Members love-hate relationship with technology works to your advantage

There is no escaping technology these days, and our dependence on it continues to grow. If your members are like you and me, the appearance is that we’re spoiled with technology, and completely take it for granted. The moment it lets us down, we are quick to complain, such as when the wifi is slow or our smartphones don’t recall a previously saved password. We’re really going to freak when we can’t log on to online banking.

Are we spoiled? Do we simply take technology for granted? Here’s my take; We are so spoiled by our smartphones, e-readers and connected devices, that we now expect everything to be automated and digitized and always working perfectly. While we live in a wireless world, as humans, we are being wired to expect everything to be responsive to the swipe of a finger or thumb. I believe we complain because technology dependency has us conditioned to expect an always-on, always connected experience. Technology really over-promises and may be creating unreasonable expectations.

So what’s the remedy? If you want to create a world-class member experience, make sure your’e setting the right expectations. When technology fails, what is the alternative for your member? Do they clearly understand the options? Does you marketing a staff training reflect this? We need to condition members to the expectation that technology may occasionally fail them, yet there are other channels available. Communication plays an incredibly valuable roll.

From a banking point of view, I’d go so far as to suggest that the real value of technology is not that it will replace human experience, but rather mitigate the deficiencies and actually enhance the overall member experience. We are truly living in a high tech, high touch world, and this represents tremendous opportunity for credit unions that promise advocacy and life-long relationships.

While technology, e-services and digital communications are of paramount importance, the credit union difference is build on human interaction first, and secondly supported by technology. That said, the intersection between the two, can be an excellent opportunity for your brand to shine. Let’s just not over-promise and make sure we set expectations and show member’s the options available. Sometimes, the best option is a call to the 800 number or a quick visit to the branch.

Bryan Clagett

Bryan Clagett

Bryan is on the executive team and singularly focused on driving revenue growth through a variety of new initiatives that help financial services and fintech become ever more relevant to ... Web: https://www.strategycorps.com Details