Unlocking the Power of Membership Growth

Focusing on traditional methods like lowering rates or running promotions is easy, but the key to long-term growth is purposefully engaging your team and members. By aligning with your team's values and your members' needs, you can create a lasting demand for your credit union’s unique value.  

A credit union CEO I recently spoke with was frustrated after running various marketing campaigns with no real results. After asking a few questions and looking at the data, the answer stood out to both of us: Her team wasn’t bought in. 

They didn’t understand the why, didn’t know the goals, and didn’t see their part in the process. This led to apathy and a lack of real effort to promote the credit union. 

Practical Application:

• Craft Messaging That Resonates. Shift your messaging from generic offers to value-driven content that speaks to your members' core financial goals. What do they want more of? What do they dream about attaining? 

• Leverage Team Engagement: Use a framework that highlights why you want to reach new members, share success stories, train your team to look for opportunities, and give them personal goals to reach. Everyone can be an ambassador of the credit union with the right set up. How can you Motivate your team, Track their behaviors, and Celebrate their successes? 

• Personalize Your Outreach: Who are the members who promote you? Who is referring their friends and family? Which groups love working with you and how can you create more partnerships and connections like these? 

Power Questions:

1. How well do you understand your member's needs?

2. What specific action can you take each month to engage your team and encourage them to share what makes you different from other financial institutions?

3. How can we track the effectiveness of our efforts to ensure we are hitting the mark?

Thanks for being part of The Credit Union Playbook! We’re here to help bold leaders like you shape the future.