LONG BEACH, Calif.–One presenter addressing credit unions here began with a magic trick that involved the number of people in the room with the number of members who belong to one audience member’s CU that, when added together, added up to the exact minute in time the presenter was speaking. It created the kind of experience that led to the types of questions every credit union should be getting, according to the presenter: “How did you do that?” and, “Can you do it again?” according to the presenter.
“Meeting an expectation can almost be like doing nothing at all,” said Jon Petz. “It’s ‘How do we create those moments?’ In business and in life we want to conquer relationships to succeed, but in reality the most impactful moments are also the simplest moments for those we serve.”
Petz, a corporate sales executive, host of a podcast, author of three books and, as he demonstrated, a magician, spoke to those questions in remarks to NAFCU’s annual convention here. (Later in his presentation he had an audience member sign a $100 bill that he then revealed was inside a lemon he sliced open.)
“If you want to create these intentional, organic moments what does that model look like? Asked Petz. “The first element is you identify a moment and then you have to deliver in that moment in a unique way. You have to appreciate it on the tail end of what it means for your team.”
It comes down to not the extraordinary moments, but the ordinary moments that can be made extraordinary, he explained.
An Example Takes Flight
As an example, he shared the story of a commercial airline pilot on a flight he was taking who stepped to the podium in the gatehouse and announced to everyone that it was his “second flight.” And then after a pause, he added, “today.”
In an industry in which a blindfolded passenger would be unable to tell one airline from another, he shared the story of that pilot who went to extraordinary lengths to make his trips memorable. The pilot distributed postcards to all passengers with a picture of and information on the Boeing 727. Petz introduced himself to the pilot and asked him why he did what he did, and the pilot explained he wanted his flights to be “different.”
To that end, the pilot would call the parents of children flying alone to assure them he would get their child safely to their destination. He shot photos of passengers’ pets in the luggage hold of the aircraft and then showed them to the passengers to reassure them.
In Petz’s case, he sent a handwritten note on a business card to him at his seat (see photo).
The pilot’s effect on Petz turned out not to be a singular thing. When the pilot was retiring making his last flight, people paid to be passengers on the flight even though they had no business in the departure or destination cities.
Didn’t ‘Cost a Dime, But…’
“None of these cost a dime, but it was about identifying the simple moments of those you serve,” said Petz. “What if we just bump that bar up just a little bit at a time so people come back to you and say, ‘Do it again.’
“This is part of the art of human connection,” Petz continued. “Moments of wow and surprise and delight. It doesn’t have to be a magic trick. It’s just that moment of listening. Values can be simple.”
Petz noted that credit unions have special reasons to find ways to stand out, noting that just within 2.2 miles of his home there are 13 different financial institutions that are all “in the same looking buildings all painted a different color. When someone's going to tell your story, what's it going to be? How can you identify and deliver those moments that people talk about?”
The Wrong Mindset
It's a challenge for everyone, he said, and not just those in member-facing positions.
“There are people out there with the mindset, ‘I'm in the back office. I really don't interact with the members. That's really not my job’,” Petz shared. “And you have people on the other side whom I call the ‘just-ers.’ These are those individuals who think, ‘I'm just a new person. I'm just in HR. I don't even really interact on that moment with those external members that are coming in.’ Or, ‘I’m just a just a volunteer board member; what can I really do that's going to have an impact on the daily lives of those we serve?’
“I bet everyone in this room understands that at any given moment in any given time you could be the whole world to somebody,” he added.
He said every credit union employee, regardless of position, needs to understand just how much of an impact they can have on a member in a short amount of time just by having a conversation about a loan or resolving some financial distress.
Branded Moments
And it’s not just about interactions inside the credit union, he added, noting every time an employee is at a kid’s soccer game or another event and they have a logo on their shirt it’s an opportunity for a “branded moment.”
He urged every CU to reexamine the purpose behind their passion, reminding that “showtime moments” can be created at any time.