ORLANDO, Fla. - Not surprisingly, “growth” dominated the discussion last week during Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show here. More surprisingly, perhaps, was that it was generally agreed by many of the fastest-growing credit unions in the country that growth as a strategy and growth for growth’s sake is a mistake that often leads to just the opposite.
The Grow Show, an enhanced and expanded presentation of the Journal’s long, successful Business Development & SEG Conference, drew its largest attendance ever when the meeting convened at the Omni ChampionsGate Hotel.
For the first time, the meeting included two tracks, one aimed at business development, the other at growth.
A faculty of 25 credit union leaders and analysts, backed up by nearly 20 solutions providers who came prepared with their own growth strategies to share, filled the two-and-one-half day Grow Show with ideas and discussion on growing credit unions–often by stressing credit unions should avoid being motivated by growth.
“Growth is an end, not a means,” reminded Neil Goldman, principal with Member Research in Los Angeles. Moreover, credit unions often focus on incomplete metrics, he said. “At credit unions…we say, ‘Let’s go see how many new members we can find.’ We don’t worry about attrition or whether the boat has holes in it.”
Similarly, Teresa Freeborn, CEO of Xceed Financial Credit Union, which has plotted an aggressive plan to grow, observed, “Growth is a result, not an objective. You get better or you get worse, there is no door No. 3. Hearing credit union managers explain away their growth problems is a little like listening to addicts in denial. Growth is a choice. It’s up to you to decide if you want to grow your credit union.”
Gary Oakland, CEO of BECU in Seattle, which has added 100,000 members and more than $2-billion in assets over the past 18 months. “Growth is not one of our objectives. Growth is an outcome of value and service,” said Oakland.
Look for coverage of the Journal’s Grow Show in coming issues.
