FYI: Article shows importance of CRM in Credit Unions

Recently ran across this gem in my news feeds: "Gearing Up for CRM 2.0 in Credit Unions". The article was written By Terence Roche.

Article Summary: Changes in how we access credit union services (atms, web services, drive throughs, cell phone banking) are impacting how CRM is integrated and deployed within the organization. Credit unions who are able to use CRM to sustain customer loyalty amidst all of the emerging changes are the ones who will succeed.

Excerpt from article:
"For years, credit unions have differentiated themselves from banks and other competitors by creating strong "trusted advisor" relationships and superior banking experiences for their members. But the rules of the game are changing quickly and in a big way.

This change all starts with the concept of customer relationship management. CRM is a strategy that has been pursued by credit unions ever since the term started being used in the early 1990s. Credit unions have also used the term member relationship management.

Over the years, there have been several different definitions of CRM, but they have always encompassed some common themes:

* CRM organizes processes and delivery of banking services to provide maximum member satisfaction.

* CRM should optimize revenue and profitability.

* CRM customizes strategies and delivery based on the needs and preferences of unique member segments.

* CRM must be planned and articulated at the enterprise level to achieve the desired return.

While these components have not really changed significantly in recent years, it has become apparent that the traditional strategies that worked so well in the past must be challenged and altered going forward. Three major things are forcing this evolution.

1. New channels are quickly changing the entire nature of relationship management. Until as recently as five years ago, members demonstrated a preference for accessing the CU via three main channels: the branch; the ATM, which was largely a transaction processing tool but not a sales or relationship management channel; and the telephone, in the form of an automated voice-response unit or a call center."

Continue on to CRM-Daily and read the rest of the story...

Credit Union customers speak to Virtual Observer's impact

As a marketing director, it is extremely beneficial to have the kind of customer retention which we have at CSI. One particular market where Virtual Observer (VO) performs extremely well is the credit union market. Credit Unions benefit from both call logging (for legal/liability/compliance) and from the powerful quality monitoring and employee development toolset which comes included with VO.

In a conversation with a quality and training manager from Eastern Florida Financial Credit Union, he spoke of the many ways which VO has helped improve call center agent performance:

- "It has helped our call center by giving our coaches and supervisors the ability to provide our phone agents with concrete examples of where their opportunities may be."

- "VO has improved the use of our company’s resources when offering services."

- " We can identify good/not-so-good service and habits and has helped is in the development of our task force."

- "We can maintain a very high level of service by providing us the ability to see and listen to our agents in action."