Getting the Band Back Together!

Remember when Ron Shevlin and I used to publicly spar about Net Promoter Score and member service as a differentiator? Good times. Nothing anyone can say will ever make me feel otherwise. We are in the service business, period. We cannot differentiate with unique products or packaging, we sell and move money. Boring. Banking is an errand. Members don’t GET to go into the credit union, sometimes they HAVE to. Boring. And most member’s expectations? Very low. Their goal is to get in, get out and no one gets hurt.

That’s why one “wow” experience can produce so much value. It’s not expected, so it makes a lasting impression.

Fred Reichheld, co-creator of Net Promoter Score said it best. We know loyal members do three things for us:

1. They will buy more from us and are less likely to rate shop (increasing services per household)
2. They will market for us. Word of mouth is, has been, and always will be the most effective marketing.
3. They will tell us how to improve the credit union. When you hear “I’ve been a member for X years” know that that is a gift because you are about to get a loyalty lesson. Listen.

If you would have told me in 2007 when I was in NYC with America First, Baxter, and Educators credit unions at the Inaugural Net Promoter Score conference that 8 years later I would be the one responsible for putting ON the annual conferences in US and London AND that I would also get to resurrect Loyalty Live – well, I would have slapped you and then kissed you on the mouth. Because you never know where life is going to take you, right?

It is with great pride that I invite you to join me and all my friends in Phoenix on March 4th and 5th at the Arizona Grand Spa & Resort for Loyalty Live. We are going to share stories about success, failure and the challenges that come with truly listening and responding to the authentic voice of the member.

I love recruiting speakers for events because I basically get to bring in people I love and admire. Check out who’s going to be there:

• Jeanne Bliss, Author of Chief Customer Officer and I Love You More Than My Dog

• Jordan Austin Levine, Director of Field Marketing for Massage Envy Spa

• Sandy Anderson, Sr. VP Client Support & Sales Operations, Experian

• Sally and John Myers, CEO and President of c.Myers

• Gabriel Krajicek CEO, Bancvue (creator of Kasasa Checking)

• Sarah Canepa Bang, President/COO CO-OP Shared Branching

• Matt Davis, former Director of Innovation Filene Research Institute and founder of GameFI

• Stephen Owen, Chief Marketing Officer, First Tech Federal Credit Union

• Brad Barnes, CFO, Air Academy FCU and Filene i3er

• Gene Pelham, CEO of Rogue Credit Union, Chair of Board of Trustees, Western CUNA Management School

Thanks to our amazing and generous sponsors we are able to offer credit-union friendly pricing. Give it up for Co-OP Financial Services, Kasasa by Bancvue, MARQUIS, Geezeo, CUNA Mutual and CU Direct Lending.

I hope to see all the credit unions who are passionate about service there because we’re getting the band back together!