In a recent meeting with a new credit union partner, I was reminded of a particular challenge that many credit unions face today—and possibly the entire credit union industry. Answering the question, “How are we different?” is extremely difficult for most. Unless you’re one of the big credit unions, your products and services are the same as everyone else’s. Very rarely will your locations differentiate you. And a differentiation strategy of having the best rates is certainly not a wise and viable long-term strategy.
Invariably, credit union leaders have positioned their differentiation to me as, “our members love the service we give them!” This sentiment comes from board members, c-level leaders, managers, even staff. Four out of 5 credit unions have said they differentiate on service. Some go so far as to say, “we deliver WOW service!” and, of course, they express that with immense pride.
I love the idea of your credit union giving great service and your satisfaction scores being top tier but here’s the thing: in 2025, that doesn’t matter very much anymore. Sorry to be such a downer but today’s consumers generally fall into two primary categories: 1) those that rarely interact with a human so they have a completely unique definition of “service”; and 2) those that think great service is expected (it’s table stakes) and you’d better deliver great service or they’re going to find someone who does.
There’s a third category that the majority of credit unions we’ve partnered with fail to account for: financial consumers who are not members of your credit union. What do they expect from us and what do we need to do to impress and satisfy them? Following are three types of non-members and some specific ways to position your credit union in the best way possible to get them to chose you:
1. The tech-mostly consumer
Design, and assess the tech experience from the end users’ perspective, not the technology perspective. We see this a lot across all industries: awesome new technology is introduced and the company actively promotes it only to realize their consumers don’t like it and actually prefer the old tech better (think about when Apple does an update or Microsoft changes its interface).
Actions:
- Make sure all employees use your technology as a member does. Get their feedback and enhancement ideas. Create teams that put different tech products through the ringer and ask them to evaluate their experience every step of the way. And make that an ongoing effort.
- Have an easy and efficient way of capturing member feedback on every piece of technology—we recommend Member XP by CUSG. Capture their feelings, ask for their suggestions, and communicate reports immediately to the owners of the member experience at your credit union.
- Talk about and sell your technology from an experience standpoint, not a feature standpoint. What’s the benefit of using this piece of technology? Base that largely on what you heard the member say was important to them. Don’t assume they value the technology for the same reason other members do—ask them what they value most and talk primarily about that.
2. The knock-my-socks-off consumer
Define truly extraordinary (or “WOW!”) service activities and behaviors and position your staff to deliver them. As noted above, many credit unions claim to deliver “wow!” service and I give them great credit for aspiring to do so. But there’s a danger in saying you do it and not actually doing it. Further, when you deliver it, be prepared to tell stories about it. The member or potential member in front of you won’t know you do it unless you make them aware of it.
Actions:
- Research what other retailers are doing to deliver service that really stands out—think about Chewy, the pet food company that will send you flowers when your dog passes away and refund you for any unused dog food you still have. That’s pretty memorable, I think.
- Assemble a team of employees from across the credit union and task them with defining the ultimate service levels and providing specific examples of how employees can live up to the standard. Include employees of various tenures and from all levels of the organization.
- Have the team present their ideas to senior management who will then approve the ideas they deem most appropriate. If these ideas involve spending money (i.e., the flowers from Chewy), they should decide on allocating resources and define the parameters for staff empowerment.
- Bake your new service standard into your mission statement and talk about it proudly with every employee, not just public-facing employees, and members, especially new ones. Be loud and proud of your true differentiation.
3. The I’m-curious-about-becoming-a-member consumer
Closely and consistently monitor your social media posts and actively encourage member referrals. The first places those prospective members are going to go to learn about your credit union are Google and current members. Today, more than ever, consumers will type in “Highest rated financial institution in my area” as the very first step in their process of choosing (or not choosing) your credit union.
Actions:
- Monitor your social presence daily. There could be a posting right now that you’ll want to trumpet or one you’ll want to tackle. If you don’t have the resources to do this, contract with someone who does—we recommend Reviewsup.com.
- Strongly encourage current members to speak on your behalf. That means the good-old-fashioned “please tell your friends about us” as well as asking them to post their positive feelings online. Often, this encouragement is best delivered through a personal request—have staff ask a member to go out on their preferred social site and post what they love about your credit union. Many will be happy to do so and won’t expect to be paid for it.
- Capture specific comments from these postings and build them into your storytelling. Train and coach staff on referencing them in various types of interactions with prospective members. As you zoom in on the one or two qualities members love most about you, deploy a designated promotion strategy to spotlight those qualities.
Remember, “service” means something different to every consumer; it has to be highly personal in order for it to be memorable and a differentiator. What was meant by service a few years ago is different than what it means for many today—their definitions have changed. Has your definition changed?
Also remember that saying you give good, great, or even "Wow!" service means nothing to someone who hasn’t experienced it yet. Consumers can’t buy on service claims alone until they experience it first-hand. So, shape their perspective on the standards of your service from the very outset; from the moment they begin shopping for a new financial services provider to until long after they’ve opened their membership.
If your credit union needs to more fully define what “service” means to you and you want to better manage the narrative about your service levels and weave new service standards into the fabric of your culture, our consultants are poised to help. Visit us at fi-strategies.com or call 636-578-3280 or follow us on LinkedIn.
