You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Uncategorized' category.
According to Alyce Cornyn Selby’s book: I’m Going to Change My Name and Move Away – damned near everything. Your name is the only thing you truly own.
Some of my favorite company names are the unusual ones. Umpqua Bank and IKEA come to mind. Umpqua because it means something – IKEA cuz it means something too – cheap stuff for your home! We hit the local IKEA store hard recently. We moved back to the Northwest from New York and isn’t funny how you always need new stuff when you move? Anyway – as a double bonus this IKEA is in Portland, Oregon the land of no sales tax. We were drunk with purchasing power.
The first thing I had to have were three DIMPAs at $1.50 each. I loved my FRAKTA and these were perfect for groceries. We considered buying the VEJMON and a BESTA but when we got to the warehouse the price was different (more) than the display for the first and parts were missing on the second.
Mark would have none of it. And that’s when he got agitated and started making up meanings.
He’s pretty sure that VEJMON is code for sucker! and BESTA is Swedish slang for crap! But when he called my RATIONELL VARIERA a feces strainer, I about lost it.
Advertising agencies and their clients agonize over naming a product. I’ve been pretty outspoken about some of the name changes in credit union land. Some of them feel – well IKEA-ish – like they were pulled right out of someone’s SKRAPA.
Gnome sayin?
Thanks to Sarah Canepa Bang for coordinating this amazing event. The oldest dancer was 74!!! I’m the dancer in the third row, on the left with the fringe pants and super zombie face!
Happy Halloween y’all!
Many people ask me about my flying pig logo.
What does it mean? Why did I choose it?
It does not mean “when pigs fly” as in “when hell freezes over” aka the impossible.
In fact, I adopted the flying pig as my logo to mean the exact opposite. Question everything. Why CAN’T pigs fly? We are only limited by our imagination.
Today I received this pig in an email message from my dear friend Gene Blishen. Gene’s a super smart guy and someone I greatly admire. The fact that he thought of me, remembered my logo and sent me this pig made me realize that I have become branded.
Brand is NOT your logo – it’s what it stands for.
Thanks Gene – you made my day!
I’d say Happy 4th of July but I doubt Canadians care about our day of fireworks, cook-outs and general drunkenness.
I’m a loyal Marriott-er. I love all their hotels, from the Fairfield Inn (usually found in smaller towns along the interstate) to the J.W. Marriott (which is usually found along side a fabulous golf course). I get my points, I get my love, I get a good night’s sleep and am never disappointed. They are extremely consistent.
I’m down in Mississippi this week doing some NPS consulting with a credit union and my client said “I know you’re a Marriott girl, but we just got a spanky new Holiday Inn Express you should try out!” Hmmmmmm….I’m not going to get my Marriott points AND, well, it’s the Holiday Inn. But what the hey – I’ll try it.
My GPS (I named her Eleanor – and gave her a British accent) told me to “Bear right off the motorway.” And in less than a mile… “You have reached your destination.” Across the street is the requisite Waffle House, and next door a Days Inn. I’m a little nervous. It doesn’t really look like much from the outside.
But as soon as those doors “whooshed” open, I knew I was going to like the Holiday Inn Express in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. It’s elegant. Dark green and chocolate brown furniture, marble floor. Wow. For $89.00 a night!
The room is clean and lovely and the amenities are cute and they even have a giant shower head and that curved shower rod so the shower curtain won’t touch you!
Am I gonna switch my loyalty? Probably not. Why? Because one fancy location hasn’t changed my perception of the brand. It’s the Holiday Inn. It’s where you go when you have lots of kids and you’re taking them to Disneyland from Portland, Oregon and it’s close to the interstate, has a soda machine and a pool.
After my 5th year consulting I kind of turned the snob corner. I don’t want to see errant hairs in the bathroom. I don’t want to be afraid to sit on the bedspread. I want a big bar of soap, and an iron that doesn’t spew goo all over my silk blouse. I want a fitness center with more than a broken treadmill and a Stairmaster. I want the Marriott.
I think a lot credit unions are the Holiday Inn of the financial world. They’re family friendly, a great price, been around for generations, and kind of run down. Occasionally I’ll see a credit union build a fancy new branch (like this HI Express) that looks absolutely nothing like the rest of their branches and I wonder what their plan is? To upgrade the image? Or to just build a fancy new branch. You see, the Holiday Inn runs both – the old and the new. It’s hit or miss. They upgraded their logo in 2007 but haven’t changed it in all of their locations.
The Marriott brands are crazy consistent. Extremely disciplined in their execution.
How about your branches? If your credit union were a hotel chain, which would it be?
Hey,
I love the CU Journal. I subscribe. By the time I get the hard copy I’ve pretty much seen and read all I need from their online, but I like to look at the pictures. Just like People magazine. See who’s in there – who got promoted. I love those fun branch pictures of staff holding a giant check to charity or the stiff ribbon cutting shots.
I’ve been moving this month (from New Mexico to New York) and let them pile up. So this morning, cup of coffee in hand, decided to catch up.
I had no idea Michael Fryzel became a woman! That NCUA job must be hard!
LOL!
I’m a New Yorker. It’s official. We flew into LaGuardia Sunday afternoon. Drove down the LIE to Port Jeff. Hit the Target for some supplies and there I saw her. A woman that had EXACTLY my same hair color. I gasped, so did she. We paused, and she said “Nice ha-ih.” (that’s Lawn Guy Land for Hair).
I knew I was home.
It started to snow. And snow. Like I’ve never seen snow before (originally from Portland, Oregon). We hunkered down in the lobby bar of our hotel, ordered a Kettle One martini and a dozen oysters on the half shell.
The next day we went to Wal Mart to buy a snow shovel. Couldn’t find any so we asked a nice gal that worked there. She yells down an aisle “Hey Tony, we have any shovels left?” Tony yells back “No!” Then I hear him under his breath say “What ya, go a whole yea-ah widout a shovel?”
I love this place……..
Not a big fan of the snow shoveling btw.
Will continue my story tomorrow – I gotta meet the boyz in half an hour to unload my stuff.
It’s 1980 and I’m a teller at a credit union in Portland, Oregon. I’m driving a 1973 Volkswagen Super Beetle named Howard. I have to pay for parking. Which makes me rethink driving Howard to work and entices me to take the bus.
Bus pass = $12.00 a month. Parking Howard = $25.00 a month.
I bought a book on How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive because I had to make this car last. You see, to get a new car loan in 1980, the interest rate was around 18%. The prime loan rate hit its peak in July of 1981 at 20.5%. They called this inflation. Not to be confused with recession or depression.
I was making $650.00 a month (before taxes) and paying $175.00 a month in rent. Howard was paid for and the insurance was around $25.00 a month.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Yup, that’s right. Back to school we go.
Our basic needs are physiological. Food and water. Then we move up to our safety needs. Housing. Mobility. (Howard) Insurance. Once those are in tact we can evolve to Social needs – a sense of belonging – love (the water cooler). The next rung up the ladder is what ALL HR research shows us – it’s not PAY that motivates it’s “recognition, status, self-esteem.” And finally, at the very top – we becomes self-motivated – or in my case, self-employed.
I took a night class in college when I was a teller and learned about Maslow. I remember thinking – didn’t anyone at the credit union read this?
If they had, and they believed it, how many things would have to change?
1. Using an employment agency where the applicant pays for a teller job was a bad choice. (physiological needs not met because I had to pay one month’s wage to get the job).
2. Putting a new employee on “probation” for 90 days breeds fear and resentment (no sense of security and no clear direction as to how you PASS probation).All “team” gear was withheld. Business cards, name plate, and a file that said “hired.”
3. My training consisted of me “shadowing” an employee that clearly resented me (sense of belonging? hell no – sense of “getting in the way” big time).
4. Doing surprise “cash counts” on my teller drawer because of my member following was the complete opposite of recognition. It was pure suspicion.
I’m the Norma Rae of tellers. I’m the gal standing in the lunch room with a sign that says “You CAN’T be SERIOUS!”
It’s 2009.
29 years later and nothing much has changed. Not only must they dress appropriately, they need to be personable, detail oriented, accurate, compliant, AND cross-sell our 58 different products and services WHILE standing for 8 hours a day. All for about $10.00 an hour. Wow.
Think about it. Tellers have more control over your credit union’s brand than anyone in management. Think of how many “moments of truth” there are in the business we are in – which is “the errand” business.
That’s all I’m sayin’……..
NEXT UP: Ronald Reagan and the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 – aka “Denise Becomes a Marketer!”
I’ve never shared the whole story of how I came to be a credit union evangelist. I know this past year I’ve been pretty outspoken about the movement and some of the struggles with values, purpose and philosophy. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to share a bit about where that comes from.
You see, I was the middle child of five kids in a Catholic family in Northeast Portland in the ‘70s. Yes, the last great recession. My family had some financial struggles and had to pull me out of private school my Freshman year.
I tried public high school for the rest of that year. After seeing a kid get stabbed right in front of me in the lunch room (this was also the period of desegregation) I decided I had to find a way to go back to private school. I needed a job, and fast. A girl in my homeroom heard I was looking, said she was going to give her notice at ‘Enry Beazelys’ Fish-n-Chips that night and she was sure her uniform would fit me.
We went to her locker and she pulled out the most hideous thing I’d ever seen. Burnt orange wench costume complete with ruffled hat. Wow! But it did fit.
I took the dress home, thought about it, and the next day walked into ‘Enry Beazely’s Fish-n-Chips, asked to speak to Mr. Beazely.
Mr. Beazely was a lovely older gentleman, with a firm handshake and a wonderful smile. I said, “Hello, Mr. Beazely, I’m Patty’s replacement.” He chuckled and hired me on the spot.
For the next three and 1/2 years I took a public bus to Beaverton, Oregon to attend St. Mary of the Valley (90 minutes each way). I did my homework on the bus – always. I was working 20 hours a week at ‘Beazely’s to pay my tuition.
On nights I had to work I had just enough time to get home, change from plaid pleated skirt and white blouse to the burnt orange wench costume.
Mr. Beazely taught me about leadership, culture, values and most importantly that if we are serving others, we are doing something that matters. Mr. Beazely also taught me that brand oozed from every pore of the organization. We served ginger beer, malt vinegar, and wrapped our “To Go” orders in newsprint. It was “authentic.” Right down to the serving wenches!
He had these service mantras.
My favorite: “The front counter is like the tide, you never turn your back on it.”
Mr. Beazely would “secret shop” us. Not by sending in a stranger with a script, but rather HE would come usually with his wife and some friends to dine.
If everything was not as it should be, he didn’t write us up, put it in our permanent file, or worse yet, call us out in front of others. Nope, he would simply roll up his sleeves, put on an apron, wash his hands and cook his own meal – elegantly righting the wrongs.
BUT, if everything was as it should be – at the end of the meal he would shake the hand of every employee and thank them for a wonderful dining experience.
On Thanksgiving he invited all of the crew to the restaurant for breakfast that HE would cook. He told us that on that day, he gave thanks for us. Wow.
He made me feel like what I did mattered. And when I gave my notice, I cried. He gave me a big hug and said “I will always have a place at ‘Beazely’s.”
Upon graduation, I decided I could not take the wench-wear anymore. I wanted a “real” job. And so…..I went to an employment agency.
NEXT POST:
PART TWO: Mean Jean and my first day as a teller.
I’ve been blogging my experience on CUES Nexus this week….check it out!
I read with much disappointment an article in the CU Journal that you are spearheading another effort to access TARP money for credit unions.
Credit Unions cannot, under any circumstances cost taxpayers money. Not only will this jeopardize our tax exempt status and separate insurance fund it is absolutely in oppositon of the seven principles of cooperatives, which we hope to remain, a financial cooperative.
Credit Unions were offered taxpayer money after the Great Depression and although Edward Filene was in favor of it, Roy Bergengren (first president of CUNA) opposed it saying
(a quote from CUNA’s website):
“To him, it meant destroying the vital principle of the whole movement by converting a community enterprise into an agency of the government. To teach people how to help themselves was more important by far in times of depression than at any other time.”
That’s what we HAVE to do. Figure out a way to help each other. I understand that many credit unions in the California and Nevada Leagues’ (your former employer) membership are hurting. One solution, of course is merger and another would be for them to convert to a Mutual Savings Bank to gain easy access to TARP.
CUNA’s National Brand Campaign states “Where People are Worth More Than Money.”
If we take TAXPAYER money to bail out a few COOPERATIVES what does that say about CUNA?
Credit Unions celebrated their 100th birthday recently, I for one am proud to have devoted the last 28 years of my life to furthering the movement. I’d hate to see your name in the history books as the one that helped destroy it.
Recent Comments