CU Insight

by: Jay Kassing, President, MARQUIS

A few months back “The Artist,” a silent movie, was selected as Best Picture at the 2012 Academy Awards.  Here we are, 80 years since the advent of the talkies and we are examining and praising a movie without sound.  Ironically, some have said that more was lost in acting than was gained, with the addition of sound.  And this is what the subject of the movie deals with.  What has been added to movies with sound…and how does this relate to marketing?

Lots of new techniques to reach clients and prospects have been invented, pushed, proposed, debated, etc over the course of the last twenty years.  But are we any better off?      In other words, have we found new ways to generate interest in our products, or have we simply found new ways to divide or dilute our marketing budgets to kind of “cover all the bases…”  Certainly marketing has more things on the to-do list today than even just five years ago.  So, is the new, new thing all it is cracked up to be?  There are success stories for each of these, for sure – for things like social media, and the like.  But they are few and far between.

For the time it takes to sit through the previews at the movie theater, you can nail down one tried and true, old fashioned marketing idea that every credit union must be doing.  And, you will get proof that this campaign made money.

The concept is, on-boarding.  Some refer to it as, new member cross-selling.  And that is a more apt, less jargon filled way to describe on-boarding.  Here me now, listen to me later…80% of all credit union cross-sales happen within the first 120 days of a new member relationship.  Huh?  Whazzis?  You got that right – compelling news, isn’t it?!

If you are seeking new loans (and who isn’t,) your best first chance to get them is with new members who have just committed to the cause.  Send letters, postcards, emails, and maybe even pick up the phone during this 120 days and make sure each of these new member relationships understand everything you can do to give them financial peace of mind.

Or don’t.  If you choose not to…you will be blowing your best chance to help your members grow their relationship with your credit union.  Did I mention that 80% of success in cross-selling happens in the first 120 days of a new member coming aboard at your credit union?  I did.  Hmmm.  I know that on-boarding/new member cross-selling is an old fashioned idea, but it works.  You can try all of the new fangled stuff too if you want.  But as “The Artist” depicted, sometimes the newest techniques get in the way of the simplest, most effective ones.

If you are looking for results from marketing, then on-boarding must not play a silent role!

Jay Kassing is President of MARQUIS, a Texas based provider of marketing solutions including MCIF/CRM software, MCIF services, consulting and direct mail creative/fulfillment.  He makes his latest book, “Change Your Marketing, Change Your Results,” available for free at his website.  He can be reached at jayk@gomarquis.com. www.gomarquis.com