Considering the tech explosion in Twitter, texting, mobile banking and social networking, credit union managers are making a grave mistake in cutting back on strategic planning and training, a Dallas CU marketer/consultant and author involved in the business maintained Thursday.
"If we start imposing restrictions this year and next, that makes two years we don't send our staff to conferences and with all that is happening, that will be costly to this industry," warned Mark Arnold, senior vice president of Neighborhood CU of Dallas, and author of "Think Huge" a new book on marketing and professional goal setting,
Arnold, speaking this week to the annual Fall Institute conference of the Mid-America Credit Union Association in Rapid City, S.D., said he has witnessed a 25% cutback by CU clients on both in-house and off-site strategic planning and training sessions held for staffs and boards.
He singled out two CUs in which CEOs have gone against the trend and made a point this year of conducting those sessions. They are Heart of Louisiana FCU in Alexandria and Linn Area CU of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
In his South Dakota remarks, Arnold, a former marketer of the year and author of two other marketing books, stressed the need for CUs to invoke personal and professional "passion" to their jobs and avoid "trying to be all things to all people."
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