By Jeff Chesky
Credit unions (and banks) are the only businesses on the planet that get high levels of repeat visitors to their websites, day in and day out, for free, without ever having to pay for Google ad-words.
And they are also the only businesses that get this continuous, high quality, repeat web traffic for free but never try to sell anything online. You ask a credit union CEO if he or she is monetizing the online traffic to the web portal, and eyes glaze over. Online banking generates millions of online visitors every day, but credit union web portals are still just an expense item, a placeholder for brochureware and online banking.
As an industry, credit unions have to insist that their products and services be available to be shopped, compared and purchased online without the member ever leaving the financial institutions web site. Second, credit unions have to create an ‘E-Branch’ where their member can chose to do business without ever having to make a phone call, visit the drive-up or park and walk into a branch. Because 70% of Americans report that they begin their shopping for financial products online – financial products are an easy place for this transformation to begin.
The Perfect Delivery System
Your website is a perfect delivery system to replace third party direct mail campaigns, statement stuffers, rack brochures and other outdated analog distribution models. When the member is paying bills and checking balances online, isn’t it time for your members to get instant, real-time quotes from carriers – delivered to them on their desk-tops – and select a payment frequency, for each product, that works for them? And with one click– purchase the products with a single payment checkout – just like Amazon?
As an example, today if your member wants to shop through your suite of insurance products they have to wait for a postcard, pick up a rack brochure, call a strange 800-number, or if there is an online option, they are required to click to a third-party vendor site, meaning you lose complete control of the member experience. To make matters worse, these third-party vendors require that your member enter the same information everywhere they shop. While these requirements work for vendors – it never works for your member – and it shouldn’t work for you. And to make matters worse, these third party vendors keep as much as 90% of the fee income generated from these product sales, leaving you with table scraps.
'Would I Tolerate This?'
This is the age of the consumer. They are in control, except when they visit your website, and you can bet they won’t put up with it for long. A recent Nomura survey outlined that consumers are changing banking relationships in larger percentages than ever before – and more and more often because of something as simple as a poorly executed service experience. Visit your web site today, and ask yourself: “Would I tolerate this experience on another e-tailer site?”
Jeff Chesky is president/CEO of Insuritas. For info: www.insuritas.com.