Unleash excellence at your CU

By Dennis Snow & Teri Yanovitch

Most of us have been on the receiving end of poor customer service many times. How often have you found yourself seething because of a long wait at your doctor’s office, a grocery store cashier carrying on a personal conversation while you stand in line, or being left on hold while on a “help” line?

On the other hand, great service feels like a gift. A smiling, caring employee makes us want to continue to do business with an organization.

That’s the secret of success. Intense customer loyalty is the result of a company’s employees doing those things that make customers feel special, want to come back, and to recommend the organization to others.

It’s no different for credit unions. Members have more choices than ever when it comes to financial institutions. The only real differentiator is how a particular institution makes their members or customers feel.

If your members feel valued, most will remain loyal. If your members feel under-valued, they will eventually defect to a competitor.

Consumers defect for a variety of reasons: they move away, a competitor lures them away, they’re unhappy with the product, etc. But a recent study found that 68% of customers who defect do so because of poor service. That’s a sobering statistic when you think about how competitive the financial services industry is today.

The study notes how consumers define poor service: “an attitude of indifference on the part of employees.” So not just bad service causes members to leave; indifferent service has the same effect.

This article focuses on service principles that lead to ongoing member loyalty for your credit union. It’s written with the assumption that your products and rates are already competitive. Once products and rates are competitive, service becomes the critical element for gaining loyalty.

1. Look at the CU experience through the lens of the member

Your members typically see their finances through an emotional lens. Members are passionate about their money and want to know you’re just as passionate about caring for their money.

An engaged, caring employee raises members’ confidence that the credit union is looking out for their interests. If members sense a lack of caring, they’ll question the motives behind any product discussion.

Financial products can be confusing. It’s easy for employees to fall into a habit of using language members don’t fully understand. While terms like APR, ARM, rollover, amortize, etc, may be familiar to someone who deals with financial issues every day, such language can become overwhelming for members.

If you’ve ever had a computer help line employee talk to you in “computer-speak,” you know how frustrating and intimidating unfamiliar jargon can be. Employees who understand the lens of the member will talk in the language of the member, not the language of the institution.

Complaints are frustrating for members and employees alike. As employees, we often can’t understand why a member makes such a big deal of a particular issue.

Didn’t the member read the paperwork? Probably not. Doesn’t the member understand that we had to hold the funds? Probably not. Doesn’t the member understand it takes time to research a deposit that didn’t show up on the member’s statement? Probably not.

It’s not the member’s job to see through the credit union’s lens; it’s the credit union’s job to see through the member’s lens and show an understanding for the member’s frustration.

The next time you work with a member ask, “Am I seeing this experience through the member’s lens?”

Next: 'Everything speaks'

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