It is a sad day for me today.
Since 2009, I have been trumpeting my concerns that the credit union community is not paying attention to the greatest “felt-advantage” that makes them different in the financial consumer space – the people helping people difference.
I say “felt-advantage” because it’s not what you have on your website or what you herald as your brand – it’s what your members actually experience with you. Worse yet, if your brand is overstated (you underdeliver) any potential advantage actually becomes a disadvantage.
I have witnessed credit unions sliding in customer satisfaction rankings in the ACSI since 2010 – when they lost their position of power – and it has been an unstable journey since then. Worse yet, on Tuesday the ACSI published their 2019 rankings and for the first time historically, credit unions have ranked lower in customer satisfaction than banks. Yes, read that again slowly. Credit Unions slid 2.5% to a score of 79, an all-time low for Credit Unions on the ACSI scale.
Credit Union CEOs, are you paying attention? This trend is more than troubling – it is revealing. The circumstances are undeniable. Frontline execution and digital channel experience are failing. Credit Unions are officially inferior in the financial consumer’s mind.
Credit Unions can no longer afford to make minor adjustments to appease some scorecard or peer metric standing. Credit Unions must seek reformation – from the inside out.
This is a change of trajectory – not a bump in the road. I worry what 2020 will bring for those who have no plan, or a plan that is subpar.
We have been building and innovating and investing in putting credit unions in the forefront of the consumer experience, both in frontline execution and seamless channel delivery, and we love seeing our clients earn Forbes Best-in-State and Best-in-Nation recognition. We love taking them from a state of repair in frontline execution to a state of differentiation. This is who we are and what we do with a passion, and while this might seem self-promoting, it is not. It is Credit Union-promoting. Over 30 years in the Credit Union community is not small potatoes. During those years, continual change has been the one constant. Today, the pace of change leaves executives scrambling. The stress on the infrastructure equates to a loss of the member experience, and turning it around will not happen without significant effort and determination.
Credit Union member satisfaction has slipped, it continues to slip, and if you don’t act with great urgency and careful thought, you will continue to slip in the mind of the financial consumer – your member – the people you exist to serve.
There is a need – now more than ever – for an obsessive attention to this misfortune in such a way that radical transformation emerges. Please don’t assume you are the exception – unless it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by those who are minding this part of the store.
