Voice of the Member moment: "a credit union’s daily goal should be achieving primary relationship status with members. Forty-five percent of [members] cite engagement as the top reason for maintaining a primary relationship with a financial services provider."
Translate: "It means engaging with the member when they are evaluating their household budgeting and making plans for their family’s future. During every life stage and for every lifestyle, for every micro-transaction your member makes, every day, you need to be embedded in the conversation.”
That sounds TOUGH. What obstacles do credit unions face in getting "embedded" in the conversation? IMHO, the largest one is simply BEING in the conversation, which is getting increasingly shorter, depersonalized, and fragmented.
You have to be positioned well (aka trusted) to learn about and advise them on their micro-transactions and financial futures. To engender and maintain this trust, you first have to meet their expectations for consistent, efficient, world-class service and support, when and where they need it.
Real "engagement" (aka relationship) is a two-way street. It happens in "the moments that matter" to your MEMBERS. More and more, the front lines for this are in your contact center (your virtual branch); so ANY analysis of how to improve must ask this question: how WELL are you - and more importanly, your MEMBERS - 'engaging' when they call today?
Is your 'engagement' consistently warm and friendly? How quickly and effortlessly do your members get the help they're needing? Does anything about your process irritate them, make them feel undervalued, or like their time is being wasted? Does it make them want to spend MORE time with you so you can get to know them better (and get more "embedded")? In other words, how DELIGHTED and ENGAGED are THEY with the experience?
If they're NOT delighted, how confidently can you say that they will let you get "embedded" in their financial conversations going forward?
