Brand is more than a logo. It’s not transaction marketing simply sent to provide a shot in the arm to get loans flowing. Your credit union’s brand represents who you are, what you do and why you do it.
Digitization and transformation are increasingly critical for efficiencies, capabilities and yes, brand. When a member walks into your branch, do they see something straight out of the 1970s, or a sleek modern design supplemented by technology where they can receive high-tech and high-touch service?
A report in the The Financial Brand found that consumers and credit union executives still believe branches are necessary to providing a comprehensive member experience. It continued that the branch represents one way to establish your credit union brand and identity, allows for deeper member relationship development and remains the most effective sales channel.
“Some credit union executives feel strongly that their member base wants face-to-face interaction and have continued to open new branches even during the pandemic,” according to a study by WestMonroe. In fact, the company said that fully 60% of credit union and bank executives find the branch to be their sales leading service channel, because it allows for more meaningful time with members.
Just ask your members what they see and experience with they enter the branch. What would they like added or subtracted? Maybe decreasing wait times in long lines. Perhaps an all-around more efficient and modern experience. Some may be on the fence about your digital offerings, so use their time in branch to educate them on how to use those tools, which are simple and seamless, and the security they can provide.
Frictionless, digital service channels are a key piece of presenting a modern brand to your member. What about modernizing their in-branch experience, too? Wescom Resources Group offers our Tellergy Branch Technology platform that provides privacy, security and an efficient experience that also gives your frontline staff more time to chitchat, learn about members’ lives and cross sell a product or service that suits the members’ needs. Plus, it provides a slick, modern experience that reinforces your credit union brand as being built for the future.
The WestMonroe report emphasized, “Those that are slow to embrace digital will find themselves in a difficult position, if not now then not too far into the future.”
Millennials and Gen Z are digital and mobile natives, and Gen X’s independent streak means it isn’t too shabby in its technology adaption either. Even boomers have learned to use their smart phones to catch up on their grandchildren’s pictures posted to Facebook and the occasional Zoom family holiday. Modernizing how your credit union’s brand presents to your members with current design and up-to-date technology is what your members want and need, and therefore, so does your credit union.