Cheers to Another Year of Serving Communities and Beer

Every time we turn a year older, we’re fortunate enough to make it through another 365 days on the calendar, 365 sun-ups and sun-downs. Many of us are even fortunate enough to be able to spend time on the things we care about – learning more, growing more, knowing more about those things than we did the year before.

For me, one of the things I enjoy spending time learning more about is beer. Yes, I like to drink it, but what really interests me is how with just four main ingredients – water, malt, hops and yeast – one can produce literally endless combinations of incredible flavors. It seems to defy logic and mathematics. And so much can go wrong at absolutely every step of the way – the brewing process arcs toward entropy – so it seems unlikely that so many delicious beers could exist, but they do! Knowing more about beer makes me enjoy it more, and each year that I learn more, I want to share my expertise more with others so I can help them find the one beer that suits them perfectly at that moment. In that way, I like to think of myself as, or at least I aspire to be to my friends and family, a “beer concierge.”

Know Your Audience to Get It Right

I have also spent a lot of time this year thinking about what sets credit unions and cooperative finance apart from other types of financial service providers. To me, it is their passion for knowing their members, understanding the needs of their communities, supporting their local economy, and making strategic decisions in the best interest of those who own the business (credit union members, that’s us!).

To this end, I see a credit union’s authentic dedication to “getting it right” for the people they serve as their true strategic advantage. And this is more than fluff or just a “nice to have” benefit. This is the most business savvy lever credit unions can, do and should be pulling. Authenticity is hard to fake, and while many businesses do, few do it well enough to fool people for long. There is a real dollar amount value to business authenticity, too. In a recent Harvard Business Review article explaining a study about the type of authenticity customers are willing to pay more for, the researchers concluded, “adhering to core values taps into consumers’ own personal values and leads them to pay more.”

Listen to What the Story Is Telling

Filene’s entire research library supports the sentiment that consumers do and will continue to expect more trusted, comprehensive and genuine support from their financial services provider in the future. The research we have published over the past year tells a story about the unique opportunities credit unions will have if they stay connected to the changing needs of the people they serve.

Since last August, we have published reports on (to name a few):

• Meeting the needs of minority households;
• Helping consumers take a more mindful approach to debt and spending;
• Keeping up with younger consumers’ financial services expectations;
• Providing loan options to domestic violence survivors;
• Serving the growing population of independent workers;
• Aligning with people’s values across political and social spectrums;
• Using market research methodologies to inform member service decisions; and
• Preparing credit unions for adaptations needed to survive the changes coming over the rest of this century (a signature report).

This last report, “The Credit Union of the 21st Century” introduces the concept, and key credit union value proposition, of “concierge banking.” Consumers want to save more, the report stated, but are stymied by instability and uncertainty. They want to improve their credit and start investing but are confused by too many options. They want good financial advice but don’t know who to trust. (Sort of how my friends might want to try a good beer but wonder how to pick what’s best.)

Act on Your Opportunity

This is where credit unions’ passion for what they do, knowledge – not only financial but locally of their people and community, and authentic belief in their mission can set them apart and give them a great strategic advantage over their competition. Who better than a community-focused, people-before-profit credit union to be the platform to help consumers navigate these challenges? The “concierge-like” provider will know their members and community well enough to be able to offer tailored services that will evolve over time as the needs of the member and community change in ways that no one else could. The concierge businesses survive because people will always need that support.

In this sense, the credit union becomes an indispensable “life concierge,” not just by offering a menu of disparate products and services, but a palette of options and pathways to suit their exact members’ tastes. That sounds a lot like my beer concierge concept, albeit to a much more important end.

If your credit union is not out there today positioning itself as that concierge for those looking for a trusted resource to help with their specific financial-life needs, you’re leaving a huge opportunity on the table. A good opportunity and good beer doesn’t last long once poured, and if you don’t grab it while you see it, someone else will.

Three Cheers

So, cheers to everyone who is celebrating another year of learning more about the things they care about (like I am this August). Cheers to all of the concierges that work hard to share what they know with those who stand to benefit from it. And cheers to good beer! Please let me know if you need any recommendations – I’m here for you.

Holly Fearing is Marketing & Communications Director for Filene Research Institute. She can be reached at 608-661-3758 or hollyf@filene.org.