Service Is More Than Being Nice

Are we lying to ourselves, credit unions? When asked the question, “What makes your credit union different?” many credit unions often answer with “Service, service, service.” Or “people, people, people – that’s what makes us different.” And the American flag drops from behind us.

Reality may be something different. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, banks now surpass credit unions in nearly every service category. You read that right: Banks are beating credit unions at being a credit union. According to the ACSI report, “credit unions continue a long, slow decline in member satisfaction.”

For years and years, credit unions were just nice people. But as one of our clients said recently, “service is more than being nice.”

So how can credit unions go from being “nice” with their service to providing a wow experience? Here are three key steps.

1. Assess

The very first thing you must do when examining your service is to take a long, hard look in the mirror. What is your member experience really like? We often make too many assumptions about our service. We assume our staff is giving great service.

For example, as part of our marketing assessments we often conduct mystery shops of our client branches and their top competitors (many times local banks). The assumption going in is that the credit union is superior when it comes to service. However, in almost every case the local bank outperforms the local credit union.

We’ve seen examples where the credit union branch appears cluttered, there was no greeting, wait times were excessive and member service reps were not asking for the business. In one case, a credit union employee actually recommended that our shopper go to a competitor for their financial business.

Every credit union has blind spots – areas that need improvement but that we don’t necessarily see. The best way to determine if service is one of your blind spots is to assess your service.

2. Map

The most successful credit unions today are mapping the journey they want their members to take. For example, from the moment the member walks into the branch to the moment they leave, what is their experience (step by step)? Or from the moment they call your contact center to the moment they hang up, what is their experience (step by step)?

For example, SAFE Federal Credit Union in Sumter, S.C. ($1.7 billion, 137,000 members) raised its net promoter score to 80% after completing a journey mapping process. “We can see the results,” Brandon Oliver, vice president of branch operations for SAFE, said.

You may have a great brand (creative visuals, a unique tagline and a clear vision), but have you operationalized your brand? Your employees must see the connection between their day-to-day job and your brand. While executives and managers lead the brand, your employees must live it.

When it comes to service, many credit unions struggle with consistency. One branch (or employee) may provide outstanding service while another is just ho-hum. The difference between good and great service is often consistency. The best way to deliver a great member service experience every single time is to map your service journey.

3. Train

Great service doesn’t happen by osmosis. In other words, you can’t wing service. You must train to high service levels.

Best credit union training practices revolve around consistency. You must have continual, ongoing training efforts (especially when it comes to service). According to the book “The Challenger Sale,” “87% of sales training content is forgotten within 30 days.” In other words, a “one and done” approach to training will never work. A one-day all-staff training will not yield the results you seek.

What will? A routine training schedule that includes application. Credit unions see real change in their service levels when they focus on it every quarter, every month, every week and every day. The small, daily, incremental improvement provides the most impact.

Service training also means “coaching the coaches.” As John Maxwell famously said, “everything rises and falls on leadership.” So your service training effort will often rise or fall based on not just employee engagement, but leadership engagement.

And service training is just as much internal as it is external. Your level of external service to your members will never exceed your level of internal service to each other. The best way to provide a wow member service experience is to train your employees.

According to multiple research points, the consumer experience leads to two or three times faster growth for financial institutions compared to peers that don’t focus on a consumer engagement strategy.

It’s time credit unions get real with their service experience.

Mark Arnold is founder and president of On the Mark Strategies, a Dallas, Texas-based consulting firm specializing in branding and strategic planning for credit unions.