CU outlines its membership growth strategies

LAS VEGAS (6/8/07)--"We implore you to stop ignoring the obvious, that pink elephant in the room, and recognize that the immigrant and Hispanic population (in the U.S.) is growing."

So said Warren Morrow, a principal of Coopera Consulting, a firm that assisted Veridian CU, Waterloo, Iowa, with its strategies to attract diverse membership growth.

Coopera, formerly Diverse Innovative Solutions, opened the Wednesday morning Thought Leader Session, "Membership Growth Strategies: Attracting the Nontraditional Market," at America's Credit Union Conference & Expo (ACUC&E). ACUE&E, sponsored by the Credit Union National Association, ended Wednesday in Las Vegas.

Sharing ideas on how to attract diverse markets were Morrow, Max Cardenas, also a principal at Coopera; Jean Trainor, CEO; DyAnn Longseth, senior vice president marketing; and Wanda Birdsong, manager of community development, all with Veridian CU.

Veridian singled out three groups it wanted to attract: people with disabilities, Hispanics, and lower-income households.

"Banks don't want to serve the underserved; they're obligated and have to because of the Community Reinvestment Act," said Trainor. "Credit unions want to serve this market but we have a tougher leap to get to the 'needs to serve this market' spot. Credit unions have opportunities to be in that sweet spot."

Among their advice:

  • Start with the right organizational attitude and believe that the credit union can do it.

  • Adapt to the market, instead of waiting for the market to adapt to you.

  • Make the market feel welcome. Focusing on a group, instead of welcoming the individual excludes other groups. Make each individual feel welcome not because they are part of a group but because you want to serve that person.

  • Build a business case for inclusion of the underserved to counter risk managers and others who question the group's impact on the bottom line.

  • Examine through partners and research the "four P's": personnel, products, process and promotion.

  • In promotional materials, be wary of merely slapping a Spanish translation onto an English version. Make sure any translation includes a cultural translation vs. a literal translation.

  • To attract Hispanics, keep it simple, avoid the fluff. They want to know how much their payment will be, the rate of the loan, and the due date.

  • Don't market to new groups if you don't have the staff to back up your claims.

  • Know who you need to know to develop a program.

  • Train all staff in the cultures of members the credit union is serving.

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