Water: The refreshing way to get more members

Recently my friend Antoine Dupont posted an image on Facebook of a small refrigerator full of water.  Antoine had ventured into a Dry Cleaners, and realized that they offered water and some bite sized chocolates, to their patrons.  When Antoine realized this, he was so impressed that he took a photo and shared it on social media.

His caption reads: Customer Experience 101 – a small, simple and inexpensive idea. My local dry cleaner offers a cold bottle of water to everyone. You don’t need to ask, just grab one and run. #customerexperience #hugepowerofsmall

Isn’t this the type of viral marketing and word of mouth referral marketing that you would like for your credit union?

I’ve mentioned this before in similar monthly articles that I write for CUInsight, that our goal is to over deliver, listen, surprise, and provide non-self-serving acts, so that people we interact with (members and non-members) will start (or continue) to talk about the credit union in ways that is unheard of.

When you see a post like this from Antoine, it immediately makes me think, why aren’t any credit unions doing things that result in similar posts?  Regardless of how much we think we are doing, the fact is, only posts like this show us the impact we are having!

What if, low cost bottled water, available to anyone in your branch, was available? And what if that resulted in posts like this being made to social media?  It’s time to start thinking out of the box, in different ways, to ensure that we are creating experiences, for people that interact with us, so that they will be amazed, and surprised. The result is that they will tell others about us, about our CU, and about our branch! 

Antoine brings up a very valuable point with his hashtag #hugepowerofsmall.  It’s the little things that make a big difference. It’s because those little things often stand out more because none of the competitors are doing them.

Go buy a mini fridge, and stock it with water. Then put a label or sign on it that says, FREE: Help Yourself!  Start adding value to members one bottle of water at a time!!!!

Matt Ward

Matt Ward

Matt is the founder of Breakthrough Champion... In 2002 Matt began working with business owners through his website agency, inConcert Web Solutions, to improve their bottom line, gain more clients, ... Web: www.Breakthrough-Champion.com Details