Want to grow your credit union?

First step, get over the stigma and negative connotationsassociated with the word 'sales.'

“Everyone will tell you they hate sales for xyz reasons or theythink of that stereotypical used car salesman,” said EvanHitchcock, marketing and business development manager at the$166 million E-Central Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif.

“What you're doing is providing a service. It's really a matterof asking the right questions to understand their needs and makingthe right recommendation to help them,” Hitchcock said. “It'ssomething that, in reality, is done every day with your spouse, ona date and in the workplace.”

Simply put, once the connection has been made that sales peopleare, in fact, professionals who provide a solution or help otherssolve a problem they can be respected just as much as an attorney,CPA or doctor, Hitchcock explained.

“It's an evolution and requires constant coaching and yes,selling them on the benefits of providing solution based services,”he added. “I view business development as the outside sales forceof the organization and a mobile extension of the brand.”

In simplistic terms, business development is another word forsales; and, sales is a function of marketing, Hitchcock said. Bothdepartments have to be in sync with each other to fulfill the brandpromise of the organization and to meet corporate goals.

For example, if loan growth is a primary marketing objective,then business development should focus on acquiring select employeegroups that are more likely to have employees who borrow.

The demographics of SEGs can vary depending on the type ofbusiness and employee population. Therefore, some employees couldbe good borrowers at one company, while another company could be agreat place to target checking accounts.

“When I came to the credit union nine years ago, theorganization did not have an incentive plan or even a businessdevelopment plan for that matter,” Hitchcock recalled.

In the beginning, E-Central's  goals were a simple partof a building block to a more robust program, he said. Today,business development representatives have monthly goals forchecking accounts, home and auto loans and new deposits. Thesegoals are tied to the credit union's organizational growthgoals.

Hitchcock said the biggest challenges were getting the team tobuy into the plan and change its approach to sales.

“Business development had to be more than handing out brochuresand signing a few members up,” said Hitchcock. “We wanted them tobe engaged at the beginning of the new member cycle to improvecross selling ratios and an overall product penetration.”

As a big believer in building relationships face to face atE-Central, the business model incorporates multiple onsite visitsat targeted SEGs. Serving some 600 SEGs, the team goes regularlyout in the field. Through data research, business development teamshave been able to identify which SEGs have employees who have ahigher propensity to be good borrowers.

“Organizationally, we've been successful in promoting autorefinance and when we visit a company, we look to build instantvalue by helping an employee save money on their auto loan,” saidHitchcock. “In many cases, the employee was just planning to open asavings or checking and we cross sold them a loan.”

As the credit union works through the employee population tohelp more people, it shares its success stories with the SEG'shuman resources department and upper management. This reinforcesour relationship with the organization and positions us for futuresales, Hitchcock said.

As society has become increasingly mobile and connected throughsmart phones and social media, Hitchcock said business developmenthas to adopt new ways to reach out to new SEGs and new members.

Reaching out to members also has also kept $562 million TropicalFinancial Federal Credit Union busy as it has found a way to rideall the publicity garnered from Bank Transfer Day.

According to Amy McGraw, vice president of marketing at theMiramar, Fla.-based credit union, the Swipe Where it Countscampaign has been a great success. Not only has it continued tohelp the credit union grow but it has also affected the averagenumber of swipes members do in a month.

“Prior to launching the Swipe promotion back in October, ourmembers were averaging less than 11 swipes [per] month,” saidMcGraw. “Since the launch of the campaign, the members who havejoined the credit union are now swiping an average of just under 17swipes [per] month.”

The original promotion was set to expire on April 30, but due toits great success, McGraw said it has been adopted as a permanentfeature to new checking accounts. Now, any new checking accountwill have an opportunity to earn up to $5 each month for the firstsix months.

“We were able to leverage the media coverage we received fromBank Transfer Day to continue the conversation with local media aswell as potential members in the marketplace by using the Swipecampaign as our vehicle,” said McGraw.

Tropical Financial has not let up in its messaging oradvertising since October and the results have been phenomenal, shesaid. Prior to October, the credit union was averaging 400 newaccounts each month. Since October, that average has shot up to672.

McGraw said that since the media isn't done with the banks,marketers need to be diligent to opportunities as they presentthemselves.

“We need to be very careful of our messaging.  Tomaintain our credibility as a trusted financial partner we need tobe up front and transparent as possible,” she suggested. “We alsostill need to keep a watchful eye on the social space and how it'sbeing utilized and leveraged.”

McGraw said even if marketers choose not to engage, they shouldremember that the social space is an excellent place to look to geta temperature reading on how the public feels about issues and whataffects them.

“With advances in technology moving at such a rapid pace, we ascredit unions need to keep pace to stay competitive; even if theycan't offer the same level of technology as the big banks, findways to focus on what you do have and communicate those benefitsoften,” Hitchcock said.

With credit unions at the height of popularity, now is the timeto act.

“Be loud and be proud. Now is not the time to take the if webuild it, they will come approach. We may never get anotheropportunity like this again,” McGraw said.