NU UNION CU
Category: Intranet Web Portal
NuUnion Credit Union is saving $50,000 annually by replacing its self-built intranet with a web portal solution that allows sales staff faster and more organized access to product and service information.
"Our existing centralized data required almost one full-time employee to manage it," said Marcia Soderberg, VP of Planning and Communication at the $850-million NuUnion (formerly State Employees Credit Union). "To grow the site, we would have had to invest in multiple back-end resources."
Instead, the CU helped create a ready-made product with Passageways of West Lafayette, Ind., that categorizes product or service information-including specific features, benefits and promotions attached to each-into a single location.
"Under the previous intranet, employees had to go to several different intranet locations to try to access the information and then assimilate that information as best they could," Soderberg said.
Unfortunately, it was time-consuming for both employee and member, she said, noting that a December 2003 study showed that employees typically spent five to six minutes looking for a single piece of information.
"What we recognized is that our staff lacked confidence in their sales abilities-not because they weren't competent sales people, but because they didn't have confidence in their ability to locate and retain the massive amount of detailed information required to support the sales effort."
The new module-now offered by Passageways and used by more than 50 CUs across the country-enhanced NuUnion's sales efforts by decreasing search time and giving staff information to increase their confidence in selling products and services.
When they click onto a particular product or service, not only do they get detailed information about its features and benefits, Soderberg said, they get information on how to execute the sale, sales tips and answers to frequently asked questions.
Soderberg said the product is also used as a training tool, helping new employees become familiar with the CU's products and services and in refreshing memories of existing staff about what's available. She said it also came in handy during a recent merger that included the acquisition of three branches across the state.
"What makes this so rich for us is that it was our staff that identified the usefulness of this system," she said. "We understood that it was really possible to build something like this and had deep ownership in how it was developed. Passageways helped make it a reality."
The tool's three most important features, Soderberg said:
* Consolidated sales information by product or service;
* Search capabilities;
* Decentralization of content management.
"We consistently hear comments like, 'This is so easy,' 'It's great to have everything in one place' and 'I like knowing who to contact when I have a question about a product.'" Soderberg said.
