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Do you have talented staff under the age of 30? Are you looking for opportunities to hone and develop their leadership skills? The Texas Credit Union Foundation (TCUF) and Southwest CUNA Management School (SCMS) have joined forces to invest in the future of the credit union system through the SCMS C2C Scholarship – Connect to Collaborate!
The Scholarship? Up to $2,899 (tuition for 2010 SCMS summer session) – The full amount of tuition paid by the student’s credit union will be reimbursed for one student though the TCUF SCMS C2C scholarship. Odds are better than 1 in 55 to win! At the end of the 1st year session of SCMS, the student’s classmates will vote on who exhibited the most leadership on campus. Simple majority wins. In the event of a tie, the scholarship will be split. We will announce the winner during the July 21 graduation ceremonies.
Who is eligible? Credit union professionals under the age of 30 as of August 1, 2010 who are enrolled in the July 2010 first year SCMS session. The credit union must be affiliated with their state league. Enrollment closes at 55 students.
What’s in it for the student?
Connect - opportunity to network and learn side by side with current and future credit union leaders and the school's highly acclaimed faculty.
Collaborate - peer to peer mentoring.
Added value for the 1st year students under the age of 30 - a special leadership packet – top secret contents! - additional bonus opportunities are in the works, like an invite to join 2nd year faculty member, marketing and branding expert, Mark Arnold, for lunch on campus. - VIP seating with industry leaders during graduation.
What’s in it for the credit union?
Connect your rising leaders to a phenomenal credit union network.
Collaborate with your student(s) as work is done to create a strategic business plan for your credit union.
To encourage and mentor up and coming credit union leaders, SCMS C2C will also hold a casual chat for all SCMS students and alumni under the age of 30 on July 20 after the annual alumni/student auction dinner. Watch www.scms.coop additional details. Wait until you see who is coming to campus to spend time with this group!
I recently had the chance to visit with Jim Welch,
keynote presenter for the 2010 TechMecca
Conference & Expo in Austin. A "growth leader", Jim has a strong
background in sales and marketing, with over 25 years cumulative experience
between Hallmark and Proctor & Gamble. I was particularly interested when
he mentioned something about pet phrases about things not to say when going for the sale. See what he had to say.
There are words we
should all avoid using with customers because they erode their loyalty.They are the words that will cost us
customers and their business.Here are
some great examples of words that lose customers every day:
“But I saw it this
way.”
“You have to look at
it from our point of view.”
“Here is why we took
that position.”
“But I didn’t intend
to…”
“Let me explain why
we did what we did and why we believe we are right.”
“I’m not sure, that
is not my area of responsibility.You
need to check with…”
“We had to stay
within policy guide lines.”
“That requires
Supervisor approval and they are not here right now.”
“I need to put you
on hold.”
“We don’t have that
service available now.Please check back
next month.”
“No, I’m sorry but
we cannot solve your problem.”
“That violates our
policy and we cannot do it.”
“I don’t know the
answer to your question.You should
contact…”
“We are really busy
right now; can you call back later this afternoon?”
“We can’t do
anything about that problem.”
“You have a good
point, but…”
“That is not
available right now.”
“You’ll have to
contact that department to find out.”
“I can’t help you
with that issue.”
“If you read our
customer agreement, you will see that is not covered.”
“You have to…”
“No, that is not
correct. It’s right here.”
“We’ll have to call
you back later.”
“To be honest with
you…”
“If you had…”
“Calm down, please
do not be emotional about this.”
“That is our final
decision.”
“If we did what you
are asking for, we would have to do it for everyone.”
“You will need to…”
“We have a computer
problem right now.You will need to
check back later for that information.”
“That is not our
problem.”
“We have no control
over…”
“You will need to
check with them.”
“I will try to solve
your problem.”
“I’m not sure, but I
think…”
“We are not allowed
to make exceptions.”
The one big thing
all of these words have in common is that they are about us and not the
customer.These phrases look at this
issue from our side of the table only.Successful growth leaders engage the customer and go through a
co-discovery process to find the solution together.We often find out that we can turn lemons
into lemonade and build a stronger customer relationship going forward.The greatest customer loyalty of all is built
by resolving problems together.In the
end, the strength of our customer relationships is the fuel that drives our
growth engine every day.
Have you found yourself or your staff using any of these phrases? Been of the receiving end of these statements?
Thanks Jim for giving us a refresher and reminder to think about how we phrase our responses to members, customers, co-workers, family, and friends.
Shout out if you have other phrases that should be added to this list or have phrases that work well in difficult situations.
Thanks go out to ConversationAgent by Valeria Maltoni for a little morning inspiration! Time to put your thinking caps on.
Transparency, authenticity, honesty and passion are commonly thought about and addressed as people navigate a wide variety of social media channels. If they are not being thought about, warning, do not pass go. Please slow down and give these areas serious consideration. You owe it to your customers, employees, board of directors, share or stock holders. What are the norms for your business environment? Your team?
Take a moment to hop on over to a blog referenced by a tweet from @ConversationAge:
Should your organization have degrees of transparency?
Is it important for your audience to know who writes copy for your communication channels? To know who is responding to them?
Do you have content strategy? Communication goals? Are you having conversations and building relationships?
How personal should your social media, public conversations be? As work and personall communication channels blurr, when are you simply yourself and when are you representing your company? Both 24/7/365? Are we ready for that?
Those who know me, know I did not embrace Twitter and Facebook until this last summer. Had enough on my plate already without adding any additional distractions or diversions from the work at hand. Many conversations, yes, real conversations, diving in, listening, learning and lots of coaching later, I now champion both tools. And, yes, I'm still learning.
As director of a leadership development school for credit union professionals, reaching my target market is crucial. The ability to develop a relationship with future students before they come to campus helps us to maximize their experience. You do become vulnerable when you put yourself out there. At the same time, you also gain strength and support as you spend the time to establish relationships and learn together. All relationships take time to develop.
As senior director of training for the Texas Credit Union League, finding new speakers and topic ideas help me to better serve our membership. When I’m looking for subject matter experts, tweets and blogs help me get a better picture about the speaker, as well as topic ideas to meet the needs of our membership.
As someone who likes to use financial services, I appreciate when I see tweets alerting me to special hours of business, challenges with websites/ATMs, financial management tips, and more. Time is precious. I like it when someone cares enough to save me time.
As a member of a various communities, it's nice to know where and when there are opportunities to serve and give back.
As the mother of a freshman college student, twitter is how I get campus wide alerts.
Some of my aha moments included:
1)Twitter provided a no cost way to set up crisis communications when we had students on campus. (Grateful the need to use did not arise.)
2)Twitter provided a way for me to bring subject matter experts into the classroom for brief periods of time who could not have been there otherwise.
3)After linking Twitter to Facebook, I was finding some people were more likely to respond to tweets through Facebook. Hmm. Unproven conclusion – until social media tools and applications are sanctioned in the workplace, people are more likely to respond on personal time through Facebook (unless they have cool phones).
4)Innovation and new ideas are important as you work to position your company forward. By strategically selecting who and what topics I follow, I’ve found solid information with minimal time.
5)Engaging with the right people through social media grows valuable relationships. It’s always been important to reach people in the manner they wish to be communicated with. I have treasured contacts who prefer Twitter or Facebook for 1st point of contact. From there we migrate to other forms of communication as appropriate.
6)Sometimes you just need a little laughter to break up your day or to know that there are good news stories out there.
Before writing this, I did a little research on tweet posts over the last 24 hours from folks I follow:
“And in 2010, we’re going to move from experimentation to methodology. It will be the year that the real-time Web and social media become operationalized.”
I agree with Jay that 2010 will see a lot of social media strategic decisions made and processes refined.
2)As someone who loved the efficiencies of RSS feeds for storing key topics in a summarized fashion, I find myself following into the same scenario that Richard MacManus describes in:
“One of the interesting trends of 2009 has been the gradual decline of RSS Readers as a way for people to keep up with news and niche topics. Many of us still use them, but less than we used to. I for one still maintain a Google Reader account, however I don't check it on a daily basis. I check Twitter for news and information multiple times a day, I monitor Twitter lists, and I read a number of blogs across a set of topics of most interest to me. “
3)@MattRhodes directed me to “Social Media asCrisis Management Tool” FreshNetworks - “I have a client who once said to me: “We want to use social media to attract more complaints”. This may seem an odd thing to say, all too often attracting complaints is a reason people cite for being anxious about using social media. But this client knew that one part of their service didn’t always perform as well as they might hope. They also knew that nobody ever really complained to them. They must be complaining somewhere, they thought, and we’d like them to be complaining to us.”
He goes on to note some uses for social media in context of crisis management:
·Keep people up-to-date
·Represent your brand
·Engage people talking about you
·Communicate strategically through hub and spokes format
All this to say that conversations are happening.
1)We have to be better about telling the good stories and turning around the bad ones. Social media tools provide opportunities to do so. It’s time to hone our skills to take advantage of these dynamic, rapidly evolving forms of communication.
2)New information is coming at us faster than we can absorb. Social media tools help us gather data and information rapidly. However, don’t let social media be your only research source.
Be deliberate. Have a strategy. Join the community. Looking forward to exciting things in years to come as we work together to innovate forward.
My mind is racing as I think about the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead as we innovate, communicate, learn, and grow together.
Others may question the value of Twitter. It was not that long ago that I didn't even want to consider another communication channel. I was too busy and there was too much trivial communication. Now, I'm thankful for an ever-growing, thought-provoking, community of connections and viewpoints shared on Twitter.
Browsing through Twitter updates this morning, I came across @BertDecker's reference to a quote by Henry Ford:
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."
Fortunately, Mr. Ford chose a different path, pioneering a new form of transportation. Might social media be to communication, like the Model T was to transportation, where Twitter is the higher speed evolution?
Next, I spent some time reviewing @MichaelHyatt's pointer post to the free ebook, "What Matters Now: Things to think about (and do) this year". More than 70 big thinkers collaborated to provide a picture of where we are headed, including Seth Godin, Chris Anderson, Tom Peters, Elizabeth Gilbert, Guy Kawasaki, and more.
The ebook begins with a spotlight on generosity. Logic would indicate that people start focusing on looking out for number one when the economy is tough. It turns out that the connected economy doesn't respect this natural instinct. Instead, we're rewarded for being generous.
Covering such areas as dignity, momentum, consequences, compassion, DIY, accountability, responsibility, collaboration, change, context, authenticity, and more, the ebook is worth taking the time to read. Slow down, contemplate, and give some serious thought to the concepts. Take time to ask yourself, "What does this mean to me?"
Many young people are not being taught how to benefit from the power of the web as a tool for building a network and for learning. I mean, anyone who uses Twitter or belongs to an online community of some sort has seen that sharing information and learning from one another is not only fun and rewarding, it's addictive. Kids need to be shown how to navigate that world too.
It's not just the kids who need to be introduced to or taught about the value of social media. All ages can benefit when they find the right focus and discover the best channels to use for their goals and interests.
I was compelled to pay it forward today, sharing insights I found valuable with others. Now will you share with me? Has someone's tweet inspired, challenged, and helped you position forward? It's your turn to pay it forward, shout out and share with others.
A number of business professionals I work with are still questioning the value of social media. If you are one of the doubters or naysayers, take a moment to read Jeff Bulla's blog on "45 Social Media Trends and Predictions".
He gives some great food for thought as you consider the strategic implications of social media for your organization.
For those who have already embraced social media as a strategic business tool:
What have you learned from your social media journey, both positive and negative experiences. As we move forward, learning from each other helps all of us position foward faster.
How are you leveraging your social media efforts?
Are you using measurements to evaluate your social media impact? If yes, please share what they are and why you chose them a metrics.
No matter what form of social media that comes to mind, blogs, twitter, facebook, and so on, they are simply another form of communication. In a recent conversation with Amanda Vega she described social media as being similar to conversations at a cocktail party.Some conversations are more engaging than others. And yes, some conversations may send you desperately running away in search of more interesting people to be around. There are even times when you have no real interest in any conversation at the party and you flee from the event.
As with any communication medium, there are those who prefer one form or another. As you weigh the value of social media, ask yourself “how do people I want to serve, sell to, or have relationships with, communicate?” If no one in your world tweets or spends time on Facebook, by all means, you don’t need to go there. In today's competitive market place, identifying how people prefer to communicate is a solid strategy to position your business forward.
A big part of who I am is built around developing relationships with credit union professionals, speakers, and service providers.
A younger credit union COO I know probably won’t answer a phone call unless you are already listed as “OK” when your phone number pops up, doesn’t care to read paper based mail, and prefers not to use email. I had to make a decision. Is he important enough for me to want to have a conversation with? Absolutely! Because I do value the relationship, I choose to communicate the way he prefers - via Twitter. Does that mean we don’t email, talk on the phone, or visit in person? No. However, we have established a way to stay connected and strengthen our relationship through Twitter and Facebook. Because of the relationship, many more channels of communication and business opportunities become open.
Another of our CEOS just wants a phone call. He said if I called him he'd send me a student every year. Easy enough. I'm happy to place the call to keep the relationship and build the business. And yes, I learned this through good old fashioned face to face communication and asking for the business.
As we go forward and wrestle with various forms of communication, it's not as easy as what form will I choose. It is all about strategy. No matter the form of communication, or how many channels you feel are appropriate for your business, spend some time assessing the form, style, value, and direction for each. Take a tip from Seth Goodin as he compares social media to a hammer, "The best way to find the right tool for the job is to learn to be good at switching hammers."
Ask yourself where are the conversations occurring that are important to me and my company? Be deliberate. Form the relationships and join in the conversation by both listening and speaking. Bring value to the conversation and be real.
If you have already embraced social media, what are you doing to enlighten others about the business value of the medium?
- Building the Business Case for 140 Precious Characters
Checking this morning's tweets, I came across @ConversationAge Twitter, Customer Service and Good Brand Management http://ow.ly/yz2H.
She got my attention and I followed her link. For those of you serious about brand management and customer service, I recommend spending some thought time reading Valeria Maltoni's post. She addresses how those 140 character twitter messages have the potential to directly impact your brand and can function as a customer service tool.
She gives great tools about how to track tweets about your company. Maltoni goes further, nothing that "online monitoring is broader than Twitter", as she mentions additional web monitoring sites.
Keep exploring and learning as online communication channels grow and develop. Join the conversation, develop the relationships, and keep positioning forward!
In about six weeks, credit union marketers will make their way to Texas to help "Give Galveston a Hand". "Give Galveston A Hand" is a networking and team building community initiative integrated into the Texas Credit Union League's Marketing and Business Development Conference. It is a way for credit union marketing and business development conference attendees to GIVE BACK to a community hit so hard by Hurricane Ike in September 2008.
In the true spirit of the credit union movement and our passion of helping people and community, we will focus our efforts on November 4th for approx. 4 hours to rebuild and restore sand dunes along the beaches of Galveston Island. Watch the video below and click here to learn more about Give Galveston a Hand.
How are you making a difference in your community? Shout back and share your story.
New term for me today - Forwarding Quotient (FQ). Are you strategically and thoughtfully taking time to forward content of value to your clients, peers, work team, and friends?
As I read along, I was nodding in agreement. Whether we grow our relationships through face to face contact or online connections, special are those who know us well enough to share pertinent information that build us up, help us with projects, or provide inspiration and spur innovation.
I've found useful information through posts to this LinkedIn group. Scott's post, his choosing to participate and not just observe, gave me value. HBP posting timely articles with attention grabbing headlines keep me coming back.
Have you made the commitment to participate in social networking communities? Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn?
Do you add value by forwarding information or commenting on blogs that grab your attention?
Do you have a lesson learned, aha moments, informative articles that will help someone position forward?
Add value. Be a contributor to the communities and dialogues around you. Share!
What an awesome time to launch this program as women baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic on the social web. I have first hand knowledge of this when my mom told me the other day that she now has a Facebook page. Whoa....
Check out the quick video below to see what Verity Mom is all about. You can check out Tim's blog post too for all the good juicy details.
How are you connecting with a sub demographic at your credit union in a real, authentic and personal way. Shout back and let us know your thoughts.
When reviewing the weekly update from one of my LinkedIn groups, I came across the following post from David Pittman (Sr. Director, Marketing Communications, Initiate Systems, Inc.). I found his approach insightful and have his permission to share…
My company recently jumped headlong into social media, becoming active on Twitter, Facebook, and, LinkedIn, with soon-to-roll plans for other social media outlets. As the marketing communications director, I'm responsible for getting all this action rolling. That means I also field a huge range of questions from co-workers.
The most frequent type of question I get is "How is [X] different from [Y]?", especially "How is Twitter different from Facebook?" To help my colleagues understand the different social networks, I borrowed from my product marketing friends and created personas for each network. Each persona is the name of a fellow well-known employee, so everyone can quickly picture the personality of each social network and the 'feel' we will try to give to each in our communications.
Below are the personas I wrote, with the names changed to protect the guilty.
Our blog is like Tom C: authoritative but with a humorous edge. Invites other opinions.
Twitter is like Bill F: clever, witty and fun; easily interacts with other people; not afraid to ask thought-provoking questions.
The website is like Ginger K: organized, has everything you need. Isn’t as outgoing as other media, but is always ready to interact with you.
Flickr is like Emily G: has all the images, pictures and graphics you could want. (One person added, “And is easy to use.”)
YouTube is like Dr. Robert H: has depth and technical knowledge, but also has a funny personal side.
LinkedIn is like Alexandra T: knows everybody; exudes a professional demeanor; isn’t afraid to reach out and make connections.
Facebook is like Ted P: cheerful, congratulatory and social. Reaches out to other people, encourages interaction among different people, has lots of friends; is able to integrate personal and professional.
What do you think of the characterizations he applied to each social network? What changes would you make?
My venture into social media began a little over a year ago as a result of a conversation with two young men before they were about to do a presentation at Southwest CUNA Management School (SCMS) for alumni and students. The students had arranged for the presentation about the basics of social media. At the time this was all new to me and I wasn't ready to embrace any of it. However, James Robert Lay and Brad Garland impressed me. They were young, professional, passionate, and communicated well. It wasn't even the presentation that got my attention. It was how they approached business. Since then they have both become treasured friends and mentors.
One of the lessons I was reminded of when visiting with James Robert and Brad was to invest time in getting to know professionals outside of your own generation and beyond existing customer/member and vendor relationships. As relationships grow and new ones are formed, when we are looking for them, there are numerous opportunities to learn from each other. Collaborations can be a driving force to help position forward.
James Robert coached me through basics of blogging, eventually opening the door for me to blog on this site. As with most social media tools, the advice was to observe first. See how the media is used. Find blogs that interest you. Participate by commenting. Submit guest blogs. Learn how to stand up. Walk. Run. You decide each step of the way how quickly you want to progress.
I was introduced to RSS feeds. Cool. They saved me time by organizing blogs with information that was of interest to me directly into files in my Outlook. Now, when I have time, I can quickly review information, looking for new ideas and innovative approaches. To position forward we need to be finding new ways to do business.
LinkedIn is still my favorite, though this one seems to be more difficult to get folks to "buy into". To me it's more professional. One of the challenges is for folks who ventured into LinkedIn when it was primarily a HR recruiting/job hunting communication tool. They tend to think, been there, done that, tool has no value. It has evolved beyond it's HR/Job function, though it still has elements related to that. I like the ease of sharing news and starting/following discussions. I much prefer following a discussion here as opposed to weeding through email or twitter strings.
Facebook. Twitter. Waiste of time? Why bother? To maintain and grow market share, as well as position forward, we need to reach people beyond our traditional market(s) and contacts.
Before SCMS began this summer, I had just started to explore Twitter as a communication tool. During some idea generating sessions we used Twitter for live comments. As the process evolved, we realized that Twitter had power to bring expertise immediately into the conversation or to share "back home". No travel. No expense. Real time. We had strategic "experts" join our classroom conversation from New York, Washington D.C., and California. The experts gained new ideas. Credit union employees were able to be part of the conversation, gaining insights, without leaving the office. All players won.
Recently Brad posted a twitter offering to help on projects. I took him up on his offer with a simple request for him, but something that would have taken me time to figure out. I wanted to sync twitter with facebook and had not spent the time to figure out how to do it. He made it happen with a few key strokes and I was off and running.
This morning I posted on Twitter that I was looking for ways to help folks see the business case for social media. Darrell Bahr picked up my message on facebook, sending me the following reply:
"Need case studies/examples. CU people are largely numbers people, so they need something tangible and proven/tested before they will try something so "radical". A few places to look:
How far is your credit union willing to take Twitter? Are you ready to move past tweeting regurgitating marketing messages. The latest rates, loan promotions, and press releases? Think outside the bird and start doing some crazy things. Get people engaged and talking.
We have developed some pretty cool offline word of mouth campaigns and are working on one that involves Twitter as a key player but not as you might traditionally think of a credit union using Twitter.
To help nspire you (shout out to @jaduplant), check out how Twitter is being used on the East Coast and West Coast with the two videos below:
Props to @mrjlay for shooting this video over to me.
Is your credit union using Twitter? How are you guys using it? Are you just "talking" or are you listening and conversing? Is the conversation one way or two ways. What has the response been?
A word of warning, we are finding through our research and focus group that Twitter is NOT a key communication channel at this time for the traditional Gen Y credit union member. This is not to say that Twitter can not be an effective communication channel for your credit union but it is important to note and set clear expectations.
Shout back and share your credit union Twitter experience or tweet me up here: @jrwlay
Either way, I look forward to your thoughts and ideas so that we can all can innovate, communicate and collaborate together.
Calling all nominations for the 2009 C.U.M.A.- Credit Union Movie of the Year Award. Last year Larissa Walkiw, spokesperson for Commonwealth CU’s Young & Free campaign, won the very first C.U.M.A. with The Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions – Part One
. Who will be the winner this year? Who will take the coveted C.U.M.A. home? Blog back with the link to your nomination- to do this post a comment to this article and include a link to the video you are nominating. You can nominate any credit union film you have seen this year- it doesn't even have to be from your credit union. Feel free to nominate more than one. We will have an online vote next week. The winner will be announced Tuesday July 21 at the SCMS Alumni & Student Scholarship Auction & Networking Dinner. The deadline for nominations is July 17, 2009.
The only rules are:
The video is no longer than 5 minutes.
It must have premiered between July 2008 and now
It promotes the credit union industry in a positive way
It is uploaded to a public viewing site: Such as YouTube or a public credit union website.
Southwest CUNA Management School Grad School - Social Media Lab: Credit Unions Get Down & Dirty
It’s time to stop talking about social media, roll up your sleeves, and experience some of the tools first hand. James Robert Lay, Brad Garland, and Kent Sugg team up to divide you up. Attendees will divide into work teams to create various social media elements. You’ll discover that with some strategic thinking, nominal investment, and time, you can effectively take advantage of opportunities afforded you through blogging, polling, podcast, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and more.
Unlike other events where you or your staff attend and get excited about the potential of social media, only to return and hit a dead end because you have no idea where to start, you’ll be in real life scenarios to help you better understand and work with social media when you return home.
Visit the school site for the full Grad School curriculum, schedule and related details.
Open Invite to Credit Union Professionals to Attend the SCMS Fireside Chatwith Robert Gallman and Susan Mitchell - no charge to take advantage of this event and experience the excitement of SCMS!
Swing for a cause - the development of credit union leaders! The 21st Annual SCMS Scholarship Golf Classic is open to all.
It's not too late to enroll as a 1st year student! Plan now to connect with tomorrow's leaders. Enroll today!
It’s time to rethink strategies and find innovative solutions to today’s challenges. Seeking ways to maximize the return on how time and money are spent is crucial. Southwest CUNA Management School (SCMS) is an environment where applied knowledge and networking are structured to help students find innovative and sound strategies to help position their credit unions forward.
This is the year to seriously consider enrolling yourself or key staff in SCMS — the place to connect with professionals dedicated to the future, an industry think tank.
Two innovative credit union communication tools students initiated over the last year:
YouTube Video (Bank vs. CU Novella) - Kudos Alex Rascon, (SCMS Class of 2010 president, GECU)
This blog, CU Grow - Thank you James Robert Lay and Natasha Melugin (SCMS Cl of 2009) for your vision, commitment, heart and passion!
- Opportunity to be part of shaping the future of credit unions!
The school is intense. Less than 80% of a first year class make it to graduation. Successful completion of the school is something to take pride in. A three-year commitment, this summer's session is from July 12-22.
SCMS offers professional and personal development opportunity, providing a strong base for credit union leadership. Take the challenge. Make the commitment. Enroll today!
Challenges are here, both in the economy and in the workplace. As we deal with challenges and seek solutions, opportunities often present themselves. Now, more than ever, it's important for us to creatively connect both inside and outside of the credit union movement. Together we can find and capitalize on opportunities. I have just the place for you to connect with professionals dedicated to the future.
To help position your credit union forward and develop leaders, consider enrolling yourself and key management team members in Southwest CUNA Management School (SCMS). The SCMS curriculum has been celebrated for years. The growing list of professional credit union leaders to have emerged from the three-year school continue to shape and develop the credit union movement in innovative and positive ways.
To maximize both your personal and professional ROI for this intense school, students should arrive on campus with a strong determination to focus on:
Being ready to capitalize on the broad networking opportunities. Students and alumni represent a wide range of credit union expertise.
Planning to take advantage of the vast expertise offered by faculty. Many bring international experience to the classroom, challenging students with crucial topics. Faculty also encourage students to pursue innovative concepts.
Arriving prepared to actively participate, incubating ideas and contributing to the overall educational experience by offering their own unique perspectives.
Being a part of creating and shaping the future of the credit union movement.
When students arrive determined to take advantage of all SCMS has to offer, the rewards both personally and professionally extend well beyond the year of graduation. Shape the future and make a positive change in the credit union by enrolling in SCMS today. Enrollment is limited to the first 50 students. Seats have been going fast. Only 26 1st year student slots remain.
Students and alumni are encouraged to take full advantage of networking options by also utilizing the SCMS groups in LinkedIn and on Facebook.
Watch for information about the SCMS Grad School on July 22. One of this year's sessions will feature a hands-on workshop about how to create various social media forms of communication.
Pier Alsup, SVP Marketing & BD of Anheuser-Busch CU, discussed how they used awards to double the business generated by its marketing campaign while saving over $40,000 on interest expenses.
Watch the post session interview with Pier and Ken Wanek of Datatrac below to learn more:
Shout back below and let us know if or how you are using awards based marketing at your credit union.
Raleigh R. Pinskey, International branding and PR authority, and author of the quarter million best selling 101 Ways to Promote Yourself, presented a 3 hour crash course on the new rules filled with insider secrets, professional know how and tricks of the trade for taking charge of your own PR Marketing, business development and branding successes.
Watch the video below to see a quick interview and recap with Raleigh.
This session was geared to provide immediate applications geared to expanding name recognition, enhancing member service, and getting that all-important media attention that lays the groundwork for increased business. Some strategies and techniques include: The 5 E's that attract people to the business you offer, why and how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works to bring you more business, how to “blog for business,” media attention and name recognition, to name a few.
Key thoughts and take aways:
Your brand is more than a logo. It is cross platform and cross channel.
You are not making the brand, you are the brand as a person, and as a credit union.
Branding is not about logos or colors but emotions and feelings.
Your branding must “ooze” love.
Obama was successful turning fear into love and was able to walk the talk of change by embracing social media
Don’t call press releases, press release. It’s more effective to call the media releases.
Promotional give aways and gimmicks are old school and most likely will end up in a yard sale.
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