Strategic Online Banking Tactics
We've talked about blueprints a lot over the past few years, all for good purpose. Construction projects fail without blueprints. Businesses crumble when there is no blueprint to serve as the guiding strategy underlying the business plan. In this edition let's scale back from the blueprint needed to build an enterprise, to a roadmap, better suited to get you from point A to point Z. This month we examine one of the most indispensable systems in your CU*Answers suite of products, online banking.
Why relate this examination to a roadmap? Because this level of detail best helps forge a path to a broader, more productive product base. A roadmap gives you the big picture. Shows where you are, what roads to travel, and even the roads you want to avoid. The same is true when determining the best products for online banking, how to draw your members to those products, win their trust - and ultimately the sale.
As you go through these questions, envision what you want your online banking service to look like in six months, in a year, in three years. What products will you offer? What services does CU*Answers have that your members want?
What products and services can you promote to lower credit union postage expenses?
Postage rates just increased another 2 cents for a standard letter with plans to raise rates every May for at least the next few years. We are all aware of e-statements, e-notices, and e-alerts. What about other ways to save that are not so obvious?
What is the best way to encourage an online banker to surf your web page?
Have you stopped on the online banking page, long enough to read the content on that page? How long has it been since you've checked out the valuable security information supplied online where it's available 24/7?
What are the five best practices for encouraging member participation with bill pay?
Bill pay is hot! The excitement doesn't end at saving a postage stamp. What are you portraying to your members so they jump on to the road and use bill pay every month? Does your credit union offer bill pay?How can you encourage members to buy a product on-line?
It's time to investigate products and services to put on your roadmap. What insights can you foster now to offer profitable options to your members in the coming months?What are the tricks in making a member service team responsive to online members?
Out of sight out of mind? Not on your watch! As more and more members gravitate toward self-service, the face of your credit union is seen through the pages of online banking. This question goes far beyond the style and layout of the webpage. Assuming you have established trust among your online members and they are satisfied with the security of their data, now what? How do you maintain a persistent relationship, now that they rarely visit your branch?Where's your roadmap?
When you plan a roadtrip, you don't jump in the car with a map printed in 1950. Of course not! That same philosophy applies to products and services of your credit union. You want to provide resourceful, easy to use products, tooled with the newest technology; like those built in to online banking.
Online banking enhancements are constantly under development, providing the sustaining force that drives incremental use by current members and grabs the attention of potential members. You might be struggling with decisions of what online product selections should be offered.
When you look at your current list of online banking products, do you have what you need to move forward to the next coordinate on your map? Don't let a lack of products offered via online banking be your albatross. You see products on the road and know they could benefit your membership, but your vision is blurred and you don't know how to make them reality.
If this is true, if you need a nudge to get onto the right road toward a future destination, now's the time to start. Call CU*Answers to ask about adding to your portfolio of products and services. Contact your peers to discuss decisions they've made that are similar to yours.
Navigation is so much easier when you've got the right map.
