NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Forget about branding, storytelling orwhatever the next marketing trend may be.

According to David Baker, principal of management consultingfirm ReCourses Inc. in Nashville, what matters most for creditunions is to think of themselves as not being in the servicebusiness but rather the expertise business.

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“There are three dry cleaners in my neighborhood and if my drycleaner ticks me off then I'll just go to the dry cleaner aroundthe corner. The point is that the only time I care about or noticethose in the service business is when they screw up,” Baker said atthe CU Water Cooler Symposium, which concludes Friday at the FristCenter for the Visual Arts.

“If you are in the expertise business that means you are as aninstitution doing what's right for the consumer even if it meansyou don't make as much money. So members aren't headed to yourcredit union just to park their money but because they need answersto something that's important to them,” Baker said.

One way for that shift to happen starts with having people inthe organization who truly believe in and live the mission, hesaid.

“Those people do a much better job of representing your creditunion as they are out and about in the community than anymarketing,” said Baker. “If you want to change the world, do itfirst with your significant other, second your children, third yourfriends and fourth the people that you manage.”

He added that educating consumers in financial literacy can be agood start to being in the expertise business as most consumersstill aren't able to navigate their finances.