. In essence, Costco has made membership meaningful.

You have to be a member to deal with a credit union but credit union membership is nebulous—instead of creating a club feeling, it acts as a barrier to entry. What if you could make membership more meaningful by offering exclusive discounts at local merchants? How about striking deals with a local gas station, a local grocery store, a local theater or the local university to offer discounts on game tickets? You may even have business members that would love to work with your credit union.

Texas-based credit union, TDECU, has done just that. TDECU has struck a deal with Buc-ee's, a local gas station and convenience store chain to offer a 30-cent-per-gallon discount on gas! Not only will that drive new membership growth, it will also strengthen existing member relationships.

Now that's what I call member privileges!

Tim

Guest post: It's about the spinach, stupid. And the carts. And pretty much everything else

(Or what credit unions can learn from the mind of a disgruntled big box shopper.)

Dear SuperDuperBigMart [and credit union professionals],

When your new store [read: branch] opened near my house a few months back, I deliberately stayed away for a while. About three days to be exact. Finally the lure of cheap toilet paper [read: free chequing] became irresistible.

But the line. Oh sweet-mother-of-smiley-faces, the line. It. Could. Not. Have. Moved. Slower.

And the bag of spinach I picked up was already expired. Kind of weird since you just opened. [read: What? You’re out of envelopes at the ATM?]

Then there were the carts [read: brochures and other marketing paraphrenalia] scattered everywhere. Carts crying out for some sort of cart corral, if not a full-fledged cart jockey or two.

Today, I went back. Again, the parking lot was a mess. No one greeted me when I walked in the door [read: I thought it was about relationships?]. You didn’t have what I wanted [read: practical financial advice] and the items you did have, didn’t have any price on them [read: weren’t priced right].

When it was time to check out, you only had one cashier open [read: wicket]. No problem, I thought. I’ll use the self-checkout [read: profit-maximizing, expense-minimizing ATM]. But the technology worked against me. Finally, it stopped working altogether.

"Please wait for employee assistance!" it kept announcing in its loud, electronic voice. So I waited. And waited. And waited some more. But no one came to help. They walked right by. I just stood there helpless with my juice boxes and my garbage bags [read: U.S. cheques and other transactions].

Finally, I left my cheap toilet paper [read: free chequing account] in the cart and high tailed it out of there—‘cause seriously, I don’t have time to be ignored, no matter how low your prices are [read: don’t you want my money?!].

But then I thought maybe I should tell someone about my terrible, no-good, very bad day(s), so I logged onto your website. I used all 150 allowed words to tell you my story and then you sent me this—or rather, your computer did:

PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL
Please be advised that your email has been sent to the Customer Relations Department. You will receive a response in the shortest possible time. We thank you for visiting www.SuperDuperBigMart.com. We look forward to serving you on your next visit. Thank you.

Pardon me? The shortest possible time? By whose assessment? Not mine, obviously, or you would have responded by now. How about an actual service promise?

Making matters worse, I also read this on your website:

SuperDuperBigMart is committed to giving Canadians the best shopping experience in the marketplace by delivering everyday low prices, exceptional customer service, top-quality merchandise, and extensive community involvement, philanthropy and corporate social responsibility. SuperDuperBigMart has repeatedly listed among the 50 Best Companies to Work for in Canada, as published in Report on Business Magazine.

You know. I’ve always wondered what makes people go postal [read: bank?]. And now I know. Thank you, SuperDuperBigMart, for reminding me there’s more to being super than just having 'SuperDuper' in your name.

Oh, and if you’re thinking of calling me today, please note I’ll be out re-buying all the things I tried to buy at your store yesterday, this time with my three-year-old in tow. [read: Where is Mount Lehman Credit Union anyway?]

Signed,

Some crazy lady in Surrey

Colleen

About our guest blogger: Colleen Pepper is a freelance writer and editor specializing in the credit union industry since 2001. Colleen writes radio spots, campaign collateral and more serious things like annual reports, brochures and newsletters. This week a client asked her to write a letter telling members their account manager died, demonstrating that she can do funny and funerals—although whether a letter is the right choice for the latter is a blog in itself. Colleen has a B.A. in Communications and History from Trinity Western University. In her spare time, she is a mom and aspiring mystery shopper. She’s recently discovered how much she hates SuperDuperBigMart—or at least the sparkly, brand new one by her house.

Get on the e-mail boat-now!

In the last week or so I've had conversations with two different clients that went like this.

• Me: "So about how many member e-mail addresses do you have for this group?"
• Them: "Uh, I think about... I'm not sure. Maybe a couple hundred?"
• Me: "Is it part of your application process to collect an e-mail address?"
• Them: "Yes. Well... it was on the online app, but I think... (to the other "them" at the table) do we have it on the form in-branch? I think so."

People. PEOPLE! You need to be actively collecting e-mail addresses. Here's why, courtesy of my Twitter friend Ron Shevlin who tweeted the link (e-mail me if you are scratching your head over "Twitter" and "tweeted"):

E-MAILS SENT TO HOUSE FILES FOUND TO PRODUCE HIGHEST RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT FOR SOLICITING DIRECT ORDERS

ORLANDO, FL, OCTOBER 13, 2003 -- A new landmark study from the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) found that e-mail offers, particularly those sent to in-house customer lists, produced the highest overall return-on-investment (ROI) for marketers focusing on soliciting direct orders, generating leads or building store traffic.

Copy and pasted totally without permission from The Direct Marketing Association

There's more to this article (and I sincerely apologize for the screaming caps– their choice, not mine) but you can see why it's VITAL that we are building e-mail databases.

There's no excuse. You're sitting at your computer right now, so you can e-mail everyone who needs to make this change. I mean it.

Nala

Being "a number" is okay for some

I know it seems like I've been slacking, but over this busy summer I HAVE managed to ask three people what it would take for them to become a credit union member (remember this post? Johanne, thou hast not been forsaken!)

And dang it if all three weren't ALREADY credit union members! But here's the ironic thing I found out. My question opened a very emotional memory for one of these people–I'll call him John.

"I recently lost my member number." John told me. He used to have quite a low number, and when his credit union merged they adopted a new banking system which resulted in him losing his low number. Now he doesn't feel special, he said.

Let's forget for now that, after some scoop reporting, I tracked this merger down to find out it happened OVER FIVE YEARS AGO and that he obviously has difficulty with the definition of "recent." This fellow still hasn't gotten over it! I've only HEARD stories of people like him (and they're usually in their 70s. This man is in his mid-40s.)

And that begged another question - why was his sense of importance to the credit union tied to a number? Didn't the credit union make him feel valued in other ways?

His answer? No. Now (he says) I'm just like everyone else. Before it was a topic of conversation, now there's no conversation. This could have been one of those catalyzing moments that had him moving all of his business away, but when I broached this he shrugged in that ambivalent way many consumers do when weighing the aggravation of the event against the aggravation of finding a new financial home and said "I have all my stuff there."

I'm completely unaware of whether or not I have a member number at my credit union. The only numbers that matter to me is my account number and my PIN numbers, because I need them for transactions. Maybe if I had a member number I would feel more like I belonged?

What are your thoughts about numbers?

Nala

Challenge your members

In a recent Ipsos News Alert, it was reported that "fully eight in ten Canadians (86%) enjoy being exposed to people and ideas that challenge the way they look at the world."

When Larissa put out her great "difference" video on behalf of Young & Free Alberta, I sent it to several family and friends. I wanted to share the kind of work my company does. Here is the response from one of them:

"This is so informative!!  I never really knew the difference before.
I am convinced that I should join our local Credit Union."

So many credit unions that Currency works with have growth opportunities with their existing membership, let alone new members. Banking is such a commodity these days, that providing great service is merely table stakes. What does your credit union do that is different? How can you challenge members to rethink their banking relationship and deepen their credit union relationship?

Nala