WEST JORDAN, Utah — Mountain America Credit Union has taken relationship building with its select employer groups to a new level with the creation of its Workplace Branching initiative.
SEG Development Manager Spencer Carver and his SEG team have been prolific since the program started in January 2012. The team of four - consisting of one back office sales assistant and three representatives, Carver included, who hit the road nearly every week has hosted more than 500 workplace branching events in 22 months.
He said it recently passed the 3,000-new-accounts milestone, and has brought in$7.8 million in new loans.
"It has been received very well," Carver said. "Our numbers show this is a valued benefit we offer to the employees. It takes away the pressure of selling something, because we are just talking with them."
On an average week in the life of the SEG development team, Carver said the first day tends to be spent planning and organizing. This includes making sure adequate supplies are on hand, reaching out to business partners, including those who handle indirect lending and investing, and following up on appointments.
"We make sure we have communicated the purpose of the event and the expected outcome," he explained. "Sometimes we meet with new employees on a membership drive, other times we do financial wellness training, still other times we are signing up a new SEG."
The overarching goal, he continued, is to create a branching atmosphere at the workplace. "The employees are working long hours just like we are, so if we can eliminate an errand such as stopping by a branch to open an account or do a transaction, we can take stress off their shoulders. When we arrive, we make sure we have everything necessary to do anything someone would do at a branch."
Asked what lessons have been learned along the way, Carver said any time the SEG development team tried to put its own agenda first, such as coming into a workplace with a quota that had to be hit as a primary objective, it ended up not achieving any results at all. "On the other hand, if we ask the company what its needs are, we have never not had success."
When setting up appointments or SEG opportunities, Carver said he is looking for "win-win" situations.
"We have hosted more than 500 workplace branching events in 22 months, which tells me there is real value is setting up a win-win," he said. "Everyone asks, 'What's in it for me?' I say, 'What's in it for us?' It has been an awesome experience seeing this new business model thrive, and I think if other credit unions adopt it they can have some success as well."
