MADISON, Wis. — The white paper report, "Developing Members from Indirect Borrowers: Lessons Learned," that was presented at CUNA Mutual's Discovery Conference back in June is more relevant now than ever, according to Heather Thiltgen, CUNA Mutual's vice president of consumer programs.
"The economy now just strengthens the case of needing to do this [turn indirect borrowers into members]. With smaller numbers of loans coming in you've got to make sure you keep them as members," Thiltgen said.
The white paper report was based on a CUNA Mutual pilot project where 13 credit unions looked to build relationships with indirect borrowers through a call center. Callers made outbound calls to indirect borrowers and found that they welcomed calls from their credit union. The pilot project also found that the most successful product offered to indirect borrowers through the outbound calls was a line of credit.
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Since the report was released, Thiltgen said she has received a lot of interest from credit unions on the topic. She said a lot of larger credit unions have asked for copies of the white paper and she's received phone calls from vice presidents and senior vice president's of lending asking follow up questions.
One common question Thiltgen said she's been asked by credit unions is what type of person do I need to staff to make outbound calls? Thiltgen said that a person who is going to make outbound calls for the credit union has to have a different type of skill than someone who handles inbound calls: they have to be proactive and entrepreneurial. Thiltgen said she also discourages credit unions from using one person for inbound and outbound calling.
Another question Thiltgen said that she's been hearing is whether credit unions should target people who became indirect borrowers four to six months ago or if they should focus on people that have become recent indirect borrowers. Thiltgen said that the pilot project called indirect borrowers that opened a loan as late as four months prior and saw no difference between how they responded to the call and how someone who recently opened a loan responded to the call.
The biggest thing that credit unions should take away from the pilot group is that new members want to hear from their credit union, Thiltgen said. She said the best time to cross sell to new members is in the first six months and that in the pilot program not one member asked that the credit union not call them again.
"When we were recruiting credit union participants for the pilot program, one of their biggest concerns was doing outbound calling to members, but the program showed that members want to hear from their credit union. Credit unions should be talking to any new member it doesn't just have to be with indirect lending."
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