Supernova Award Category
The Problem
Mountain America Credit Union lives by its motto to “place members first.” In this vein, we work continually to understand member priorities and match them with quality products and services to best meet their needs. In 2012, we had various tools in place to help capture some member feedback, but needed a common system and process to allow us to gather both solicited (transactional and loyalty email surveys) and unsolicited (Member Voice website, Service Center, feedback cards at branches) feedback from our members and quickly analyze the responses to create action plans to improve our members’ experience.
Our objective with this new initiative was to define a successful service model that would help us to gather member feedback and close the loop on that feedback in order to provide a world-class member experience. Our end goals were to retain membership, grow membership by 36,000, build loyalty and increase the number of products per household by 5% by soliciting and acting on member feedback in order to build brand and member loyalty for generations.
The Solution
Mountain America launched a Member Experience initiative in 2013 with the overall goal of building a service model that provides a world-class member experience. To meet this goal, Mountain America utilizes a combination of the Journey Mapping process and gathering member feedback via transactional and relationship surveys, department surveys, unsolicited feedback and employee experience to capture a comprehensive view of the changes needed to improve members’ experiences.
Data collected is centralized in the MaritzCX web-based platform, and Mountain America uses the system to review reports, create dashboards and route specific feedback to employees who can then act on it quickly. The data is shared with senior management as well as the operational areas impacted by the scores.
With the analytics from member and employee feedback, Mountain America can correlate member and employee satisfaction. Mountain America has noted a steady increase in both employee and member engagement.
The results
The average Mountain America household uses more Mountain America product offerings since launching the member experience program. In 2014, we had an NPS survey of 64 (typically 17 within banking industry and 50 within credit unions), added 50,000 members, increased products per household to 6.5, while maintaining the length of tenure to 8.45 years.
Mountain America also believes its proactive approach to member engagement has benefited the bottom line. Despite the recession, return on assets (ROA) has remained strong and total assets have increased, in large part because Mountain America has been able to shape product offerings based on member feedback.
Employees benefited as surveys and analysis demonstrated they became more engaged. This was due to their growing awareness of their contribution to the member experience. Employees also understood how their actions positively benefited members and how they were helping the members achieve their financial dreams.
Rollout of this new platform impacted our entire organization (100% of our employees) as each department can now take advantage of the data captured and enhance processes and products to better meet our members’ needs. In addition, each department can generate specific surveys in order to gain valuable feedback and insights from members.
Metrics
--At year-end 2014, the credit union’s products and services total per household was 6.5 (from 6.0 at the start of 2014, a 7% increase) while maintaining the length of tenure to 8.45 years.
--Added 50,000 members in 2014, an 11.6% increase over 2013 and exceeding our goal of a 36,000 member increase.
--In 2014, we had an NPS of 64 (typically 17 within the banking industry and 50 within credit unions).
--In 2014, Mountain America’s ROA was 1.67 percent, ranking an impressive 2nd place out of all Utah credit unions with more than $300 million in assets and 10th among all credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets. Total assets rose from $3.6 billion in 2013 to $4.2 billion in 2014.
--Identified specific areas for improvement and expansion based on member feedback such as:
----New branch hours and additional branch locations----Improved drive-up experience----New electronic closing process - The credit union became the first financial institution in the nation to e-close FHA and VA mortgage loans, using our Quick CloseSM paperless mortgage processing. This gives the credit union a tremendous competitive advantage by providing superior customer service and delivers an easy loan experience for our members----Enhanced online/mobile experience the new product offerings and innovative technology, saving our members and employees time and money
The Technology
Mountain America usies MaritzCX software to gather both unsolicited and solicited feedback from members. The platform helps to measure the relationship between employee engagement and member loyalty as well as identify the drivers that create an engaged member.
Previously, Mountain America’s used primarily telephone surveys and comment cards with no common platform. The new platform allows a single source to capture and convert data into actionable insights available to everyone.
Disruptive Factor
Mountain America’s motto is to “place members first,” and this is deeply rooted in our culture. From our President/CEO down through the entire organization, we live and breathe this member focus every day, and we are constantly measuring our performance to make sure we are living true to our purpose. 100% of our senior management team was on board with this initiative, and the efforts touched on every part of the organization, from sales and HR to marketing, training and mobile, right down to branch and service center employees.
The goals and prescribed changes were communicated in leadership meetings, through internal channels, round tables with each department, training sessions, sales meetings, and workshops with the senior leadership teams. The Journey Map helped to recognize the various touch points in a members’ life cycle and to identify key areas where the process needed to be enhanced to improve the overall experience.
Contests and awareness campaigns helped to drive employee adoption. This led to increased employee performance and process changes across the organization.
Mountain America also uses the program to help monitor employee engagement and build an exceptional work environment. Engaged employees translate into a superior member experience, which in turn leads to happy, loyal members. By monitoring employee and member feedback, we have the tools to measure employee engagement and identify areas and categories where it needs a high focus.
Shining Moment
At Mountain America, we are constantly measuring our performance to make sure we are living true to our purpose. Part of the measurement includes the numbers, yet the more important measurements are the stories about the difference we have been able to make in the lives of our members. We can honestly say that 2014 was one of our best years – and we expect to continue to see this type of improvement and growth in the future due to our continued focus on placing members first.