Archive for Kirstin

| April 25, 2012
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Banking is not a place we go anymore, it’s something we do.

Originally published on CUinsight.com.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending an eye-opening lecture from one of the financial services world’s most innovative thought leaders, Mr. Brett King, author of Bank 2.0, at the 2012 NAFCU CEOs and Senior Executives Conference.  It was interesting to see the reactions of a room full of credit union executives as he explained why the basic principle that many of them have built their credit unions on – that a physical branch is essential to growth and stellar service – is no longer a universal truth. Brett’s point was that computers, smart phones and the Internet have fundamentally changed the behavior of members. That is, how you take care of your financial services is becoming far more significant than where you take care of your financial services. Read more

Category: Growth & Retention, Management & Operations, Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
| February 15, 2012
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3 Tips to Address the Social Media Resources Question from Management

Originally published on CUinsight.com.

In honor of Social Media Week (Feb 13 – 17), I want to offer some helpful tips to social media champions that are struggling to get upper-level support to move their credit union into the new millennium of marketing (and attract the new millennium of membership while they’re at it).

Putting aside the obvious question of ROI – One of the most common and major roadblocks for gaining management support for a social media strategy at your credit union stems from two simple questions: 1.) How are we going to come up with the content to share? 2.) Who has the hours of extra time to create it? Read more

Category: Marketing | Tags:
| January 17, 2012
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Help members calculate their savings for America Saves Week and year-round

Three years ago NAFCU Services decided to offer a solution to credit unions that would a.) help their members manage their personal finance goals; b.) help credit unions engage members and provide value; c.) reinforce the value proposition of credit unions; and d.) attract prospective credit union members to our credit union locator site, CULookup.com, to learn about credit unions and find one they can join. That solution is financial calculators for both credit union websites and for CULookup.com.

I’m happy to say the financial calculators we developed on CULookup.com have been successful on all four counts – but perhaps one of the most important benefits the calculators can have is their influence on member saving. With America Saves Week just around the corner (Feb. 19-26), I took a look at my own personal savings goals in the past year and how important setting and achieving those goals has been – and you can see how online calculators have helped every step of the way. Read more

Category: Growth & Retention | Tags: , , ,
| November 21, 2011
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I’m thankful for my husband, my puppies and pumpkin pie

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought it was important to make sure we stop and remember the important things in life. And I don’t mean how to generate new income – yes, that’s important, but I mean the MOST important things in life. Don’t think about the morning rush hour, the endless inbox, the nagging bills, next year’s budget, and anything else that puts your mind on overdrive these days.

Instead, take a moment to think about why we do it. Why do we endure the rush hour (or hours if you’re in a city like D.C.), dive into those stress-inducing emails, and agonize over bills, projects, or what have you, just to then wake up the next day to do it all over again? It’s a means to an end – our happy end – to the things we are thankful for each and every day and the things that put a smile on our face when our day has given us no reason to have it there. Read more

Category: Other Fun Stuff |
| November 9, 2011
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A Year-End IRA Program Checklist for Your Credit Union

It’s almost December, which means it’s time for “making a list and checking it twice”—a task that doesn’t apply only to your holiday gift list! Taking the appropriate year-end steps at your credit union in these final months of the year can help ensure smooth sailing for the upcoming tax reporting season.

We reached out to our IRA experts at Ascensus, to get the skinny on what your credit union should start thinking about doing now and in December to make sure you’re in good shape for the busy IRA distribution and reporting season coming up. We made the list, now you check it twice! Read more

Category: Management & Operations | Tags: ,
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