Discover What Members Really Want – Podcast

Tansley Stearns, Chief Impact Officer at Filene Research Institute, joins the podcast to discuss the importance of live observational research in discovering what members really want. You’ll learn about a metric that may be more predictive than NPS, why Tansley believes iteration is the real gift of the digital age, and what she considers to be the key pillars of engaging Millennials.

Cameron’s Top Seven Takeaways:

1. Put the member on speakerphone through observational research. As humans, we’re terrible at predicting what we’re going to do, so you have to observe people in action instead of simply asking them.
2. Train your call center folks on how to use the website! It’s one of the most common things a member needs help with, but the people they call often aren’t familiar with the website themselves.
3. Make it easy, easy, easy to contact a real person. When targeting younger members, we often think they want to do everything online – but studies show that when they don’t feel confident, they want the option to call or visit someone in person.
4. The real gift of the digital age is iteration. You don’t have to do a massive campaign; instead you can start something today and improve it every day.
5. Ease of use may be an even more important metric than NPS. It is predictive of people’s willingness to come back and refer others, so always ask yourself: Is this making members’ lives easier or harder?
6. Show off a little. Credit unions fit exactly what young people say they want – the challenge is that credit unions aren’t well known in younger generations because of a lack of marketing. It wasn’t as necessary in the days of the SEG-based model, but today it’s the only way to gain new members.
7. The key to engaging Millennials is showing them that you’re serious about involving them. Get Millennials involved in leadership positions and on the board at an advisory level. Show them the impact they can have at the credit union and in the community.