RANTOUL, Ill. - Specific employee training has helped a number of credit unions vastly improve their member penetration numbers when it comes to insurance sales. CUNA Mutual's lender development program is responsible for boosting sales numbers and increasing employee awareness of its life and disability insurance as well as its other products.
"When lender development came around it was an opportunity to get our staff focused training on those products and how to deal with member objections," said Ellie Krcmar, SVP of branch operations at Credit Union 1.
The hands-on program educates employees on the ins and outs of each insurance product to better educate members and teaches staff how to overcome member objections when the insurance is offered. CUNA Mutual also offers plenty of follow-up training and tips too credit unions that need or want to find a way to further enhance their numbers.
Now in its third year at Credit Union 1, the lender development program has helped the 87,000-member institution both rake in extra fee income and provide important products to its membership. In March 2005, the month before Credit Union 1 implemented the training program, 17% of its loans were secured with life insurance, with 8% penetration in disability. In July 2008 those numbers skyrocketed to 52% and 38% respectively. Perhaps the best thing about the hands-on training program is its impact on the bottom line as there is no up front cost. Credit Union 1 does pay bonuses to its employees for reaching certain sales levels, "but I don't know if I consider that a cost." Krcmar said, calling the training a "necessary tool."
Heartland Credit Union is also seeing similar results in the two years it has used the lender development program with its penetration figures leaping from the mid teens to around 40%. Prior to signing up for the training, the credit union offered CUNA Mutual products but its sales approaches were created internally, which may have led to some cherry picking. But now, according to lending vice president Ryan Olson, every member that qualifies for the insurance products are offered them when the terms of a loan are being discussed and every employee has a strong handle on how the products would affect each member profile.
"I would say that they are not taking the first 'no,'" Olson said when asked what the biggest difference between the approaches before and after the lender development program began. "The staff really has a confidence in the product now because of the three part training they go through now. It is easy for the member to say no if they don't know what the product is."
Members may becoming more cautious and more receptive to an insurance product pitch, but Krcmar argued that credit unions cannot count on the economic environment to drive sales.
"I don't think if the employees weren't as skilled in explaining the product... [members] would take it anyway," she said.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
