More and more credit union marketers have been taking a secondlook at their existing membership to find ways to deepen thoserelationships.

For some, the most basic steps can sometimes deliver bigresults.

At Montana 1st Credit Union, that turned out to be a simplepre-screen done in conjunction with 1% cash back rebates for thosewho moved their auto or personal loan to the Missoula, Mt.-basedcooperative.

According to Tyler Disburg, assistant vice president at the $60million credit union, with the pre-screen, those who qualifiedwould get a lower rate and those who didn’t would get the same lowrate offered to everyone. In just five business days, Montana 1stdid some $1.7 million in loans.

“Our rate was already very low, we just took it a step furtherby pre-qualifying members so they were basically alreadypre-approved and we billed it as a no hassle loan. Come in and giveus five minutes and they’d walk out with the loan,” saidDisburg.

“We’d do all the legwork so all they’d have to do is sign tofund the loan. For the past two years, we hadn’t moved the ball,never gaining ground on lending. This was the first quarter we wereable to move that forward,” Disburg said.

He said the “hassle-free” element was vital to the campaign’ssuccess.

“Consumers’ perception of banking is that it is very difficultso we made sure hassle-free rang true in every bit of messaging andthat we lived up to it. We got the payoffs, called them to come inand sign the paperwork,” said Disburg. “All we do is focus onincreasing our share of wallet and to deepen our relationships. Ourletter to members let them know if they are interested, thepaperwork is already done and that I think was another reason itwas so well received.”

He added that it when it came to lending, it took quite a fewmisses before finally being able to hit one out of the park.

“The best advice I can offer is to get past the barrier toentry; that consumer perception that they are in for a long,arduous task and that banking is something you leave to when youhave time, which never happens, or you just take the first offerthat comes to you,” Disburg said. “The way you get past that is byshowing it not just saying it. So yes, it takes way more commitmentand front end work on the part of staff, but the rewards arethere.”

Over at Eagle Community Credit Union in LakeForest, Calif., quarterly lunch-and-learns has helped more thandouble its new federal employee membership compared to 2010.

“One of our branches is in a federal building, which iswonderful. Hosting the quarterly sessions has really helped usinteract with more of the employees in that building,” said EmilyFriesen, vice president of marketing at the $196 million creditunion. “The employees absolutely love it. Each session is full, wehave grown membership, and best of all, it's helped us build strongrelationships that opened a lot of doors for our businessdevelopment team.”

She added that Eagle Community has also made the most of its Visa program byhighlighting its relatively unique fixed rate creditcards.

“Members love it and we have had success just through awarenesscampaigns [and] educating members that we have a fixed-rate cardavailable,” said Friesen.

The credit union just wrapped up a dual promotion that offered2.9% balance transfers and 0% on gas and groceries. Friesen said byrunning the promotions concurrently, the credit union was able toboth increase balances and shift behavior to have its Visa be theirgo-to card. She said in 75 days, Eagle Community grew its entireVisa portfolio by 25% and increased monthly new Visa growth by morethan 300%.

She said the renewed focus on existing members this year andincreasing products per household has paid off. It’s not just amarketing initiative, she explained, but rather anorganization-wide goal that has buy-in from every employee, whichhas made all the difference.

Meanwhile, a closer look at its select employee groups hashelped GEMC Federal Credit Union in Tucker, Ga., identify a greenlending opportunity. The $81 million credit union has found successwith its HomePlus Loan program, which was designed to help localfamilies not only save energy but money as well. GEMC FCU hasbooked over $6.5 million in loans since launching the program lastsummer.

With SEGs of electrical cooperatives inthroughout Georgia, the credit union said it recognized theopportunity that existed in helping encourage consumers to purchaseand install energy efficient home improvement products.

“We got it up off the ground in about two months. With fundingby a federal grants program consumers can finance up to $5,500 inenergy efficient improvements at 0% [annual percentage rate] for 36months,” said Denise Swan, CEO of GEMC FCU.

The program has taken on about 1,700 new members and has helpedthe credit union’s loan growth bring in about 10% over the year,she added.

Swan said the relationship with the SEGs has been the key to theprogram’s success. Many of the heating and air contractors wouldspread the word about the program through their websites toconsumers and when they were called out to their homes.

“It’s a great program that we plan to continue even after thestimulus funds expire with different interest rates and terms thatare not as formal as they are now,” said Swan.

The $133 million Public Service Credit Union in Romulus, Mich., also took adifferent approach to growth when its advertising budget cut nearlyall broadcast funds for 2011.

“One of the best things we did at PSCU was to reignite our SEGs.Not only SEGs that had been part of the credit union for years, butalso looking at our commercial accounts and approaching them aspotential SEGs,” said Amy McGraw, who served as marketing directorat the credit union until she recently became the vice president ofmarketing at Miramar, Fla.-based TropicalFinancial Credit Union.

“We also utilized branch managers to reach out to theirsurrounding communities for new SEG [and] commercial accountopportunities,” McGraw said. “We introduced new marketing materialsand pop-up displays for each branch manager. We also looked to ourcommunity partners as potential SEGs.”

According to McGraw, the effort proved wildly successful thanksto the commitment and dedication of Linda Wallace, vice presidentof operations, and Bettye Misuraca, business development manager.As of September the credit union had grown by more than 5% withvirtually no external, traditional forms of advertising.