ShareRed Canoe Credit Union, Longview, Wash., is so passionate about its approach to helping employees live its sales culture that it required 62 pages to describe its efforts.
The extensive list of goals, incentives, training, and results accompanied the $540 million asset credit union’s award-winning entry for the CUNA Operations, Sales and Service Council Best Practice Awards.
The multiple changes made as part of Red Canoe’s sales training implementation include:
- New incentive structures;
- Creative follow-up training;
- Internal campaigns to create “Loyalty Royalty” and bring other creative themes to life;
- An intranet-based sales blog for managers and staff;
- Quarterly management meetings; and
- Staff recognition.
Incentive structure
Red Canoe set three goals to help link incentives to rewards:
- A 93.5% quality service rating, with one-fourth of that rating based on the use of mystery shoppers and three-fourths based on random member surveys;
- 10% net loan growth, or $42 million at year-end; and
- Net deposit growth of $47 million at year-end.
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| Red Canoe CU's new sales culture helped it refinance $7 million in competitors' loans in six months. Accepting a CUNA OpSS Best Practice Award are Red Canoe's Michelle Trekas, training specialist, and Rodney Snyder, AVP branches/sales. |
Each goal was placed on a chart that indicated when progress toward the goal had reached 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, with progress marked quarterly.
Reaching a target level was worth one point. Earning three points resulted in a $50 gift card for eligible employees as well as a “celebration lunch” for all staff.
That structure allowed the credit union to celebrate success toward a specific goal, even if some goals proved challenging. It also kept employees aware of progress toward year-end incentives.
Next: Training and reinforcement
