For Chocolate Bayou Community FCU, it was simply a promotional tool-a coupon book full of free stuff for new members. For those who took the bait, it was an added bonus for their business.
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But, to one woman, it was a sign that her streak of bad luck had ended. Lynette Rambo, VP of Marketing, said the woman had to cancel her trip to Disneyland after becoming very ill when a brown recluse spider bit her at the airport.
A few days later, she was retelling the story while inquiring about a Christmas Club account, when a compassionate teller noticed her coupon book in hand and started thumbing through it to see if she qualified for something extra.
Sure enough, since this account was her second savings account and included a deposit of at least $50, the lucky lady found herself as the proud new owner of an umbrella.
"She was so excited, she said, 'I was beginning to think I was cursed and then I get here and not only get great service, but a free umbrella, too,'" Rambo said. "'I'm so happy, I'm going to open it up right here in the lobby.'"
Rambo said the tellers watched as the woman left the office and headed toward her car, umbrella still open despite the rainless sky.
While that individual story is memorable, the wider goal of the new coupon book, according to Rambo, is to assemble all of the credit union's products and services in one place.
"We never had just one handout or product sheet that listed everything that we offer," she said. "A lot of times our long-term members don't even know what we have here."
Recognizing there are few more popular words than free, Rambo said she started designing the something that was to be more than just a products and services listing: instead, a coupon book that offered discounts, free products and free services in exchange for members' business. For example, if a member opens a checking account, the first box of checks is free. And, for every kids account opened with a minimum of $50, there's a free piggy bank in the deal.
Other promotional items in exchange for using the CU's products and services are free cashiers checks, free wire transfers, free money orders, free child ID fingerprint kids, and free state quarter holders.
There's even a "Chocolate Combo," which includes a metal mini-safe with the CU's logo on it is for those members who sign up for at least three products within the first three months. Interspersed throughout the book are advertisements and and other product pitches.
"We've gotten some pretty nice multi-automobile refinances simply because there's a coupon advertising our interest rate," Rambo said. "What we find most commonly is that no matter how long someone has been a member here, they just don't realize what we offer."
Indeed, she noted that some of the "free" things listed in the coupon book are items that every member gets regardless of whether they have a coupon. "It's just nobody knows about it."
Getting Noticed
Rambo said that she created the book using the software application PageMaker-six coupons per sheet-and then sent it via Zip Disk to the printer, who copied, cut, assembled and stapled each coupon book for about .35 each. It was launched as part of Rambo's new efforts to get Chocolate Bayou, which has $45 million in assets and a new community charter, noticed.
Other tools have included mass mailings, newspaper advertisements and "two really big billboards," she said. "We are trying to blanket the area," explained Rambo.
Any new member of the credit union gets the coupon book worth $200 in savings stuffed in a coffee mug bearing the CU's logo.
To lure members to the CU, Rambo created two separate, oversized postcards and used its MCIF system to direct mail them to 10,300 potential members.
The first card had a picture of a mailbox on front with the words "You are cordially invited." The back side read, "To experience why over 100-million people love their credit union." It also mentioned the coupon book.
"The second one has a picture of my boxer pup on the front with a thought bubble that says, 'Seriously folks...My people are members of their credit union and that simply means more treats for me." The backside says, "Treat yourself to membership."
Rambo said both the cards and the coupon books have proven to be valuable tracking tools for her. Not only did she find out that most people respond to direct mailing within the first six weeks, she is learning which products are most popular. "So far, the most popular is the free box of checks," she said.
She said she also discovered that about 47% of the CU's new members from the first mailing were coming from outside the CU's core zip code area. That information led her to expand the direct mailing area the second time around. In addition, she said, the book has also provided financial services representative with a terrific cross-selling tool.
Since the promotion began in late February, new accounts in the first three full weeks averaged 90 per week. Prior to that, she said, the CU was averaging 66 new accounts per week. During 2000, the average was 56.
"We are striving to encourage a long-term and fun relationship with us by giving them incentives to keep coming back and to actually use the coupons,"
Getting To Know You
Rambo said. "We want them to get used to seeing our faces, get to know us and let us get to know them.
"We want to become a familiar fixture in their daily financial lives so that when they think of their financial needs, they think of their credit union who not only gives them exceptional service, but some nice little treats as well."
Rambo added that because existing members who don't qualify for the coupon book have expressed envy, she is working on a similar promotion for them.
