5 Areas Where Your Credit Union Needs Clarity

What’s one of the biggest problems impacting a credit union’s growth? It’s not a crazy rate environment, challenging economy, tight labor market or liquidity. While all of those are certainly major issues facing credit unions as we start 2024, there is one that overrides them all: A lack of clarity.

Clarity is in fact your credit union’s secret weapon. No matter your size, geographic location, financials or field of membership, clarity wins.

As business and motivational author David Cottrell says in “The Magic Question,” “Contradictions are the enemy of clarity.” Too many credit unions have way too many contradictions to experience growth. If member growth is flat, loan growth is stalled or earnings are going in the wrong direction it could very well be because of a lack of clarity.

There are five key areas where your credit union needs clarity:

1. Leadership

Clarity starts at the top. As entrepreneur Gino Wickman says in his book “Traction,” “Successful businesses operate with a crystal clear vision that is shared by everyone.” If you are an executive, you may have clarity about your credit union’s vision and values, but do your employees? Leaders need to communicate clearly and often what the organization is about. Never assume your employees know what is most important.

The credit union must also be clear on developing the next level of leadership. What is your credit union doing to develop the next level down group? UniWyo Credit Union ($715 million, Laramie, Wyo.) has spent the last several years implementing a leadership program for both their mid-level managers and up and coming stars. CEO Dave Krause noted, “The most surprising thing was how fast our managers grew. Now these managers have contributed to our strategic plan and work cross-functionally together.”

Leadership clarity also applies to the top level. Does your credit union have a clear succession plan in place? Succession planning is more important than ever to the NCUA, which means your board and C-suite need to spend time on this important part of a credit union’s success.

2. Strategy

Quick: What are your credit union’s top three goals for 2024? Ask that question to everyone in your credit union and compare the answers. Is everyone (from the boardroom to the breakroom) clear?

As customer service expert Jeff Toister says in “Service Culture Handbook,” “The number one employee engagement driver was ‘greater clarity about what the organization needs me to do – and why.’”

Many credit unions go into a new year with what they think is a clear strategic plan. Yet something called the “messy middle” happens and they easily get derailed by chasing rabbits. They quickly lose clarity.

When it comes to your strategic plan, you can use the “six critical questions” from The Table Group Co-founder Patrick Lencioni’s book “The Advantage.” Those questions include: Why do we exist, how do we behave, what do we do, how do we compete, what’s important right now and who must do what?

A lack of clarity on any of those questions will certainly cause a lack of growth.

3. Branding

Many credit unions struggle with a lack of brand clarity. They fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. They have no niches or target audiences. The result of that lack of clarity is a brand that is all over the place.

For example, I was on a conference call awhile back with one of our strategic planning clients. I asked the CEO and chairman, “Who are you trying to reach?” There was as long pause and they finally said, “Yes!” They admitted they had no brand identity. We started their planning session with high level discussions regarding their brand. They eventually rebranded and are now experiencing record member, loan and deposit growth because they have clarity regarding their brand.

A part of brand clarity is knowing what you do really well and for whom you do it. In fact, clarity is the greatest weapon your brand has.

4. Marketing

Perhaps nowhere is clarity more important than with your credit union’s marketing. As small business expert Donald Miller says, “When you confuse, you lose.” And nowhere do credit unions confuse their members more than with their marketing.

Many credit unions try to market everything to their members. Stop. Create clear, simple and concise marketing campaigns. Target marketing works much better than a shotgun approach. Mine your data and make specific offers to specific segments. Your members don’t want email – they want me-mail.

You also must have clear messaging with your marketing. In other words, cut the copy. People are no longer reading – they are skimming. Drop the long, boring “feature” dumps. Instead, focus quickly on the benefits your products offer.

5. Member Experience

Your employees need clarity regarding how they serve your members. We see this all the time in credit unions: A member goes to one branch of a credit union and doesn’t get the answer they want. So they drive across town to see if they will get a different answer at a different branch. Why? Because often they will.

There is no consistency between branches because there is no clarity inside the credit union when it comes to what the member experience should be. For example, at Chick Fil-A, employees are clear: Always say “it’s my pleasure.”

What is the experience like for your members to do business with your credit union? Have you journey mapped that experience? Your employees need to be clear what they are promising members. And then consistently deliver that clear experience.

Clarity wins. When your credit union (and your team) get internally clear with your leadership, your strategy, your brand, your marketing and your member experience, your credit union will experience growth (no matter what external circumstances come your way).

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.