Boxers or briefs? Doesn’t matter; it’s not exactly on the strategic plan for credit unions.
What does matter is that during a recent stay at the Hay-Adams for my annual pilgrimage to GAC I had a very eye-opening experience in customer service.
After checking in to the hotel I stepped out for a few receptions and returned to my room to find a pair of slippers waiting for me, two bottles of still water, and my room tidied up. The things I had hastily unpacked from my suitcase had been organized, and my underwear neatly folded and placed on the dresser. This display of going the extra mile in terms of customer service couldn’t have come at a better time as the discussion of credit union member service had come up at one of those evening receptions I attended.
Several months ago, CUToday reported this:
Credit unions fell 1.3% to a score of 76 on a 100-point scale in the 2020 American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) conducted by the University of Michigan in conjunction with the American Society for Quality in Milwaukee and CFI Group in Ann Arbor, Mich.
This was the third straight year in which the consumer satisfaction score declined, and the third in which credit unions fell further behind banks (which maintained their 2020 score of 78.)
We can blame it on COVID-19, however, the decline in the credit union service ratings started well before the pandemic came along. Each one of us can take a look in the mirror and see who is to blame. Addressing this issue must be in every strategic plan for credit unions.
The illusory truth effect is believing false information to be true after that false information is repeated time and time again, and it is in full bloom in our industry. Our mantra of “good rates and good service” has become a crutch that allows us to hold on to the past without innovating and growing for the future, and hot damn if the world hasn’t caught on to that and called us out in these last few surveys!
We can spin the wheel of excuses and brush it aside as poppycock. Or we can allow those numbers to be a wake-up call and address the issues that are keeping us from growing and serving our members and communities. We could each learn a thing or two from the service standards of the Hay-Adams and figure out what our version of folded underwear is to delight and surprise our members, creating a talkable and shareable experience.
Is your credit union ready to move beyond ordinary? Let’s talk!
