NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif.-Twelve years ago Greg Logoteta decided he no longer wanted to "sell ice cubes to Eskimos" and made the move from working at a big bank to running an office of SAFE CU.
"The bank I was working at, where I got my job right out of college, had changed," explained Logoteta, who said that following a few large mergers the bank became much more focused on making a profit than serving its customers.
"They changed their philosophy from caring about customers to selling products to customers whether they needed them or not," he explained.
Logoteta had become vice president of marketing at the bank and said he quickly tired of opening daily reports on the bank's stock performance, which he said were intended to drive staff performance. "We received stock options, so the higher the stock price the more we made. I just became uncomfortable with the entire situation and wanted a change."
On The Hunt
Logoteta went job hunting and eventually received three attractive offers, two from big banks and the other from SAFE. He now manages the $2 billion SAFE's Watt Avenue office. "I decided right then that I was not going from the frying pan into the fire and took the job with SAFE. I have never regretted the decision and have never looked back."
Working at a large bank, Logoteta interacted with a number of highly skilled executives, he said, who taught him a great deal about the banking business and provided him with a great base of knowledge he leans on today. However what Logoteta said he always knew is that attention to customers and members makes the biggest bottom-line impact. His focus at SAFE has always been on giving members the products they need to improve their financial lives, he said. "Which helps the credit union, too. We build deeper and more lasting relationships."
Like many skilled CU branch managers, Logoteta realizes that proper attention to members results from the right attention to staff. Employees, he said, have to fully understand the products they are selling, be able to ask members the right questions to determine needs, and want to come to work every day to make members lives' better.
In making sure members receive the right products, staff must know when it's necessary to direct an account holder to another resource. "If my front-line people can't help a member they know to immediately direct the individual to the correct branch personnel who can. Our goal is to align members with staff who can best meet their needs."
It's not just front-line employees who make the branch tick. Logoteta regularly heads out into the community to promote the credit union, working with the local chamber of commerce and area businesses.
"One more thing," added Logoteta, about what makes his office successful. "We have a great sign out by the road that we can display many of our services on. I think it helps bring people to the credit union when they see, right in front of them, what you offer."
