Would You Get a Tattoo for Your Credit Union?

Over on the Logic + Emotion blog, there is a discussion about being passionate vs. being productive.  This is a good question when thinking about your credit union’s  employees.  

When thinking about your employees, do you want them to be passionate about your credit union or simply productive.  David states that “Passionate employees question things, probe and push” while “Productive employees get things done”.

Think about yourself. Are you passionate about your credit union or simply productive. Or do you get up in the morning thinking, “Damn… it’s time to go to work again.”

Now, think about your employees and peers.  What’s their attitude?  If you are a manager, your passion (or lack of) can spread to others.  Get excited.  Get happy.  Love what you do.  

Otherwise, your employees and peers will sense that you are just being productive and simply doing your job.  Which in turn, will only cause them to “just do their job.”  Moreover, members will sense this lack of excitement and passion.

According to David, “Passionate employees believe in something bigger than themselves. They're not interested in punching the clock, and sometimes they bend the rules.”

Furthermore, he states, “ If you align someone's passion with their job description—you just might boost your department's productivity.”

So… how passionate are you about your credit union?  Does it show?  Would you get a tattoo of you credit union’s logo like Derek did for Oscar Myer?  

I have a tattoo about my passion. Do you? Guess what my tattoo is and what language it’s in and if your right I will mail you a Starbucks gift card.

Shout back and let us know what you’re passionate about.

Connect With the Community and Build Relationships

During these tough economic times, credit unions continue to spread a ray of light by connecting and building relationships members and communities.  Social responsibility is an excellent way to connect with the community and build relationships throughout. 

Following Hurricane Ike Shell FCU (Disclaimer: a PTP New Media client) decided to run a video campaign contest for their Gen Y program to help one individual win $1000 to redo their room.  The overarching idea behind the program was to help someone who was directly impacted by the storm. 

Click here to vote for the video/contestant that you feel deserves the chance to redo their room. 

It is awesome to see Credit Unions reach out and build relationships by giving back to surrounding communities.  What are you doing to give back to your community to build relationships with others?  Shout back and let us know.

Wow Service and Service Selling

When is the last time you remember receiving excellent service? When Rory Rowland asked this question at the Sabine Chapter meeting earlier in December not one person could think of a time when they received excellent service.  As unfortunate as that may be, this is not how you want your members to feel.  In this video Rory outlines what it takes to Wow your members and measure up to the goals you set. 

Check out the video below to see Rory in action.  Shout back at us with ways your credit union is working to provide the ultimate WOW experience.

Carpe Diem and the Season

We thank Barbara Sanfilippo for guest authoring this post and sharing some inspiring thoughts and ideas.

 

As we approach the holiday season and a New Year in unsettling times, I wanted to offer a positive and uplifting message.

 

Seize the Opportunities - If you read the news and listen to the media it can be quite alarming. I’m sure you recognize that due to the current economic crisis your members and staff may be feeling a variety of emotions including: anxiety, fear, confusion, worry, frustration or even helplessness.  More than ever they need assurance, guidance, advice, knowledge and the sense we are there to help them through this unchartered territory. 

 

While we definitely have some serious economic issues, these challenges present opportunities for those credit unions that are enterprising, focused and care about their members and employees.  So don’t let current events concern or immobilize you. Focus on what you can control—your time, thoughts, mindset, strategies, activities and relationships.

 

We Want to CU Grow at Finance 2.0: Beyond the Hype

Mark your calendars and register today to attend Finance 2.0: Beyond the Hype in New York City happening January 26th - 27th, 2009.

The Finance 2.0 Summit offers financial institutions what no other event does: Comprehensive, practical-oriented case studies and real success stories that will give you the tools you need to launch or enhance your organization’s eMarketing campaign.

We've teamed up with top industry practitioners, trailblazers who have differentiated themselves through innovative online and social media campaigns. Each of their presentations is jam-packed with war stories, best (and worst) practices, and tips & tricks to harnessing the web to reach new audiences and strengthen relationships with existing clients.

Join in the candid dialogue as leading experts weigh the pros and cons of differing methods: Hear what they really think about Web 2.0 technology and how they recommend you move forward in these uncharted waters.

Click here to register to attend The Finance 2.0 Summit today.

Invite CU Grow to your Credit Union Event

Let's Hang Out and Help Others Grow

Shout back at us to invite CU Grow, the credit union blog, to come and hang out at your credit union event.  As a credit union blog, we want to keep others in the know and help them grow through innovation, communication and collaboration. 

We have worked with many different credit union events to help provide an additional value added benefit to attendees including:

• Texas Credit Union League Leadership Conference
• Texas Credit Union League Marketing Conference
• Southwest CUNA Management School
• Houston Chapter of Credit Unions
• Sabine Chapter of Credit Unions
• Gulf Coast Chapter of Credit Unions

We can help spread the word about your event through blogging, podcasting and web video. 

Need a Speaker to Help Others Grow? 

If you are looking for a young, fun and dynamic speaker, shout back at us to book James Robert Lay for your next credit union event. Having had the opportunity to speak at many different credit union events including state conferences, chapter dinners, credit union planning sessions and training days, James Robert looks forward helping those at your event grow through learning more about:

• Web marketing
• Social media 
• Connecting with GenY  
• Sales and service
• Inspiration for life

Are You Focused on Moving Forward?

The recent edition of Tom Peter's Times nails it. To deal with tough times, we need to focus on moving forward and creating an environment where our businesses thrive. Bemoaning the economy or competition solves nothing and may even help lead to a slow fade as opportunities pass us by.

Are you focused on identifying and serving your customers (members in credit union land)? Is excellence simply a buzz word in your mission or vision statement? Or is excellence something delivered through every level of your operation to provide service and products customers have come to expect?

Are you positioning so that in two years you can look back with pride the path you chose to take?

As usual, Peters provides "food for thought" and asks strategic questions. Take a moment to wrestle with the information he provides then give a shout back about what you are doing to make a difference and move your business (credit union) forward.

Need a Little Reminder to Help Deal with Stress?

Less daylight, less sun, less outdoors, less money, less time, do this, run here, the list goes on. This time of year it's easy for stress to rear it's ugly head. Grab your favorite beverage, take a few deep breaths, slow down and take a moment to check out Tom Asacker's check lists for dealing with stress!

Key for our home this year was to simplify all the various activities related to holiday perparation and focus more on relationships than stuff.

Shout out if you have list or tips of your own to share....

Tear it Up!

Have you ever wondered what you could have done to improve your marketing efforts?  This unique session that gave participating cu employees that very chance.  Many people had the guts to bring a sample of their recent work and allowed a panel of three marketing experts to "tear it up" - in other words they offered tips on how each piece could be improved.  The award winning marketing executive and author, Mark Arnold facilitated the panel to ensure everyone walked away with improvement skills.

Check out the video below to see how the panel worked and what feedback was given.  Shout back with ways you are working with your credit union to improve future pieces!

Opportunity to Impact Lives as You Shop for Christmas

On a recent trip to Houston, my husband and I learned about a very special place that was only 30 minutes from where we were staying – The Brookwood Community. The community is a an educational, residential, and entrepreneurial community for adults with functional disabilities located in Brookshire, Texas, just west of Houston. A faith based center, we were also impressed by the number of different denomination churches supporting this group.

We were in the Christmas shopping mode and could not resist taking the trip to visit their gift shop, a special holiday place. There are a mix of items created by the “citizens” and other providers. It’s a place where your purchase truly makes a difference in people’s lives. From ornaments, to beautiful home grown poinsettias, to hand-screened cards and other hand-crafted items, I encourage you to check them out.

If you visit, you may want to plan to go when their café is open. Don’t live in the area? Some items are available online.