Community charters, good service aren’t enough

Based on a joint research report between Weber Marketing and CEO Advisory Group, Mark Weber, President of Weber Marketing, offered key insights to credit unions struggling with growth challenges in the January 9, 2008 issue of The Credit Union Times.

The Credit Union Growth Strategies Study 2008 report surveyed CEOs of 118 credit unions and examined 5,300 performance reports from 2000 through 2006. Results indicate that despite the growth of community charters, nearly half of all credit unions have experienced net membership loss since the beginning of 2000.

In the article, Mark states that community charters and good service don’t solve growth challenges. “There are two big surprises when a credit union gains a community charter. First, absolutely nobody is beating a path to your door. Second, you have to completely transform your business, operational and sales models.”

“If good service were the secret, credit unions would be thriving in membership growth today,” he continues. “Unfortunately, good service is not the bar by which people switch financial institutions. We’ve had seven years of the worst growth in history in credit union membership. You absolutely have to be working much, much harder than simply saying ‘We have great member service’ when everyone else is saying it.”

In the article, Mark cites the “Seven Key Drivers for Accelerated Growth” for credit unions facing growth challenges today.

Click here to view the full article.

You can purchase the full 2008 CEO Growth Study report at the CEO Advisory Group website.