ST. LOUIS-Having software with the ability to cross-sell products and services to members based on internal, forward-looking data removes the guess work.
For Anheuser Bush Employees' Credit Union, the adoption of a similar multi-channel marketing tool has increased its ability to meaningfully interact with members.
"We can create targeted offers on an ongoing basis," said Linda Fedrick, vice president of member relations for Anheuser Busch Employees' CU. "This is our member service messaging platform."
With 113,384 members, the $1.2 billion credit union looked to its existing relationship with Fiserv when seeking a single administration application, said Shelley Sadler, information Systems coordinator. Sadler said the CU selected Fiserv's "Next" solution for its branch and online channels.
Virginia Scott, senior product manager at Fiserv, explained that the "real-time solution" coordinates targeted multi-channel delivery of offers and services messages, while providing tellers with instant recommendations from specialized sales campaigns.
"We have credit union clients with 3,000 members and credit unions with $6 billion in assets," said Scott. "This is scalable for any size institution." She added that the in-house solution takes most credit unions roughly three months from adoption to launch, which includes training webinars.
Member Call And Response
Anheuser Busch Employees' CU used Next in a campaign to update member contact information was in 2010. Within one year, the offer reduced returned mail by 55%, according to Fedrick.
The solution also came in handy when compliance issues were raised.
"We used Next to set up a notification for members who had not yet opted-in for our debit cards to meet regulation requirements," said Sadler. "It was another method of communication to reach out to our members to help keep us in compliance."
For sales campaigns, Fedrick and Sadler work together to query the credit union's data base, which qualifies certain members for say car loans where as other members might not qualify for a mortgage loan offer. The aggregated information is then integrated with Next and campaigns are born.
"We have about 14 different offers running through Next at any given time, which is a mix of product offers and service messages," said Fedrick. "The marketing software we used before didn't give us that flexibility; we could only run a few at a time."
While the CU plans to start using Next for its ATM platform soon, right now the focus is on online and teller/branch. To date, there is a high success rate for members queried about joining campaigns. Sadler said they are given three response options: yes, no and maybe.
A recent Next "mobile access" campaign that targeted approximately 13,500 members resulted in roughly 50% replying "yes." However, Fedrick said nearly 75% of those respondents required further contact. "Even when we get a yes, we have to double-check," said Fedrick.
The various offers members see, which are normally 30-day campaigns, reflect real-time information, said Sadler. "If a member declines or accepts an offer at the branch, then goes home and logs into home banking, that offer will no longer be displayed to them or vice versa."
For tellers, incentivized product referrals are on the rise. "We have noticed our staff have more confidence making recommendations since they know the prompts they get from Next are based on what the member is likely to want, doesn't already have or has been pre-approved for," Fedrick said.
