Treat Members Well to Get Talked Up – Not Down

After having shoulder surgery five months ago, I’ve been reacquainting myself with exercise – in quite a feverish manner. I’ve been an extremely compliant patient, completing all of my physical therapy sessions, and now I’m working out with a trainer and going to barre classes to continue increasing my strength and flexibility.

I love how I feel after completing a workout, but if I’m honest, I hate going most of the time. The only thing that keeps me motivated is the friendliness of the instructors and my personal trainer. Yesterday I walked into the barre studio and the instructor greeted me with an enthusiastic welcome: “Hi Tahira. How are you?” I was impressed that she knew my name and it really made my morning. I purchased a two-week class pass at the barre studio to decide whether I want to buy a membership, and this small act of customer service pushed me closer to the decision of making that purchase. The instructor made me feel remembered, recognized and like I was a part of something, and that felt great!

In addition, twice a week at 6 a.m., I work out with a trainer. I’m not a morning person, so these early morning workouts can be brutal, but my extremely high-energy and hilarious trainer makes the crack-of-dawn appointments worth it. They often turn out to be part workout, part therapy sessions. I’m almost done burning through the 20-pack of personal training sessions I purchased, and because of my positive experience with him, I’ve decided to purchase another (plus, they’ll help me reach my goal of continuing to strengthen my shoulder).

The point is, customer service has made all the difference in my experiences. Great people are helping me, but it wasn’t just their knowledge and skills that set them apart, it was how they treated me. The same can be applied to member service at a credit union. Taking care of your physical health and working out is like a necessary evil, as is taking care of your financial health – you may not always love doing it, but you’re happier when it’s taken care of and done consistently. If you have a good experience, you’re more likely to be a repeat customer – like me!

Because the topic of money and finances can induce stress, credit union employees have an even bigger opportunity to provide ease and comfort in members’ lives by providing good service.

In a column I wrote last year, I encouraged employees to complete random acts of kindness and gave examples of how to provide better member service, as small gestures can make a world of difference to members. For example, in the column, I shared a story from Kenia Calderon, a client relations associate with the Hispanic market solutions firm Coopera. Her credit union was the reason she was able to attend college. She developed a friendly relationship with the staff at the $12 million Village Credit Union in Des Moines, Iowa; the staff knew how much she wanted to go to college, so they pointed her to resources that she wouldn’t have known about otherwise. This opportunity completely changed Calderon’s life and the lives of many of her family members. In her family alone, three people will become college graduates and leave school debt-free because of Village CU.

Here’s what’s great about the effort made by Village CU staff (and being kind in general) – it’s completely free to do! Also, good customer service is simply better for business and profits. According to an article in the Huffington Post, it is six to seven times more expensive for companies to attract new customers than to keep existing customers.

A report by management consulting firm Bain & Company also emphasized that maintaining loyal customers can save you money. “Consider the cost of serving a long-standing customer versus the cost of courting one. Across a wide range of businesses, customers generate increasing profits each year they stay with a company,” the report stated.

The rewards that result from good customer service are extremely evident, specifically in financial services. “In financial services … a 5% increase in customer retention produces more than a 25% increase in profit. Why? Return customers tend to buy more from a company over time. As they do, your operating costs to serve them decline. What’s more, return customers refer others to your company. And they’ll often pay a premium to continue to do business with you rather than switch to a competitor with whom they’re neither familiar nor comfortable,” according to Bain & Company.

While good customers may refer people to a company, loud, dissatisfied customers often spread their dissatisfaction at higher numbers. According to the White House of Consumer Affairs (during the Obama Administration), a dissatisfied customer will tell between nine and 15 people about their experience. Around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people. So in this case, the squeaky wheel is the loudest. With social media, negative experiences are spread even faster than before.

So be the reason why your member talks about your credit union – but make sure it’s because they had a positive experience.

Tahira Hayes is a correspondent-at-large for CU Times. She can be reached at thayes@cutimes.com.