Superior Member Service. Credit unions outperform banks handily on emotional factors, like trustworthiness and member pride in doing their banking there. But they have fewer advantages in functional categories, like online tools and convenience.

Cross Selling. The report urges credit unions to develop a factually correct explanation of why each of your products is better (or competitive with) that of your a credit union's nearest competitor.

Frontline Behaviors. As many as 40% of front-line workers in retail finance are ill-suited for the job of serving customers. It also costs an institution up to $50,000 in direct and indirect costs to replace a frontline employee.

Employee Buy-In. Compensation is important, but the top three drivers of employee satisfaction aren't monetary. They are an interesting job, managers who provide coaching and are role models, and pleasant job surroundings are pleasant.

Credit unions' basic structure impels them to consider the needs of members before anything else. We suggest that those needs are not always best served by better and better personal service. If they were, credit unions' advantage in satisfaction would become an advantage in market share. Credit unions should treat member satisfaction and improved member experience as means to an end-never as ends in themselves.

The right satisfaction-driven goals will be different for every credit union, but they should include concerns about long-term viability, market share growth, wallet-share growth and sustainable profitability. Member satisfaction efforts that do not consider ROI inflate expenses. With margins thin, and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, credit unions can't afford satisfaction at all costs.

Ben Rogers

Research Director

Filene Research Institute

Madison, Wis.