ORLANDO, Fla. - Almost all large employers either have a credit union or aren’t interested in offering credit unions services at this time, according to one person. That means the opportunities lie in small to medium-sized companies as potential SEGs.
In remarks to Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show, Gary Lanier, SVP, sales and member services with Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union made it clear what his CU’s strategy is in a session titled “Bring on New SEGs by Offering Business Services.”
Eastern Financial Florida CU has been using a strategy of starting off with the business deposit or loan relationship, before approaching the company about extending the credit union’s services to all its employees.
“This is what people are interested in now,” Lanier said. “We go and we lead with this.”
Currently, Eastern Financial is opening about 50 business deposit accounts per month.
“That’s low,” Lanier acknowledged. “My goal is to get up to about 100 a month, but it’s a tight economy right now.”
When generating business leads, Lanier stressed credit unions should first “go after your existing SEGs.”
“They may be inactive, but interested,” he said, adding that a business loan or deposit may make them active again.
Other ways to generate business leads include looking to existing members and finding companies that serve large groups of small businesses.
Other opportunities he urged credit unions to be aware of include going straight to employees with pitches for products such as auto loans, and having a booth at various companies’ trade shows.
Because word of mouth is still the most effective way to increase membership, Lanier said it’s important to offer exceptional services to the members a credit union already has.
“This is what we do to stand out,” Lanier said. “We open 10 minutes early and stay open 10 minutes late. We give out umbrellas with our logo on rainy days. We bought the cheapest umbrellas for $2, but on a rainy day they are worth $500 to them.”
Eastern Financial Florida employees also hand out cold drink to its members on hot days, and give members U.S. flags on the Fourth of July. On Valentine’s Day, every female member is handed a carnation.
