Member loyalty is essential to your credit union's financial success and sustainability. It's the quality of the member experience that leads to achieving financial results, and your employees drive the member experience. Their actions matter most. The classic Harvard Business Review article, "Putting the Service-Profit Chain to Work," describes the relationships among fundamental drivers of business success. It is as fresh and relevant now as when it was written in 1994. Simply stated:

• Customer loyalty drives profitability and growth;
• Customer satisfaction drives customer loyalty;
• Value drives customer satisfaction;
• Employee productivity drives value;
• Employee loyalty drives productivity;
• Employee satisfaction drives loyalty; and
• Internal quality drives employee satisfaction.

For your credit union, member loyalty develops when their expectations are more than met. Excellent service means they remain a member, they refer others, and they rely on your credit union for additional products and services. They prefer their existing financial relationship with your credit union to the unknown quality of a different financial institution. Member retention is much less expensive than member acquisition. Moreover, loyal members, who are accustomed to excellent service, can be more forgiving when something goes wrong. And the goal is for the most loyal members to become "apostles" for your credit union, spreading the word of exceptional service. Your staff's performance is the biggest factor in developing member loyalty, and how employees feel about their work makes the difference.