I read through some of the conversations in this blog around social networks and the role of credit unions. In my opinion, they are synonymous.
A basic characteristic of Credit Unions is that the membership owns and controls the Credit Union. My experience with social networks has been exactly that – the members control the experience.
As an example, Facebook is the fastest growing major social network with over 54 million active users and a valuation of around $15 billion. However, when their CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched a new feature called News Feed, his “membership” was not happy. While the feature is now popular (many months later), it was so poorly received that Mark posted the following statement on the Facebook blog: "We really messed this one up," he wrote. "When we launched News Feed and Mini-Feed we were trying to provide you with a stream of information about your social world. Instead, we did a bad job of explaining what the new features were and an even worse job of giving you control of them." Not the type of thing you imagine most CEOs doing – taking full responsibility in an open and transparent way. Welcome to the world of social media!
Social networks rely heavily on being completely open and transparent to their members. We often hear many customer-oriented companies say that they must “listen to their customers.” Social networks actually interact with their members. Blogs facilitate this communication – anyone can start a discussion and invite others to participate, like this blog which Josh Jones invited me to participate in.
Credit Unions are uniquely positioned to take advantage of their own social network, and certainly have a history of providing superior member service and a commitment to truly caring about the financial health of their membership.
Social networking is nothing new, however technology like Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace has enabled more than 120 million people (or 2/3 of all people with internet access) to utilize this new tool.
John Donovan is the Chief Operating Officer of http://www.lendingclub.com/ and will be speaking at the YES Summit on December 3rd.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Social Media for You and Them
If you keep up with any marketing blogs or have read many of 2007’s trendily-jacketed-business-books, then you’ve heard again and again: This is a time of extreme change for marketers. “People are changing! Markets are changing! Media is changing!”
Marketers’ opinions of social media – blogging, consumer generated media, podcasting, social review sites, Twitter, Second Life, and on and on – are also changing. Over the past year, the pendulum seems to have swung from anxiety and fear all the way over to excitement and enthusiasm.
I love and share that enthusiasm (I get nerdy and overly excitable about social media). But I also worry that we might be focusing too much on the emerging technologies themselves when we should really focus on the people we want to use them.
Just like nobody talks to their phone, people do not interact with social media. They interact with other people.
So rather than asking if your credit union should be blogging, a better starting point is “What are our goals, who are we trying to reach, and how can we add value to them?”
At this year’s ad:tech, NY, one of the speakers (I wish I could remember which one) said this:
"Don’t start marketing-strategy conversations with technologies. Start with business problems and let social media and technology follow."
Bottomline: Social media should solve business problems for you and add value for your users.
Here are two examples:
Online product reviews, like Bank of America’s, are a great way to utilize comment-like functionality in your main site content. This allows your members to voice their opinions and learn more about your products from people like themselves. And it helps you develop your products with realtime consumer insight.
Facebook is probably a better social network to engage than MySpace. There are numerous reasons for this, one of which is that Facebook is actionable. You can build tools for users to do things. For example, Chase’s +1 Card lets users manage their account and rewards points directly through Facebook. Users can even pass rewards on to friends. It’s more fun and convenient for cardholders, and gives Chase a viral promotion channel.
On Monday, I’ll talk about how to use blogs in ways that go outside of typical corporate blogging. If you have any examples you’d like to see discussed, by all means post a comment right here.
And if you’re in Austin next week, come say hi.
Brent Dixon is the Creative Director of Trabian and a co-author of the Open Source CU credit union blog.
Marketers’ opinions of social media – blogging, consumer generated media, podcasting, social review sites, Twitter, Second Life, and on and on – are also changing. Over the past year, the pendulum seems to have swung from anxiety and fear all the way over to excitement and enthusiasm.
I love and share that enthusiasm (I get nerdy and overly excitable about social media). But I also worry that we might be focusing too much on the emerging technologies themselves when we should really focus on the people we want to use them.
Just like nobody talks to their phone, people do not interact with social media. They interact with other people.
So rather than asking if your credit union should be blogging, a better starting point is “What are our goals, who are we trying to reach, and how can we add value to them?”
At this year’s ad:tech, NY, one of the speakers (I wish I could remember which one) said this:
"Don’t start marketing-strategy conversations with technologies. Start with business problems and let social media and technology follow."
Bottomline: Social media should solve business problems for you and add value for your users.
Here are two examples:
Online product reviews, like Bank of America’s, are a great way to utilize comment-like functionality in your main site content. This allows your members to voice their opinions and learn more about your products from people like themselves. And it helps you develop your products with realtime consumer insight.
Facebook is probably a better social network to engage than MySpace. There are numerous reasons for this, one of which is that Facebook is actionable. You can build tools for users to do things. For example, Chase’s +1 Card lets users manage their account and rewards points directly through Facebook. Users can even pass rewards on to friends. It’s more fun and convenient for cardholders, and gives Chase a viral promotion channel.
On Monday, I’ll talk about how to use blogs in ways that go outside of typical corporate blogging. If you have any examples you’d like to see discussed, by all means post a comment right here.
And if you’re in Austin next week, come say hi.
Brent Dixon is the Creative Director of Trabian and a co-author of the Open Source CU credit union blog.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Retaining Young Adult Employees
This is RecruiterGuy again to give you another quick preview of coming attractions.
You work too hard to find great talent. Failing to retain them is a shame – and not very cost effective.
In order for you to retain high impact talent, it is very important that you have your retention fundamentals down.
The first and certainly one of the most important rules is the Golden Rule – “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.” The stories that I hear from candidates make me shake my head. If managers simply followed the Golden Rule, retention would be much higher. The concept is not magic. The execution is everything.
Have you taken the time to develop a retention process? If so, have you documented it? Are all employees aware of it? Are you focused on retention? Have you developed a leadership development plan? Succession planning is very important today as our Baby Boomer generation is beginning to move into retirement. Therefore retaining Impact Performers is more important than ever.
You certainly have developed a member retention plan. It probably focuses on great member service and great member communication. Shouldn’t that be the basis of your employee retention plan?
As we spoke in a previous blog, the young adult is used to immediate gratification. Is that expectation always possible in the business world? Of course not. However you may be creative and give them the perception of immediate gratification. Here’s a suggestion – use the CUNA courses/certification completion as incentives. Most importantly, listen to their ideas and talk in terms of their interests.
We have much to discuss. See you next week!
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at www.recruiterguy.com.
You work too hard to find great talent. Failing to retain them is a shame – and not very cost effective.
In order for you to retain high impact talent, it is very important that you have your retention fundamentals down.
The first and certainly one of the most important rules is the Golden Rule – “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.” The stories that I hear from candidates make me shake my head. If managers simply followed the Golden Rule, retention would be much higher. The concept is not magic. The execution is everything.
Have you taken the time to develop a retention process? If so, have you documented it? Are all employees aware of it? Are you focused on retention? Have you developed a leadership development plan? Succession planning is very important today as our Baby Boomer generation is beginning to move into retirement. Therefore retaining Impact Performers is more important than ever.
You certainly have developed a member retention plan. It probably focuses on great member service and great member communication. Shouldn’t that be the basis of your employee retention plan?
As we spoke in a previous blog, the young adult is used to immediate gratification. Is that expectation always possible in the business world? Of course not. However you may be creative and give them the perception of immediate gratification. Here’s a suggestion – use the CUNA courses/certification completion as incentives. Most importantly, listen to their ideas and talk in terms of their interests.
We have much to discuss. See you next week!
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at www.recruiterguy.com.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Recruiting Young Adults
Happy Thanksgiving YES CU bloggers and YES Summit Enthusiasts!
This is RecruiterGuy again just to give you a quick preview of coming attractions. Great news! My presentation is now down to 40 slides and dropping. However, coffee or Mountain Dew consumption is recommended so you can listen fast.
We spoke of the instant gratification that young adults expect today. In order for you to give them that experience on the recruiting side, it is very important that you have your recruitment fundamentals down.
Have you taken the time to document your recruitment process? If so, are there any extra steps that may be removed?
Generally businesses do a good to great job branding their service or products and really do not brand themselves as an employer. Would you prefer to brand yourself as an employer – or do you want public perception to do so? How do young adults in your area perceive you as an employer?
How quickly do you respond to candidate inquiries for employment? When you interview candidates, do you sell the services of your credit union and discuss the reason(s) you are passionate about working there? Remember that Every candidate is a potential member! How many candidates, who do not become employees, become members? That may be an interesting metric to watch.
Is your recruitment process smooth and efficient? Have you trained your hiring managers how to interview? If they haven’t been trained how to interview, how do you expect them to select the best candidate - and not the least threatening? Do you make hiring decisions quickly? Do you do reference checks? You better!
Recruitment is one of the most important areas of the credit union. With one hire you may be able to greatly expand your business - or a poor hire can wreck your reputation.
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at www.recruiterguy.com.
This is RecruiterGuy again just to give you a quick preview of coming attractions. Great news! My presentation is now down to 40 slides and dropping. However, coffee or Mountain Dew consumption is recommended so you can listen fast.
We spoke of the instant gratification that young adults expect today. In order for you to give them that experience on the recruiting side, it is very important that you have your recruitment fundamentals down.
Have you taken the time to document your recruitment process? If so, are there any extra steps that may be removed?
Generally businesses do a good to great job branding their service or products and really do not brand themselves as an employer. Would you prefer to brand yourself as an employer – or do you want public perception to do so? How do young adults in your area perceive you as an employer?
How quickly do you respond to candidate inquiries for employment? When you interview candidates, do you sell the services of your credit union and discuss the reason(s) you are passionate about working there? Remember that Every candidate is a potential member! How many candidates, who do not become employees, become members? That may be an interesting metric to watch.
Is your recruitment process smooth and efficient? Have you trained your hiring managers how to interview? If they haven’t been trained how to interview, how do you expect them to select the best candidate - and not the least threatening? Do you make hiring decisions quickly? Do you do reference checks? You better!
Recruitment is one of the most important areas of the credit union. With one hire you may be able to greatly expand your business - or a poor hire can wreck your reputation.
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at www.recruiterguy.com.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Board Dynamics: How Old are Your Board Members?
1) What is the average age of a board member at your credit union (or a credit union that you know)?
2) What do you think/know is the average age of a board member in the credit union industry?
I am a firm believer that recruiting new members aged 18-30 to your credit union start at the board level. Even if attracting members of this demographic fall outside your credit unions strategic initiatives, it is still important to equip your credit union with the foundation to service the needs of this generation. When members of this demographic become potential candidates to join your credit union, will your credit union be able to meet their ever-increasing demands?
I admire those credit unions that have started their Gen-Y initiatives by improving their web presence, utilizing sites such as facebook.com and holding web-based contests on youtube.com. However, reaching out to this generation should not only fall on the shoulders of the marketing or small business development team.
I recently had the chance to interview my fellow board members at the USCCU regarding how my presence has impacted board dynamics. I’ll be discussing these findings more at the YES
The worst fear of recruiting a Gen-Y board member according to my colleagues was not that the board member would lead to the destruction of the credit union mission and initiatives, but that the member would not participate or be afraid to speak up. I asked my board members (through email) if my comments at meetings were ever too blunt or offensive but they responded with a “certainly not” and even labeled them as “surprisingly straight forward and honest.”
On the other hand, a Gen-Y board member can add “youth, fresh perspectives, unexpected questions, energy, enthusiasm, and optimism” to your credit union. People that are young have a lot of time, are looking to make an impact, and are passionate about what they do. I have worked with the CEO, Marketing Staff, and IT team on various projects such as revamping our reward card programs and perfecting our web presence. However, my role on the board extends much further, as I also temporarily headed a compliance committee with members of our supervisory committee to monitor management’s treatment of regulations such as the BSA and Patriot Act.
I’m not saying that every 20-year-old board member is going to have the same impact and synergistic effects on your credit union as I have described. Recruiting is the key and there is a chance that a younger director may be lost, intimidated, or confused. However, if the worst case scenario is to have a director sit there every month and stay quiet, then I would have to say that the potential benefits outweigh the costs by a significant margin.
Please feel free to post any questions or comments that you have regarding my experiences as a board member. Board member dynamics and recruitment will make up the majority of my presentation at the YES
Justin Ho is a 20 year old board member at the USC Credit Union and also a Gen-Y/Marketing Consultant for Glatt Consulting, LLC.
Debt Ain’t What It Used to Be
“Living with increasingly higher levels of debt has become an accepted normal state of affairs considered an inevitable and likely permanent feature of everyday life.…The social stigma of high debt levels is largely gone,” says Robert D. Manning, PhD, economist and professor of finance at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the author of Credit Card Nation, in a 2005 study commission by LendingTree.com.
Manning has drawn a lot of attention since then for warning about a basic change in attitude among young consumers that leads many of them down “that slippery slope of financial insolvency.”
Generations ago, debt was a necessary evil at best and an indication of a character flaw at worst. But that was before the economic boom of 50 years ago, which released a demand for consumer goods that had been building steam during the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II.
The children of that boom learned to indulge themselves and passed that trait along to their children. In the process a desire to enjoy in a little luxury from time to time turned into a constant sense of entitlement. Now for example, says Manning, “Many students view the use of consumer credit as a reward for their hard work at school.”
What is particularly troubling is the apparent loss of a reality check on Gen Y expectations. Manning notes, “Relatively high starting and early-career salaries among young adults (who have not experienced major macro-economic fluctuations) have created a heightened sense of optimism about future earnings potential.”
Given that many 20-year-olds don’t make a distinction between what they need and what they want, preaching a sermon of sacrifice is unlikely to make many converts to personal financial planning.
What can a financial educator do to motivate young adults?
Manning has drawn a lot of attention since then for warning about a basic change in attitude among young consumers that leads many of them down “that slippery slope of financial insolvency.”
Generations ago, debt was a necessary evil at best and an indication of a character flaw at worst. But that was before the economic boom of 50 years ago, which released a demand for consumer goods that had been building steam during the hardships of the Great Depression and World War II.
The children of that boom learned to indulge themselves and passed that trait along to their children. In the process a desire to enjoy in a little luxury from time to time turned into a constant sense of entitlement. Now for example, says Manning, “Many students view the use of consumer credit as a reward for their hard work at school.”
What is particularly troubling is the apparent loss of a reality check on Gen Y expectations. Manning notes, “Relatively high starting and early-career salaries among young adults (who have not experienced major macro-economic fluctuations) have created a heightened sense of optimism about future earnings potential.”
Given that many 20-year-olds don’t make a distinction between what they need and what they want, preaching a sermon of sacrifice is unlikely to make many converts to personal financial planning.
What can a financial educator do to motivate young adults?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Recruiting Is Fun!
Hello YES CU bloggers and YES Summit Enthusiasts! I am RecruiterGuy, and my goal is to help you attract and retain the 18-30 year old employees. Oh by the way, I am also one of those Old White Guys – OWG’s for you text folks!
We are going to have an interesting morning on Dec. 5th. An organization, any organization, is either growing or it is dying. It’s important to have the seasoning on your team; and it is also important to have the fresh new faces who don’t know what they can’t do – and their accomplishments will sometimes surprise everyone, including themselves.
In our hour together we will discuss two topics that I could speak hours on. So far my PowerPoint presentation is down to 125 slides so get your coffee early and often. You’ll need to listen fast.
And that is one of my points. This generation has grown up with instant gratification. Remember when you had to wait for the tubes in the TV to warm up before you saw the picture? No more. We had to play Monopoly for hours to determine a winner. With today’s video games, I am sometimes defeated before my seat gets warm. Technology comes easily to these candidates – and that’s where you can find them.
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at http://www.recruiterguy.com/.
We are going to have an interesting morning on Dec. 5th. An organization, any organization, is either growing or it is dying. It’s important to have the seasoning on your team; and it is also important to have the fresh new faces who don’t know what they can’t do – and their accomplishments will sometimes surprise everyone, including themselves.
In our hour together we will discuss two topics that I could speak hours on. So far my PowerPoint presentation is down to 125 slides so get your coffee early and often. You’ll need to listen fast.
And that is one of my points. This generation has grown up with instant gratification. Remember when you had to wait for the tubes in the TV to warm up before you saw the picture? No more. We had to play Monopoly for hours to determine a winner. With today’s video games, I am sometimes defeated before my seat gets warm. Technology comes easily to these candidates – and that’s where you can find them.
RecruiterGuy is Bill Humbert, Principal of The Humbert Group, LLC and VP/President-elect of the Iowa Senior Human Resource Association. Check out his Web site at http://www.recruiterguy.com/.
Monday, November 12, 2007
I'm easy ... kind of
I'm 28, and, despite the fact that I ogle the Audi R8 in my spare time, I don't have the money for it. When I shop for a car, I want just two things: 1) a car; 2) a good deal on the car.
To me, a "good deal" puts the best price, the best rate and as few fees as possible in one package. Good credit? Check. Access to pricing info online? Check. The first inkling about what fees a dealer and financer will slip out of my pocket on any given day? Not check.
Now, I can get around that. I can bargain with the best of them. I can demand to see the fee list and bust out the line-item veto. If I really had to, I would. But let's be honest: I just want the car.
Enter Easy Wheels. If I'm a member of Miami University Community FCU, I simply call up the Easy Wheels guy at the credit union. I tell him what I'm looking for, new or used, and he'll get it. Not only that, but he'll get it at a good price because he:
knows the market, knows the dealers, understands why the 2001 Civic EX with sports package should cost about $700 less at resale than the 2002, and has no financial incentive for making me pay more money.
To me, a "good deal" puts the best price, the best rate and as few fees as possible in one package. Good credit? Check. Access to pricing info online? Check. The first inkling about what fees a dealer and financer will slip out of my pocket on any given day? Not check.
Now, I can get around that. I can bargain with the best of them. I can demand to see the fee list and bust out the line-item veto. If I really had to, I would. But let's be honest: I just want the car.
Enter Easy Wheels. If I'm a member of Miami University Community FCU, I simply call up the Easy Wheels guy at the credit union. I tell him what I'm looking for, new or used, and he'll get it. Not only that, but he'll get it at a good price because he:
And it's free! The credit union pays the Easy Wheels guy a flat fee for each deal, and I get my car with no dickering, no arcane fees and no need to tell every sales guy on the lot that "I'm just looking today." The Easy Wheels guy will even drive it to my house.
This even turns the tables on that long-standing indirect member problem. You know, a member "joins" through the dealership and you receive a check, not a relationship, for the duration of the loan. With a service like Easy Wheels and the right word-of-mouth, credit unions can make themselves the starting point for car buying, not just a faceless back-end financer. MUCFCU gets the financing (though, incredibly, they've allowed members to finance elsewhere before), the Easy Wheels guy gets his fee and I get a great deal.
Now, Miami University Community FCU is not the first one to do something like this, but kudos to CEO Rick Parker for making membership demonstrably valuable (and marketing it well). If I lived in Oxford, Ohio, I'd have joined his credit union a long time ago.
Ben Rogers is Driver of the CU Tomorrow project at the Filene Research Institute.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Get Ready... Speakers for Upcoming YES Summit to Post this Month
Final preparations are underway with just over 3 weeks to go before the second annual YES Summit: Serving 18-to-30s . To kick-off the final days before the event, we thought it would be a great idea for some of this year's presenters to share their thoughts and get attendees excited about the event.
This will be an open platform for speakers to share their thoughts. So expect posts ranging from personal insights, thoughts on credit unions, information on Gen Y, and perhaps even a glimpse or two at what speakers will have in store for attendees.
To give you a heads-up, look for posts from the following experts appearing at this year's YES Summit:
- Ben Rogers, Driver of Filene's CU Tomorrow project
- Bill Humbert, employment recruiting expert and CEO of The Humbert Group
- Brent Dixon, Trabian's Chief Creative
- John Donovan, Chief Operating Officer of Lending Club
- Justin Ho, Young Adult Board Member for USC Credit Union
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
RSS
