In one quarter of 2005, AOL lost approximately 300 members per hour while sending out millions of free "Try AOL" disks.
The company focused on attracting members rather than retaining them. Think of members as precious pearls on a necklace. If the necklace is not secured at one end, pearls fall off as fast as they can be added.
The lesson: focus on and measure the member experience before bringing on new members.
To measure the experience of guests on a cruise line, one would talk to passengers who are just disembarking, as well as the guest service staff who interacted with them.
Analogously, to measure the member experience at a credit union, the most important groups to survey are people who have just closed their accounts and member contact staff.
People who have just closed their accounts may have done so because the ship is sinking or for personal reasons unrelated to service. Employees, on the other hand, know what members are saying and what operational processes may help or hinder the delivery of service.
Closed account and staff surveys identified a major leak in a Southern California credit union: members could not access the call center after-hours. Once the hours were expanded and staff performance improved, loyalty rose dramatically.
Members often close accounts because they don't use them. The most common reason they don't use them is lack of awareness of the institution's products. A powerful benefit of closed account research is the opportunity to contact members who have just closed their accounts and raise their awareness. Contact individuals immediately after the account in closed, not months later when it may be difficult to reinstate the member.
Net Promoter Score, transaction surveys, mystery shoppers and focus groups are other tools to measure the member experience. Make sure the necklace is secure before attempting to add new pearls!
Mike Anstead is Vice President of Sales and Service for Member Research. He can be reached at (949) 833-6901 or by email at manstead
