That different course can be seen in a political analogy.

There are relevant lessons that can be learned from the success of Senator Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) presidential campaign strategy. It has succeeded in selling messages for new thinking, change and collaboration with a grass-roots voice. His campaign has affirmed that many disenfranchised people can be mobilized. In particular, a notoriously apathetic demographic, young people, have been successfully engaged. One key to this strategy is the perception of choice--differentiating his message from that of Senator Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.) campaign and from the current administration, which he has convincingly characterized as the same old political model.

Similarly, CUs can apply their community message of cooperative principles in a focused way that sharpens the distinction from the old authoritarian banking model. As in politics, consumers will be more engaged if they perceive a real choice in financial models. A vivid, effective differentiation strategy will help attract more new CU members, including the coveted 25- to 40-year-old demographic.

Why is a new approach necessary? In today's domestic market, most CUs experience eroding membership, especially in younger demographics. We know of several factors for this. The commoditization of financial services makes it difficult for smaller CUs to compete in offering the breadth of products and the type of technology and delivery channels that today's consumers demand. Community chartering has often caused market overlap. In addition, service has become an expectation rather than a differentiator, and consumers want to define service rather than have it defined for them.

Traditional success for CUs has been commonly measured in terms of capital, return on assets, and other financial metrics. Instead, I propose that CUs focus on defining success at higher levels: return to members and return to the community. Then, financial metrics can provide a more valid portrait of sustainable success.

The 90,000-member community-chartered Oregon Community Credit Union in Eugene, where I serve as chief operating officer, provides an example of pursuing this kind of strategy.

When I joined Oregon Community, it enjoyed a strong reputation as a rate leader, service provider and corporate citizen. Like other credit union unions, OCCU had embraced community charter and geographic expansion as vehicles to grow market share and profitability.

In doing so, the organization had also made a conscious decision to pursue three key approaches:

1) Use rate as a revenue growth strategy coupled with an aggressive indirect auto lending strategy,

2) Rely on a traditional customer service model, and

3) Expand the active service area to pursue former members and recapture them.

OCCU discovered that these approaches were not entirely valid for its particular situation. It faced a changing, more competitive and complicated regional market. Consumers had become very accustomed to convenience and habit. As with many parts of the country, financial services in this region had become an errand or commodity rather than a relationship.

A disciple of the collegial CU industry tradition, OCCU's leadership and its culture were not fiercely competitive. They had not identified a need to develop aggressive marketing strategies and tactics. OCCU was not sophisticated in techniques for brand promotion, competitive positioning, identifying high-value market segments, detailed demographic analysis, data mining and proactive customer relationship management. Its previous model and success did not depend on these elements.

OCCU realized that many of its members enjoyed only a limited relationship and, as a result, most accounts were marginally profitable; penetration of our core market was too shallow. In addition, efforts to differentiate itself in a relatively crowded market turned out to be expensive.

With the audacity to change their approach, OCCU chose to embrace a bold strategy of putting the "community" back in the community CU image and develop a more competitive position with a revitalized brand.

Our approach evolved into what became a six-point plan:

-Embrace a sales and service culture. Make frontline employees and the branch managers key to customer service (as well as brand evangelism and, when applicable, product promotion).

-Reconnect with business partners that had been neglected in OCCU's conversion to community charter in 2000.

-Reach out to communities through monetary investment, community involvement, and individual volunteerism.

-Embrace an initiative to define a core member strategy of current and future members whose values, interests and long-term profitability resonate with the CU's.

-Evaluate the retail strategy to include products and services, delivery channels, as well as compensation, performance management and measurement, and related systems.

During this three-year journey to implement this plan, it became clear that OCCU could grow its membership by presenting compelling value propositions instead of targeting or trying to emulate other institutions (whether banks or credit unions). It became apparent that the CU industry must rise above the acrimonious and dualistic mode of thinking: CUs battling banks.

That does not mean that business concepts such as profitability, market share, competitive research, marketing strategies, and related ideas should be rejected or marginalized. Many corporate and bank strategies are relevant to the CU industry. If a CU is not sustainable it cannot serve anyone.

A work in progress since 2005, the OCCU strategy has gained 4,000 new members and a 21% growth in asset base, including $150 million in net revenue from a new-product strategy and launch. The work continues but the lessons learned are clear.

Even with its accomplishments as a revitalized brand based on a new paradigm, OCCU has not arrived at its ideal position. There are still course corrections, restructuring and costs associated with shifting to the new model. It will also require improved business intelligence, properly deployed technology, and continued leadership with the courage to achieve sustainable success.

Instant Insights /

Credit Unions Need a New Paradigm to Fulfill Their Original Mission

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