Welcome, Amigos

Tony Malaghan
September 8, 2008

Never underestimate the benefits of welcoming your credit union's new members, especially those of Hispanic descent.

Whether your credit union uses letters, welcome packets, e-mails, phone calls, or a combination of strategies, welcoming efforts form the foundation of successful long-term relationships. New-member welcomes—whatever the format or audience—should thank members for their business and congratulate them on selecting your credit union.

For Hispanic members, the stakes are rising. The U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 census revealed more than one of eight people living in the U.S. are of Hispanic origin, a population that continues to grow much more rapidly than the non-Hispanic population. By 2012, Hispanics will increase to one of every six people living in the U.S. , and by 2025 to one of every four.

According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth, Hispanics' buying power will increase to slightly more than $1.2 trillion in 2012 from $862 billion in 2007. This market is worth pursuing, targeting with special programs, and retaining.

All consumers have multiple choices for financial service providers and banking formats. However, the Hispanic market includes individuals with greatly varying levels of acculturation to U.S. life.

Unacculturated and partially acculturated Hispanic members may be unfamiliar with U.S. business practices, processes, and tools for getting answers to questions or resolving disputes. These members in particular will benefit from live, outbound welcome calls from experienced bilingual member service representatives (MSR).

Many Hispanic members are unfamiliar with U.S. billing and payment processes. It's a good idea for your credit union to develop a high-contact strategy to ensure they understand your products, services, and the importance of making timely payments.

Also, most Hispanics prefer personalized, one-on-one interactions, according to WellPoint Inc.

Welcome to Our Credit Union

Live, outbound welcome calls are best delivered by bilingual MSRs. Depending on the situation, follow these steps:

• Welcome the member and ask if he or she has any questions or concerns about the service.
• Verify and correct account information. Be thorough—this information is invaluable if the member's account falls into collections.
• Answer any questions the member has about the product or service.
• Educate the member—by further describing products and services—on how to maximize his or her relationship with the credit union.
• Explain the credit union's billing process—including the format, timing, grace period (if any), penalties, terms, and member verification tools (call center, Web site, ATMs, and so on).
• Emphasize the importance of on-time payments to reduce delinquencies, service interruptions, and so on.
• Increase member loyalty with a welcoming tone to improve retention and reduce attrition.
• Identify relevant cross-selling opportunities for the future.
• Thank the member for his or her business and reassure that you're only a phone call away if there are future questions or concerns.

The ideal timing for a welcome call depends on the type of product or service, but optimally takes place within a few days of service activation. Each welcome call reaps long-term benefits. It's the first contact you have with a member following the sales process. Make sure welcome calls are friendly, informational, and inviting.

Do You Have Any Questions?

Another opportunity to make meaningful member contact is after the first billing statement and before the first payment is due. This is particularly relevant to the Hispanic market, especially if your credit union doesn't provide bilingual or Spanish-language billing statements. If the member's preference is to speak Spanish and you're providing billing information in English, an in-language call to explain your billing and payment processes is even more important.

Keep statement education calls friendly and informational. Depending on the member's situation, follow these steps:

• Ask if the member has received his or her bill and if there are any questions or concerns about the content or the amount owed.
• Highlight the payment due date and explain the terms of your payment agreement or contract. Explain the due date, grace period (if any), minimum payments calculation, and penalties and/or consequences of late or missed payments.
• Educate the member on two points: the importance of establishing good payment habits and how to build a positive credit history.
• Describe all the ways your credit union makes on-time payments easy. Explain payment options. Based on the member's preferred payment method, explain how many days he or she should allow for the payment to be credited to the account.
• Offer a recurring payment program in which payments are automatically debited from the member's credit or debit card, or checking or savings account. Offer an incentive for electing this service, which reduces the likelihood of missed or late payments in the future.
• Thank the member for his or her business and reassure that you're only a phone call away if there are future questions or concerns.

On both types of calls—welcome and statement education calls—MSRs can build member rapport and sometimes identify potential disputes, collection issues, fraud, or other problems. These calls give members opportunities to build loyalty and trust with your credit union. If they do have problems in the future, they won't feel nervous about calling you to discuss the situations sooner rather than later.

Depending on the product or service, you also may want to mail members welcome packets in their preferred language. But the mailed material shouldn't substitute for live welcome calls from trained bilingual MSRs.

Welcome calls encourage members of all ethnic backgrounds not only to use your credit union's products and services, but also to pay as agreed—providing a boost to your accounts receivables.

Tony Malaghan is CEO of Arial International in University Place, Washington. Contact him at 888-446-2331. This story first appeared at www.creditunionmagazine.com and is reprinted with permission.

How to Simplify the Process of Work

Mark Crawford
September 2, 2008

In 1992 The Jensen Group, a change management consultancy group in New Jersey, and the Northern Illinois University College of Business's Entrepreneurship Program, launched an in-depth, ongoing study on Corporate America's ability to design work as it enters the Age of Information. A free report entitled “ The Search for a Simpler Way ” summarizes the study.

To date the study has included over 1,500 companies and 500,000 individuals. “With all that has changed in how we work,” asks Jensen, “have we really attacked the organization of knowledge? What do we discover when we examine our systems for getting work done—performance management, implementation of strategies and change, work efficiency, etc.—for their sources of complexity? How do successful business results hold up to scrutiny of how we got there? What are the hidden Info Age costs behind how we get work done today?”

The research shows that work is far more complex, frustrating, and inefficient than it needs to be. In fact, work complexity is disabling 60% to 80% of the workforce in their efforts to meet shareholder, customer, business, and employee needs.

Jensen indicates the four top drivers of work complexity are:

1. Lack of integration of change.
2. Unclear goals and objectives.
3. How people communicate.
4. Knowledge management, or how people organize information.

The report provides:

• A new way of looking at Corporate America's ability to design, organize, and deliver work in the Info Age
• Enough details to formulate your own conclusions about your company's work processes
• Various tools and methods (including a companion website, www.simplerwork.com) for navigating and understanding the data presented in the report

A few parting thoughts:

Training: One-quarter of last year's training programs are out of date or useless.

Change: The half-life of any change effort is just over 18 months.

Brand: Within two financial quarters, over 10% of your loyal customers will be confused as to what your brand stands for—simply due to information overload's impact on your brand positioning.

Capabilities and skills: Every 1,100 days, your workforce's ability to transform information into work becomes twice as important. Every three years, the amount of information you need to capture, organize, communicate, understand, and build into solutions will double.

Materials for work: If you haven't completely purged, replaced, or updated 100% of your organizational knowledge in a 36-month cycle, you can't compete effectively.

To read the free 27-page executive summary to “The Search for a Simpler Way,” please click here. Contact the Jensen Group through www.simplerwork.com or call 973-539-5070.

Testing Strategic Financial Goals, Analyzing CU Ratios the Topics of Two New White Papers

CUNA Councils
August 28, 2008

Testing strategic financial goals and analyzing credit union financial ratios are the subjects of two new white papers by the CUNA Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Council.

“Testing a Strategic Financial Vision: Using a Simple Financial Planning Model” explains how to test a credit union’s strategic financial goals over an extended period of time. Using a simple simulation model that creates future balance sheets, income statements, and financial ratios, the paper focuses on capturing key financial aspects of the plan in a strategic financial vision. It also outlines key testing issues and includes an operating manual for using this model.

The second white paper, “Credit Union Financial Ratios: Twenty-Plus Years of Data and Analysis,” explains what can be garnered by analyzing financial ratios over a 22-year period. It examines the conclusions that can be made about financial changes, impacts of competition, changed regulation, and the basic safety, soundness, and competitiveness of the industry. A complete 22-year listing of more than 50 ratios is included in the appendix.

CUNA Council members are entitled to complimentary copies of these white papers; non-members may purchase the white papers for a price of $50 per copy.

The papers are available online in the white paper section of each council site - select the “CFO” tab for both white papers.

Member Spotlight: Jobi Tyson

CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council
August 26, 2008

Jobi Tyson is the senior marketing executive for an advertising agency, Growth By Design, within the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates in Duluth, Georgia, where she specializes in marketing campaigns and strategic planning.

Her first job after graduating from college in 1997 was working for a credit union in Florida as a loan interviewer. Since it was a relatively small credit union, she wore several hats and was able to learn the ins and outs of most departments, and of course the culture of the credit union industry. She has a strong background in leadership positions in marketing, sales, and promotions in industries including music, financial services, non-profits, asset management, investments, and technology.

Jobi is a native of Pompano Beach, Florida and currently resides in Atlanta. She earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration and management from Bethune-Cookman College in Daytona Beach, Florida, and an MBA from the University of Phoenix.

Biggest challenge

Gaining trust from credit unions to break tradition and think strategically.

Best advice

Get the best out of life and treat yourself to something new!

Greatest benefit of Council membership

Networking opportunities with other fellow marketers and the chance to brainstorm and build new relationships with marketers across the nation. Although, I don't work in a credit union per se, but assist credit unions with growth initiatives, I am able to learn from credit union marketers on a day-to-day basis through the Listserv, conferences, and schools what credit unions' needs are on a broader basis.

Best part of my job

Doing what I love to do, and knowing that my expertise has helped grow membership and penetration in other promotional areas. There are thousands of agencies that credit unions can choose, but few agencies are exclusive to credit unions.

Hardest part of my job

Convincing credit unions to accept new ideas, new behaviors, to be more proactive and risky, which creates a new mindset to be ahead of the competition.

Success story

A small credit union in a small town was facing new competition and was desperate to keep their members' business. We were able to survey their members and add new products and services so the new competition would be irrelevant to their members.

Biggest misconception about your job

That one can learn to be creative; I think creative minds are born.

Hobbies and interests

Songwriting, singing, hiking, traveling, creative writing, investing, and networking.

Recent book

The Secret.

Life goal not yet achieved

Building a legacy for generations to come.

Something that always makes me laugh

Kathy Griffin's comedy and my grandma's storytelling.

If I had an extra hour in the day . . .

I would give God praise.

Favorite quote

“Vision is seeing the invisible.”

Music in my iPod or MP3 player

Mary J. Blige and Ella Fitzgerald.

If I could spend a day with anyone it would be . . .

Famed event planner Preston Bailey, because of his extraordinary and innovative marketing concepts and style.

How I would explain the credit union difference to a potential new member

A credit union is your very own financial concierge with personalized service, on-going member education, voting rights, low rates, and ownership.

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