We live in amazing times! Where else can a 14 year-old kid figure out how to save millions in printer ink just by changing the font (Hint: Garamond). I am always encouraged by stories like this…and there are so many more these days. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Contrast that with someone I overheard last week saying, “striving is so passe”.
I consider myself a keen observer of what is abundant as well as what is absent. This attention to detail is part of my DNA as well as years of business/life experience. That’s a formidable combination and not to be taken lightly. I’m convinced it’s what makes me uniquely qualified to do what I do…coach others.
How do I know this? Good coaches tend to make people uncomfortable as they force tough choices. People in turn like to put labels on that experience. The one I hear most often is cynical. If you look that word up you’ll find they are right—moving people away of self-centered thought. When I hear that, it’s a compliment!
You certainly don’t have to believe my claims so here’s a story, which presents an opportunity for you to react and respond, and then decide whether I am a cynic or perhaps one of the best coaches you have ever met.
The Local Credit Union
As a former banker I have always been intrigued by this hold credit unions tend to have on the population. Even banks have come to regard them as formidable competition and not surprisingly, many former banker colleagues have gone to work for credit unions. I had an opportunity to purchase a car recently and decided to bypass the usual auto finance company in favor of a local credit union.
Applied, approved and made an appointment to complete the process. Showed up on time and then…waited.
And waited. Until I saw the security guard saunter across the parking lot holding his Starbucks. He unlocked the door and went to his post locking the door behind him. Now I’m confused because my 9:00 AM appointment is now approaching 9:10 and I’m thinking I got this all-wrong. I double-checked my appointment as well as the time they opened.
No, I’m right. So I go back to the door and pulled realizing it will make noise since it’s locked. Someone comes to the door from behind the counter to open and asks me what I need…to which I announce my appointment and myself. She lets me in and locks the door and I ask,
“What time do you open?”
She replies, 9:00 AM.
I counter, “It’s 9:10!”
She says, “Oh.”
That’s it. Oh!
End of story, I got my loan, and that was it. No attempt to cross-sell, no attempt to find out about the rest of my banking relationship. A cordial dismissal came with ‘call me if I can answer any other questions as I’m always here’…as in I have no life outside this job.
As I drove away I couldn’t help but think these folks need sales coaching and perhaps even more basic than that…being genuinely interested in generating new business. So I sent a short note to the Director of HR suggesting that as a coach I might be able to help. It was met with a positive response and the word, “appalled”, and a “let’s talk” reply.
I responded suggesting a phone appointment, followed by a time convenient to her. So I call…she said she can’t talk at that moment and to call after 3 PM. I did, which went to VM. I called three more times over the next week. No response. It went from “I’m appalled” to nothing in just two short weeks.
She must have concluded that I was a cynic or worse. Why else would you not want to hear from a new customer?
And so you’re asking what causes this? Lack of leadership, enthusiasm, passion, focus, training, or having the right people? Give me 5 minutes and I can tell you, just not right here.
Perhaps this “new normal” or Great Recession has spawned an attitude that things are so bad I don’t have to perform at a high level. You would be so wrong!
The leadership of this organization probably spends a good portion of their advertising budget trying to woo new customers. They also pay a security guard to drink coffee and a new accounts representative to cement relationships. I won’t begin to relate my follow-up experience with Member Services. So let’s just call this merchandising, certainly not selling. Curious about who this is? I’m much more into fixing problems than fixing blame, so it really doesn’t matter.
An aberration? Perhaps. Can’t say as I don’t go there every day, but it doesn’t speak well for the future.
They are not unlike many businesses that set out to grow and by their mission statement want to do the right thing. It all unravels when employees choose to “quit, then stay”.
Businesses go out of business all the time. The earth doesn’t shake and smoke never appears on the horizon. The list of them is endless.
But it doesn’t happen quite the way you think.
It happens SUDDENLY one customer-client at a time!
Swimming Upstream 
Sorry your first experience in “Credit Union Land” was so dismal, Larry. You’ll find that, just like in banking, there are credit unions with strong sales cultures and lots of accountability, and other credit unions without much of either. There are CU’s with core values lived out daily, and others that just give that sort of thing lip service. There are multi-billion dollar credit unions, and (I’m not making this up) home-based credit unions, along with everything in between. Regardless of size, as in banking, it usually comes down to the quality of management. Sounds like the credit union that has you as a new, not-so-proud member, could use a bit of a shake up.
Ed, it always comes down to management and making the vision come alive on a daily basis. My experience was still positive, it just didn’t match up well with the advertising!
Larry, as you know I have worked for over 35 years with Savings and Loans, Commercial Banks (International, National, and Community), and Credit Unions. I have worked in management as well as consulting. As in everything, I am certain there exist credit unions that are doing a superb job with member services. I can also relate from my consulting experience that while many credit unions want to hang with the “Big Dogs”, they are unwilling to embrace new paradigms to do so. In my experience, I feel the recent upheaval in our financial markets, especially as relates to the larger banks, created a window of opportunity for credit unions to emerge stronger, larger, and more profitable. I also know that window will close quickly if they do not address those areas where that opportunity exists. We often found areas where we could immediately assist credit unions in creating opportunity but often found our direction fell on deaf ears of top management. I hope your work serves as a wake up call for those who choose to excel, to ensure they “stay, not quit”.
Thanks, Mike. Well said!
Hi Larry
I am sorry to hear that you had such a negative set of experiences with this company. I like how you related how the staff involved “quit” – quit doing their jobs, quit being concerned with their customers and the impact their actions (or lack thereof) were impacting their business. I’m hoping that the credit union will eventually get in touch with you about how they can help their staff “stay”; stay focused on their personal missions and that of the company so they can increase their standing with customers.
Rancy, it wasn’t as much a negative experience as it was surprising. I guess the point of the story was not to indict credit unions, it was to illustrate that we make choices every day to show up at work and do our very best. It could have easily been a story about a restaurant or visiting a doctor. I hope that came through. If it didn’t then as a writer I should be faulted.
Sadly, this story could have all the basic elements switched out and still ring true. What happened here is repeated in every place in every industry every day. Suzanne and I always look at each other and say, “Really?”