The webcast, "Top Revenue and Efficiency Tips from Credit Union Trailblazers," allowed participants a closer look at past Trailblazer successes. It also served to introduce the 2015 Trailblazer Awards season, which marked the program's 10th anniversary.

Other panelists at the webinar were Deb McLean, vice president of marketing and business development for the $84.4 million Carolina Postal Credit Union in Charlotte, N.C., and CU Times' 2009 Marketing Executive of the Year; and Willard Ross, SVP/chief retail officer for the $2.3 billion Coastal Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., and CU Times' 2014 Marketing Officer of the Year.

In addition to revisiting the strategy and steps that earned them their awards, panelists discussed steps to becoming a credit union trailblazer in today's increasingly competitive financial services market. In all three cases, both innovation and need drove what ultimately became highly successful strategies.

In Vermander's case, innovation was a matter of returning to the roots of the credit union philosophy and finding solutions for members who were struggling as part of a city that had economically expired.

"It's very difficult to be poor and very expensive to be poor," Vermander said. "We wanted to educate these people and get them out of their rut, but if they had to be in a rut we wanted to make it easier and more economical for them to survive."

Communicating Arts examined the needs of the neighborhood and made adjustments to its service profile for members, Vermander said. Certificates of deposit were written in smaller amounts and adjustments were made to a checking program to make it more beneficial to lower income members. The credit union also helped pioneer the Save to Win program, which rewards members for establishing a 12-month share savings certificate and developing good savings habits.

Vermander said CACU also offered an auto loan bailout program in which members could refinance their cars at half the current interest rate or the credit union's best rate, whichever was lower. Later this year, the cooperative will launch a zero-interest home improvement loan program to coincide with Detroit's emergence from bankruptcy as part of its trailblazing initiatives, something that defines the credit union's mission and vision.

"Being a trailblazer is something that we live by, and we're always looking for the next big thing to help our members," Vermander said. "We have a lot of trailblazers on our staff now because it's something we try and nurture for the sake of our members."

Innovation and need were also the driving forces behind McLean's initiatives on behalf of Carolina Postal. Her innovations not only helped better serve the postal worker members, but also increased operating efficiencies, thereby reducing expenses.

"Our members traditionally got paid every other Friday, which meant branch traffic was extremely heavy twice a month," McLean said. "When I discovered we could see the ACH payroll transaction three days early, we established the Priority Payday Checking program that gave members access to their funds on Wednesday ahead of their normal Friday payday."

The adjustment resulted in earlier member access to funds, a significant decrease in busy Friday lobby traffic and a mid-week boost for Wednesdays that otherwise were normally slow, McLean said. Once the members learned about the program, the credit union also saw an increase in new checking accounts and direct deposit activity.

"I have worked at and consulted with banks and credit unions for 30 years and in each and every case, management had similar opportunities for such programs but never implemented them," McLean said. "I was finally working for a boss who had the cojones to do it."

The Priority Payday Checking program was just one of the credit union's initiatives to help members better survive financially. It also is helping members improve their credit scores and actively searching for auto loan refinancing opportunities as a way to help them reduce payments and increase their financial wellbeing. As a trailblazer, McLean said that stands at the heart of what she always tried to do.

"A trailblazer is either the person asking all the questions or the one in the corner banging her head against the wall," McLean said. "I always look at the way something's being done and wonder if there is a better way to do it. Then I try to make it happen."

At Coastal Federal, Ross tapped new technology to change the way the credit union interfaced with its members. In the process, member service improved and overhead expenses were significantly reduced.

"When we won the Trailblazer Award we had just completed the first five-year phase of a branch optimization effort," Ross said. "We now have no live tellers in any branch, yet we successfully deliver teller services through a machine from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week."

Coastal Federal wanted to create a more convenient, sales-friendly environment that served more members over a longer period of time while reducing expenses, according to Ross. Each branch was equipped with teller machines that provided live video access to tellers domiciled at a central location and capable of doing branch transactions, including accepting deposits, updating accounts, dispensing cash and cutting checks.

Branches were staffed with financial consultants trained in sales and service who could either steer members to the teller machines or handle more complicated questions. The teller machines reduced service times for each encounter and improved both the financial performance and safety of the branch network, which had actually decreased in size, Ross said.

"We chose to concentrate our efforts on the Raleigh-Durham-Cary research triangle and went from 22 branches to 14 branches," Ross said. "In the past, we used to get robbed about twice a year, but we haven't been robbed once in the past five years since we made the change."

The successful effort was another example of the trailblazer spirit in action and a good illustration of what happens when credit unions look at processes a little differently, Ross said.

"Being a trailblazer is about having the courage and vision to sell new ideas and the skill to execute them," Ross said. "It's important to be progressive, keep going and find new ways to better serve our members."

The CU Times 2015 Trailblazer Awards Ceremony will be held March 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Washington D.C. Hotel during CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference.