ROCKVILLE, Md. - A new twist in auto lending and competition among employees was exactly the shot in the arm that one credit union needed to boost its loan portfolio by more than $10 million.
MCT Federal Credit Union reached out to its 62,000 members with its new Green Auto Loan program in mid-July, which offers a 0.25% discount on auto loan rates for the purchase or refinancing of a fuel-efficient vehicle.
Clearly the new loan was a hit with members as loan center manager Greg Jenkins said that the credit union brought in 36 green auto loans during the summer promotion. Also gearing the lending jump was a rally between employees at every MCT branch, as well as the credit union's contact center and lending department. Each "team" was given lending goals based on previous performance, and was awarded incentives like gift cards and special treats for meeting "checkpoint goals." The group that went the farthest beyond the final goal won a trophy and a free lunch.
The credit union launched an advertising blitz during this period as well-sponsoring traffic reports on three major radio stations in the D.C. metro area, offering $100 gift card incentives to apply for auto or home equity loans through the online channel, and advertising on websites like Facebook.
To get staffers into the spirit of the race, rally decorations went up across the back office areas, and the latest standings were published in the credit union's weekly internal e-newsletters. Each team was assigned a car on the office racetrack, with the positions changing each week as the competition increased. In the end, MCT turned out to be the big winner as it smashed its initial goal of bringing in $6.5 million in new loans, while only spending $15,000 on advertising, promotional giveaways and staffer incentives.
"MCT's loan rally was a successful, fun, and creative way to energize staff throughout the organization to increase loan sales," Jenkins said. "By creating a healthy competition, we were able to exceed our campaign's goal by over 54%."
Communications specialist Jennifer Mino noted that it is a new MCT goal "to incorporate internal promotions in every external promotion we've had, because we've found that to be very successful. This has been one of the most successful ones in the past few years."
The $10-million boost was a boon for the 58 year-old institution as it bolstered the credit union's loan portfolio by more than 3%. Auto loans make up 43% of MCT's portfolio-home equity loans make up the second largest share with 29% of the balance sheet.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
