Three reasons your members choose your credit union

by. Larry Meador

Attracting the attention of potential new members can be one of the most challenging aspects of a credit union marketing department. However, knowing what your potential members are looking may be the key to success. The three main attributes that today’s potential members look for is convenience, online services and customer service.

Convenience

“More than two-thirds of big and regional bank customers originally chose their bank because of the proximity to branches and ATMs,” says Ben Rogers of CreditUnionMagazine.com. The importance of convenience for today’s society cannot be underestimated. It is the reason that many business that attempt to go scale from local to national struggle. However, this is great news for credit unions because credit union marketing plans target specific groups of people in particular geographic areas where its branches are most prevalent.

Online Services

Susannah Fox of PewResearch.com says that 51 percent of U.S. adults utilize online banking. This is a massive portion of the potential member market and the younger that the consumer is, the higher the percentages get. Results from a recent CreditUnionMagazine.com study showed that 68 percent of consumers agree that online banking suits them best – it is not just a fad; it is going to be apart of the future of banking.

Customer Service

Whether you are selling groceries, fixing cars, or providing financial services, having great customer service should always be your number one priority. Empirical studies show decade after decade that more than 70 percent of consumers say the service and attitudes of the staff play an important role in which financial institution they choose. When people walk into financial institutions off the street and are met with mediocre to low standard customer service they can, and most likely will, be deterred from becoming a member of your institution. Action Marketing said in their October 6th press release that, “the age group of 18-24-year-olds, or Generation Y, rely more heavily on the financial institution’s staff for their choice than other age groups.” This statistic of our youth shows us just how important customer service is to your potential members.

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