The 3 challenges any effort must overcome

This post began as I considered technologies emerging within the financial space. From chatbots to mobile app improvements, I don’t have to explain all the emerging…stuff. We were going to have a nice chat about how people of different generations, careers, technological comfort, and more may react to all of it.

But that’s casting too small a net. I missed the point. The topic of this post isn’t about technology. It’s about you.Not you the humble, beautiful, and giving person reading right now. You the credit union. You the dentist. You the grocery store.

Where am I going with this? What I’m about to say is going to sound so simple that you’ll want to laugh in my face. Then you will realize it’s been in your head all along. As it has every one else.

There are three challenges you must overcome in order to get someone to change their behavior. That could mean using your mobile platform. Or flossing. Or even just grasping that you exist as an entity. Those three challenges are as follows:

  • Don’t know
  • Don’t care
  • Don’t want to

Don’t Know

If you’re trying to attract new members, you have to overcome each of these challenges, in order, before they’ll make the switch. First, it’s possible they don’t know you exist. How can you solve such a massive problem? Marketing? Word-of-mouth campaigns? That’s up to you. Then, there has to be a reason for them to pay attention. Why care about opening a relationship with your credit union? Lower fees or interest rates are fine, yet when talking credit cards, security is the first priority for switching. Help members care by understanding what they care about.

Don’t Care

After putting all this glorious energy into reaching out, informing, addressing their pains, and making it easy to get started, there’s still another obstacle. Even after acknowledging their current strategy might not be ideal, they just don’t want to make a change. I know people who refuse to use online banking (they’ll never go mobile). To them, it’s a security nightmare and just isn’t worth anything it can offer them. These people don’t care about what you are offering.

Don’t Want To

You’re not going to attract everyone, no matter what you do. That’s why my readership is only 84% of the credit union industry(I’m estimating on the fly…probably close, right?) and not all of it. And that’s ok. Though I still need to ensure more people know about my blog (and speaking), then give them a reason to care. Those who don’t want to care, well, that’s their choice. I’m still happy to extend honorary geek status to them at any time.

TL;DR(Too Long, Didn’t Read) Lesson: Everything you do has to overcome three challenges to succeed: Knowing. Caring. Wanting. If you miss one, said thing won’t be a success. How do you seek to overcome these Big 3?

Joe Winn

Joe Winn

What do you get when you mix auto loan programs with a desire to help others? Well, approaches that make a difference, of course. So what do you get when ... Web: credituniongeek.com Details