Why the member experience matters more than ever

You’ve heard it before, member experience matters. But has that experience changed? Your members are now empowered to reach you by any method, making it harder than ever to provide member experience that holds up to your service promise. Your members, no matter how they contact you, expect a streamlined experience, even if they start a conversation via social media and they later want to continue that same conversation with you over the phone. Your members see your credit union as one big team. Are your front- and back-office staff united to provide a streamlined and consistent member experience? 

Creating consistent member experiences depends on many variables. You’ll need to consider the size of your credit union, how many traditional and digital channels you support, whether or not member-facing staff’s practices are siloed across branches and how member data is recorded and shared across departments. But there are a few things every credit union can assess and evolve to better support and deliver consistent service, that supports your overall member experience roadmap. 

Start by looking at:

  • Hiring, training and coaching practices – Align these three strategies to attract talent that shares your mission and supports a top-notch staff with clear service expectations and feedback.  
  • Communication flow – Are your data systems and work processes integrated to share information openly across your organization? Workplace culture sets the tone for how staff communicates and interacts with each other to solve problems, and ultimately, how they serve members. 

Looking at your systems from this macro-level should be surveyed on an ongoing basis: not one and done. It can take significant effort and resources to ensure all is flowing smoothly. For guidance on how to transform your workplace culture that consistently delivers on your credit union’s service promise, contact Jayne Hitman, national relationship manager, CUNA Creating Member Loyalty™.