CRM adoption takes on new urgency at community institutions

Facing stiff headwinds against data-savvy competitors, community banks and credit unions recognize the need for systems that can provide detailed insights into consumer needs and the analytics to better meet those needs. But they also want the software to be on their terms.

Like all community-focused institutions, credit unions face unprecedented challenges from an ever-growing cadre of non-traditional digital players. And that’s on top of traditional competitors they face. To succeed, credit unions and banks must maintain the loyalty of existing members and grow those relationships while also winning over the hearts and minds of new consumers with a great experience.

Although they have often been early adopters of customer-facing technologies, many credit unions, particularly the smaller ones, have not felt the need to embrace customer relationship management (CRM) systems so far. Research from Callahan & Associates found that 60% of 223 credit unions surveyed did not have a CRM system in place.

That picture looks to be changing soon.

Of the institutions without a CRM system, half said they were budgeting for one. Of the those, nearly a third (30%) hoped to have the application implemented within a year. Almost one in five (18%) expected to have their solution in place within six months.

 

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