SAN DIEGO – The opening of the Carmel Mountain Ranch branch isliterally a dream come true for USE Credit Union President/CEOLinda Baughman. “I'm a 30 year banking veteran and even before Icame here to the credit union I'd been thinking about how torevolutionize what goes on in a branch,” said Baughman. “That oldplatform and branch design had not changed for years but I knewsociety, people and cultures have changed and the system of how webank was in need of a complete rehaul.” The credit union's size,Baughman says, made it easier to try something new than it would befor any of the mega-banks like Bank of America. Conducting years ofresearch, drawing from her prior experience, looking to retailenvironments like Starbucks or Gap and thinking about membermovement within a space and meeting member needs all helpedBaughman develop plans for a new “one-stop banking” approach to thebranch experience. At the heart of this concept are dialogue pods,which replace the traditional multiple teller station counter.Operated by “universal” staffers, who can handle a variety oftransactions from routine transactions to opening a new account orapplying for a loan, the “pods” are designed to breakdown the usualdivision between various departments within the branch. In thisbranch the only “specialty” zone is reserved for mortgage loanofficers. “I'm the worst customer for any retail service and I havea low tolerance for things that don't make sense. So when westarted thinking about member interactions I know it frustrates meas a consumer if after conducting transactions with a teller I thenhave to go to a waiting area to talk to someone else about a loanapplication,” said Baughman. “In this model everyone iscross-trained and it made sense that since a mortgage loan is morecomplicated there would be people dedicated to that but if there isa line they too are able to step in and run some transactions. Theidea is to build relationships through more personal andcomfortable interactions.” Dialogue pods include frosted glass forprivacy and a computer screen that swivels so that member andstaffer work side by side to accomplish transactions. “What's greatabout the pods is that it gives members a sense that they own theirdata-we're not hiding it and from a privacy perspective thedistance between pods is three times the distance at a standardteller window,” said Baughman. The branch design continues theopen, retail feel with a children's play area complete with beanbags and books, an Internet cyber caf and a financial informationcenter featuring printed selections from USE CU's consumerfinancial education program “Money Matters with Linda B.”Baughman's program, which helps consumers up their financial IQairs on San Diego's News Radio AM 600, KOGO and KGTV Channel 10 aswell as wsradio.com, which broadcasts worldwide on the Internet.Splashed with USE CU's brand colors of red, black and silver, thebranch also uses red drop lights and contemporary red leatherchairs to further create a bistro ambiance that invitesconversation. The wall art of a five-foot brushed aluminum penguinlogo and four-foot service quality seal help visually reinforce thecredit union's brand commitment to “Unbeatable Service Excellence.”The tuxedo-clad penguin has been USE CU's brand icon for a fewyears says Baughman. “In addition to looking like they are ready toserve, penguins are the most social of animals and they operate asa team if a group of penguins moves and one gets separated thewhole herd stops and goes back to find their missing member,” saidBaughman. “It is that sense of belonging we want our members tohave and as a financial cooperative the sum of the whole is greaterthan its parts. Membership means something and we want to be theirtrusted financial partner and show them the value of belonging.”The Carmel Mountain Ranch branch will be a prototype for newbranches. As for the existing branches, while not every USE CUbranch can fit dialogue pods or kids' areas, Baughman says theone-stop banking concept can and will be applied across allbranches. By the end of 2006 all branch staffers will becomeuniversal service representatives. “We make the most use of staffand in the long term what we hope to gain is to eliminate thestigma of `I'm just a teller' and help cut down on tellerturnover,” said Baughman. “We tested this in a Sacramento branchthat had a fixed teller line but the staff was cross trained to doit all and they have doubled their projections. Once you developrelationships and one person can do anything the member needs, thatis what happens.” A team environment is also important to providingwhat Baughman describes as richer relationships with members and tothat end the new facility includes a warm, spacious staff room.“Too often the staff room feels like a space that was just crammedin as an afterthought,” said Baughman. “We wanted this to be anenvironment that encourages brainstorming and teamwork. Too oftenthere is a separation of the operations and lending world-thatwouldn't work here with the fullness of the staff's job the wholegroup has to work as one and be ready to help out whenever andwherever needed. Building the interpersonal staff relationshipshelps build the staff-member relationships.” Baughman says thecollaborative atmosphere helped make this branch design and buildthe smoothest yet. “We had everyone together in the actual spacefrom the very beginning,” said Baughman. “The internal USE CU team,vendors, construction and design folks, telecommunicationspeople-we had them all onsite on specific days-that way with theinput we didn't end up with a plug where it wasn't needed, etc.”Rather than rush to open by a set deadline, Baughman says the teamfocused on taking the time to “open right without sabotaging whatwe were working on accomplishing.” Staffers completed an additionaltwo weeks of in-branch training to ensure there were no opening dayglitches and to work on their flow and member approach. “We wantedto make sure that when a member walks through the door they don'tfeel like they are under assault and need a shield,” said Baughman.“So we ran through a few role play scenarios during training sostaffers would think of the branch as a family room and welcome themember as a friend who just walked through the door.” While thebranch officially opened its doors in October with festivitiesincluding performances by members of a local Rock and Tumble Gym;live remote radio broadcasts; free food provided by a localpizzeria and demonstrations by the local fire station; a ribboncutting ceremony was recently held on Nov. 3. In addition to toursof the new facility, the reception featured live entertainment,hors d'oerves and complimentary drinks including the credit union'ssignature red Penquintini. “We are lucky to have such an amazingmarketing team in-house,” said Baughman. “They came up with theidea of having signature drinks a few years ago at a branch inChula Vista. Since that branch would serve a huge Hispaniccommunity we had signature margaritas and the members loved it. Itwent over so well they came up with the Penguintini for thisbranch.” Baughman says while it is still early the member responsehas been only positive and members have been saying they'd stop inthe branch just to have their coffee. [email protected]