Let's face it; the forces we are managing as individual creditunions are extremely complicated. Staying on course at any kind ofspeed while buffeted by regulations, consumer expectations,competition, economic conditions, workforce capabilities andcapacities limitations and many other forces is a tall order.

What's more, building and maintaining a business engine (model)that harnesses these forces in the most efficient way possibleis very much like rocket science.

For those who are sticklers on the details I will make it clearthat there really is no such thing as rocket science … it is acolloquial term for aerospace engineering which encompasses thevarious engineering disciplines needed to build spacecraft. Thereis a great entry on aerospace engineering on Wikipedia if you care to knowthe history of the field but I won't go any deeper here. Meanwhile,back to rocket science.

While aerospace engineers work to meld together the solutions tovarious challenges in aerodynamics, propulsion, avionics, fluiddynamics, materials, structural design, fuel chemistry, etc. to geta spacecraft off the ground and safely into space, credit unionleaders face a similarly complicated mix of challenges.

For instance, we face the challenge of providing consumers withconvenience (through a growing number of channels), value (in anever-growing number of definitions) and stability (no morefinancial meltdowns please) while providing members/stockholderswith strong growth and financial results.

Not easy, but considering that engineers had to work out how toignite an extremely dangerous mix of chemicals in a jet engine toproduce 32 million horsepower safely to propel a capsule holdinghuman beings into space I feel confident that the great minds inthe credit union movement can figure out a way to adjust to the newworld we have before us.

To do so however, we all need to come to a realization … and abig one at that. WE CAN NOT BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. There, Isaid it and I feel better for it. Say it a few times out loud and Ithink you will to.

Just as engineers need to understand the purpose of their craftbefore they design and build it, you need to understand who you arebuilding your credit union for … as specifically as possible. Yes,the market you target needs to be big enough to be viable (andhopefully a growing market so it provides for long-term growth),but you need to get out of the mode of targeting an entirecommunity.

Not only is trying to do too many things more complicated, it isa recipe for failure. Take for instance the aeronauticalengineering challenge of the F-35 joint strike fighter. The F-35has run into serious problems during testing as the difficulty ofdesigning for agility AND range, as well as aircraft carrier ANDvertical takeoff and landing (just Google “F-35 problems” for along list of issues) became clear, and the jet is now projected tocost much more and performance will be lower than originallyenvisioned.

Similarly, banks and credit unions struggle to grow by servingthe underserved community and the upscale market. Why should thatbe? Shouldn't a larger market provide more opportunity? Yes … aslong as that market has a specific group of needs that you can meetin a substantially better way than any competitors.

Think about it this way … people don't need a checking account.What they need is a safe way to spend the money they have. Thinkingabout how you help them spend better than anyone else is just thebeginning of targeting a market.

First you have to understand how a 25-year-old risingprofessional spends money compared to a 25-year-old who is employedpart time and living at home. Or how these two compare to amarried 45-year-old with kids. Or a 65-year-old nearing retirement.This is just a small part of how just one product needs to beexamined to see who it serves best and how it can be modified toserve a different segment.

Better than that … decide which aspect of your market you wantto serve and design your entire organization to serve them. VerityCredit Union is making great progress in transforming themselvesinto a credit union that serves moms (yes, women with children)better than anyone else. What a great market to go after … there isa good amount of similarity in needs, the market is always beingrefreshed, and, best of all, no one else is going after it!

So when you sit down to begin your strategic planning this fall… think about who you serve and who you should be serving. A greatplace to start is to look at your current member base and findingout what is the common thread among your best members.

• Who has the most products and services (your most loyalcustomers) and what do they look like demographically?
• Who are your most profitable customers? Why are they profitableand do you like what makes them profitable?
• Who are your most unprofitable customers? Why are they sounprofitable? How are they different from your most loyalcustomers?

With answers to these questions you can begin a greatconversation around who you serve best and who you want to serve …and how you should serve them. Just like an onion, these questionswill create more questions you will want to find answers to.Eventually it should become a lot clearer what kind of spacecraft,I mean credit union, YOU want to build.

Jim Craigis vice president of marketing at the $537 million 1^stAdvantage Federal Credit Union in Yorktown, Va.