It’s budget time. I know this because I’m married to a credit union CFO. My rallying cry has always been to “question everything.” And in these tough economic times seems everyone is. Especially the budget makers.
That’s why now, more than ever, marketing needs to remain relevant. We need to stop doing what doesn’t work.
Y2K preparation was the warning shot across the bow. Remember? We were labeled a “non-essential function” in times of crisis. I tried to argue it, to no avail. I mean, IF the world’s computer systems went kapooey – as predicted – would my membership drive still go on? Not likely. Would I get to begin production on that snappy radio ad? Hell no.
We’re in a crisis. One we could’ve been prepared for – like Y2K – but was largely ignored. So now people are panicking. Marketing is getting cut. I know of three marketing professionals who have been laid off. CFOs are seeing our budgets as black holes.
Now more than ever marketing needs to prove to world that they are the custodian of the credit union brand. Not a schlepper of products, or creator of promotions. Marketing’s sole job is to protect and preserve the credit union’s reputation.
The best way to do that is to show management the power of the Net Promoter Score. Ask a random sample of your membership a few simple questions:
1. On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend the credit union to a friend, family member of colleague?
2. What is the primary reason for the score you gave?
3. Have you recommended the credit union in the last 12 months?
4. If yes, how many members have you recommended in the last 12 months? 0-1- 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 or more?
5. What can we do to improve your experience with the credit union.
We measure and lament over ROA, delinquencies, net worth, loan-to-share ratios, asset and membership growth – what about our reputation? Our service levels? Our member’s perceptions?
This is the new normal for marketing.
The 2020 Vision of Marketing 
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November 5, 2009 at 6:44 am
rebecca secor
Denise – could not agree more!
Marketing, even what used to be “communications”, is dead. There’s a need to go much deeper than that in these times.
For credit unions (and many other businesses), now what matters is engaging in an ongoing dialogue between us AND our members.
Several key words there –
Engaging – yes, that means that we need find ways to actively participate in real conversations with members AND listen too. The dialogue should change and evolve and change as new thoughts and ideas are created. We should be free to take “sidebars” at any time. As Denise mentioned, asking those key Net Promoter questions is extremely helpful at getting started. Which brings me to the next key word…
Ongoing – so once we start the conversation – we have to continue to participate. Members don’t really dig it when they’re asked to answer a bunch of questions/participate in focus groups/give their opinions and then never see what we’ve done with their feedback OR never hear from us again. At minimum, we need to thank members for their feedback and tell them if we’re using it & how. This keeps the dialogue open and invites members to continue to participate.
At Member Loyalty Group, several of our participating credit unions regularly communicate back to members how their feedback is being used to improve the credit union. The credit unions that do this really well are rewarded with very strong response rates – 25%+ for some groups (I’ve even seen some months where it’s over 30%).
Last word (then I’ll get off my soap box) –
Dialogue – Dialogue by its nature is more than a conversation, which has a specific beginning and end. Dialogue is less about a definite conclusion and more about creating a space where participants are free to exchange thought and ideas. The dialogue itself becomes a “thing” which allows participants to come and go.
November 5, 2009 at 7:26 am
Jimmy Marks
Well said. And what’s stopping people from finding this information? Most write off market research and customer satisfaction measurements such as NPS as “pseudo-science”, but we know that’s not true. It’s a simple question with a simple answer: Would you recommend us, and why? Because it’s not just about how happy your current members are, it’s about whether or not they’re SO happy with your service that they’re willing to recommend you to someone they trust.
November 6, 2009 at 9:08 am
georgeh
What’s Net Promoter Score?
November 6, 2009 at 10:36 am
Brady Walen
This post reminds me of an article released earlier this year with a pretty compelling headline:
“In a Recession, Put Everyone in Marketing” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter for HarvardBusiness.org
http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/04/in-a-recession-put-everyone-in.html
You’re right, marketing needs to be viewed differently – it can’t simply be a ‘task master’ role. And, it can’t be the job assigned to one person.
It will be interesting to look back a year from now at the companies that have decided to cut costs by cutting marketing efforts and staff.
November 11, 2009 at 8:37 am
Denise Wymore
Thank you all for your great comments.
If you don’t know @georgeh he would be the Chief Research Officer for Filene Research Institute that just hired the CU Warrior and Brent Dixon to change the credit union world!!!
He’s also responsible for creating the NPS benchmark for credit unions. The Filene Research Institute published “A Fresh Approach to Measuring Member Loyalty” in May of 2007. I have extra copies available if anyone would like one – for free!
@Brady – thanks for the link. Good stuff.