What a difference a couple of weeks can make. Recently I wrote about steps you can take to “future-proving” your credit union in light of the recent ACSI finding that banks had surpassed credit unions in customer satisfaction. Then suddenly, abruptly – and from a totally unexpected source – the future was here. The threat was no longer somewhere vaguely out there, something to strategize for and prepare against. It was a very real crisis impacting us now, disrupting the very nature of how we do business and making uncertainty the new normal. All at once the idea of future-proofing seemed obsolete, as we were denied the luxury of time to prepare a defense against an under-the-radar enemy. Unlike the consumer sentiment reflected by the ACSI, the onset of the coronavirus was not a trackable trend.
“Moments of Truth” Cancel or Confirm Confidence
We’re in largely unprecedented territory. Markets are volatile, jobs are in jeopardy, and people are anxious. This is NOT the time to drop the ball on building and fortifying member relationships. Make no mistake: this is a landmark moment of truth for your credit union and the industry as a whole. Your confidence in how you take care of your members will be either confirmed – or cancelled. But even before we had heard the term “coronavirus,” the test had already begun. Every interaction your members have with you, across every channel, is a moment of truth that either validates their reliance on you as their financial services provider of choice, or diminishes their loyalty in you.
A Pronounced Time of Testing
This might truly be an unprecedented test of the credit union ethos of “People Helping People.” But it is also your opportunity to make your difference even more pronounced. Now more than ever, your members and the financial services industry need proactive leaders to set an example for navigating through a crisis such as this. And this example is expressed from the back office to the front line. Anxious employees project their concerns onto members – and that’s where the confidence starts to be called into question. They want their “bank” to be the ROCK standing in the end, and if ANYTHING erodes that confidence it will be an uphill battle when the crisis has passed.
This is NOT a Drill – This IS Crisis Management
If you do what’s right now for your members, you won’t have to scramble for months afterwards to fix it. You don’t want to face the burden of having to repair all the reputational and relational damage done on social media when your members wanted to connect with you during the crisis but had no means to communicate. The question is: what are you going to do now so that, when this unusually uncertain period has passed, you are actually serving your members better – acting stronger and wiser on great ideas and insight that you wouldn’t necessarily have captured when things were “normal”? The stress test of crisis management gives you the opportunity to determine how you are delivering on your brand promise when conditions are far from ideal.
Be a Listening Post Now or Pick up the Pieces Later
I’m going to close this very simply: You either give them a way to talk to you constructively and systematically now – as you’re operating through the crisis – or you will have to redeem yourself later as they take their experiences to the streets, through social media, word of mouth, etc., in the meantime. God knows, they have plenty of time to talk and to share – your praises or your failures. Don’t wait until the crisis has passed and just hope for better satisfaction scores in the future. When you start measuring again, when the crisis is over, you’re going to have a large dose of pent-up feedback coming your way. While you’re picking up the pieces and trying to patch your brand back together, those who have been an effective listening post all along will actually emerge in the brighter moments of their brand with stronger than ever member relationships.
In uncertain times, you don’t want to lose the Voice of the Member. That’s why we offer credit unions like yours a comprehensive CX Analysis:
Reach out to us today about getting a comprehensive CX Analysis for your credit union!
