RALEIGH, N.C.-A lot of credit unions talk about being in touch with members; for management at Coastal FCU, it does so literally.
Once a quarter, CEO Larry Wilson and the six members of the senior management team send out for pizza and take an evening to call members for their feedback. They either gather in the boardroom or make calls from their offices and go through a list of 20 member names selected at random.
Over the years Wilson says he has talked to a lot of members who have asked for the impossible-like 24/7 branch hours-and to those who offer constructive criticism that Coastal FCU later acts upon, such as stopping Coastal's data processing system from sending out account notices to members who have passed away.
"I get some shocked members, too, when they pick up the phone," said Wilson, who still likes to hold onto that feeling of what it was like years ago to run a small CU like his own business. "They ask me if I really am the CEO of Coastal. I get that same sort of reaction when members call me and I answer my own phone, which I do. Members often say they can't believe they reached the CEO. I tell them, 'What did you expect? You called my number.'"
