Every interaction is a chance to build up or break a relationship
By Joe Winn
Every interaction is a chance to build up or break down a relationship
How does your credit union monitor member sentiment? There’s plenty of talk on Net Promoter Score (NPS). That’s great, and you should continue using this kind of measurement if you find value. But we’re not going to talk about “Promoters” or “Detractors” here. That’s still too “big picture” for us.
Instead, join me as we jump from one interaction to another and see how sentiment shifts as a result. (Am I just reinventing NPS? We’ll say no for now. But I probably did back in 2015.)
Your Members Don’t Live Banking
It’s easy to get caught up in the products and services of your credit union. After all, without them, you wouldn’t be a functioning financial institution. It can also be tempting to grab hold of that fateful word doing something embarrassing between “U” and “me”: Assume.
You work within a banking environment, so there’s a lot that’s become obvious. Your members (probably) don’t work in a credit union, so it’s not obvious for them. This is an easy mistake to make. 2014-me did. But we can learn from the experience. Avoid jargon. Ask questions to confirm understanding. Simplify.
This also applies to your website, app and other member-facing systems. Ensuring communication is clear and garners mutual understanding through all channels is essential. In fact, in 2017, I shared 3 simple steps to achieve this:
Respond promptly
Ensure reply is relevant
Follow through to resolution
We all tend to think of a phone call or in-person member interaction for those actions. You’re not wrong, but you’re ignoring the more common touchpoints. Most of the time, when members interact with your credit union, they’re not actively speaking to a person and could be at an ATM, using the app or on the website.
Remember, your members aren’t credit union lifers and just want to “get in, get out, and get on with their life,” as Chili’s used to say about their take-out. They also want to know their money is safe and always accessible.
Will You Shine or Flop?
You are being judged. Yes, through every interaction, your members are subconsciously judging the credit union. Think of it like a rating given at every step in a process, using the following scale: 1) Exceed expectations (Impressed!), 2) Meet expectations (Satisfied.), or 3) Miss expectations (Disappointed.)
I went into more detail on “micro-experiences”, along with examples from a range of companies, including a credit union, during a 2017 article. Some were bigger deals, while others were simple support requests. Either way, none needed to be a pain.
The better companies did their best, and even if another agent or process failed me, the next person stepped up. Others had systems seemingly designed to fail the customer, and employees either so disempowered or uncaring that it was always going to be an awful experience.
What’s the point?
Every time your member does something associated with their credit union, it’s shaping their view, and they’re giving you one of those three ratings. Did your app crash? That missed expectations (3). Does it take a while to load or swipe between screens? Another 3. Is it crazy-fast to load and make doing banking a pleasure? Solid 1.
Geek Sidenote: I just realized this rating system would probably be better for data analysis if it was 1, 0, -1. Then, you could run experiments and easily add them all up, bigger numbers being better. Ok, I’ll grab that time machine and tell 2017 Joe to rethink his approach.
Bottom line: It’s easy to think of human interactions or how much effort it takes for a member to open an account. Those are important, but you can’t forget the mundane moments, when a member wants to quickly transfer money between accounts while they’re at the supermarket, possibly rushing and with family.
In this situation, anything short of seamless, intuitive and fast is a failure.
Want to know where you currently stand? Look at all the ways members touch your credit union and give an honest rating. Get specific, dive into the weeds; put yourself in a range of peoples’ shoes. And of course, empower and encourage your staff to do the same. Let them add their own ratings.
A Journey Embedded In Your Mission
If this were an article about software development, I’d suggest you perform beta testing and file bug reports. That said, aren’t we all just works in progress, i.e., beta versions of our best selves? Let’s uncover and eliminate the bugs we can in the never-ending journey toward perfection!
Oh, it’s also great for member satisfaction, referrals, wallet share, revenue growth and all the other stuff that’s so important for your credit union’s ability to improve peoples’ lives. You know, your mission!
Joe Winn is CEO of GreenProfit Solutions, and also known on the speaking circuit as CU Geek.