Conversations with the Credit Unions’ industry leaders
Some notes about the 2021 HCUA convention
Sarah Jess
Director, Business Development
21 October 2021
While attending the 2021 Convention & Annual Meeting of the Heartland Credit Union Association, we had the honor of listening to the keynote session “Connecting begins with Communication” facilitated by Denise Ryan and sponsored by Strategic Resource Management.
She pointed out that life would be so easy if everyone was just like us.
They would understand our cryptic email messages, forgive our bad moods, and never get frustrated with us. There would be no hard feelings, no conflict, and clearly, world peace. Unfortunately, this is not the case, so we must be able to communicate well with others, especially our members.
In member relationships, communication allows you to explain to someone else what is not only happening with their personal finances, but with what is happening within the Credit Union.
The act of communicating meets your members needs and helps you to connect with them, deepening the relationship. In the case of many relationship breakdowns, lack of good communication is often the culprit. Communication stops the inevitable issues which arise in any relationship, avoiding frustration and possible attrition.
To us, in the Financial Industry, talking to our members about their finances is an everyday activity. We know the lingo and acronyms. We understand trends, processes, products’ evolution, policies. But, for our members this can be very intimidating or even embarrassing. Having that apprehension or a feeling of unknown, can put up a barrier in the communication lines. One way to remove this tension is by adding many modes of communication to the Credit Union line up, including your very own Chatbot.
Custom bots ask the right questions to automatically prioritize and route new conversations for more efficient support. They connect to your members in a way that still offers a human connection, but with a friendly bot whom you don’t have to look into the eyes of. Whom you trust but don’t have to meet on the street.
A communication mode that your member can feel more relaxed about. Letting their guard down, all while directing them to expertise answers through automated workflow behind the scenes and acting as extensions of your sales and support teams. By utilizing this type of a member communication platform, you are creating a seamless member experience.
During the conference, I held a conversation with a representative of a Credit Union that has around 60,000 members. We were discussing obstacles that they are facing in today’s environment. He stated that even if he had 100 call center bodies, they wouldn’t be able to keep up.
We discussed how they are constantly looking for ways to adopt and enhance their current communication lines. I feel that this is a struggle for many of our Credit Unions.
The drive to digital has given a huge insight to your members about their finances. This then creates an upswing to questions, lots of questions. Requiring more resources and support for your members than ever before. Resulting in higher call center volume, possible longer handle times and not to mention a strain on your team and frustrated members.
Our members are adopting digital solutions at an all time high. They are not only expecting the best modes of communication from their Credit Union, but they are also relying on it. By taking advantage of adding an intelligent Chatbot to your Digital Solutions, you are improving adoption of your products and solutions while decreasing member frustration. Minimizing the burden on your staff, by increasing efficiencies. Not to mention reducing the average cost of your communication connections.
Working with the most intuitive chatbots utilized by the top performers in the industry can aide your Credit Union with greater a communication platform.
Staying in the front row of innovation to bring these new tools to your organization is our way to find practical solutions that fulfill the needs of the industry. What will we be learning during our next conversation with the Credit Unions’ industry leaders? We are keen on listening to keep on innovating with a purpose: that is around your specific needs.
