Do You Want Fries With That?
By Ron Daly
That question is one of the most famous examples of up-selling in American history. Today, credit union executives and marketing teams are striving to create the same up-sell message that will increase their service-per-member ratios. The fact of the matter is, credit unions are not really that good at up-selling when they are not face-to-face with the member. Until now...
How do you seal the deal in a wireless world?
Wikipedia defines Up-selling as a sales technique whereby a salesman attempts to have the customer purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.
Not too long ago a member had to walk into a branch to join, add a new service they needed or get a loan for a dream that they had. The face-to-face contact made our jobs easier to up-sell additional products or tell them what was new at the credit union.
Not anymore. Members can now join remotely, apply for loans online, make deposits and withdrawals from free ATMs around the world and hit a shared-branch. Have you ever stopped and considered how many members actually walk into your branches? Wonder if some members even know where your branches are? Or quite possibly what a credit union really is?
Sealing the deal in today’s wireless world is challenging credit unions. Experience has shown that credit unions are really not that good at up-selling when they are not face-to-face with the member.
TELL US NOW: Does your credit union still rely on face-to-face up-selling as its main method of moving products to members?
That question is one of the most famous examples of up-selling in American history. Today, credit union executives and marketing teams are striving to create the same up-sell message that will increase their service-per-member ratios. The fact of the matter is, credit unions are not really that good at up-selling when they are not face-to-face with the member. Until now...
How do you seal the deal in a wireless world?
Wikipedia defines Up-selling as a sales technique whereby a salesman attempts to have the customer purchase more expensive items, upgrades, or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale.
Not too long ago a member had to walk into a branch to join, add a new service they needed or get a loan for a dream that they had. The face-to-face contact made our jobs easier to up-sell additional products or tell them what was new at the credit union.
Not anymore. Members can now join remotely, apply for loans online, make deposits and withdrawals from free ATMs around the world and hit a shared-branch. Have you ever stopped and considered how many members actually walk into your branches? Wonder if some members even know where your branches are? Or quite possibly what a credit union really is?
Sealing the deal in today’s wireless world is challenging credit unions. Experience has shown that credit unions are really not that good at up-selling when they are not face-to-face with the member.
TELL US NOW: Does your credit union still rely on face-to-face up-selling as its main method of moving products to members?
Labels: Credit Union News, Credit Union Tech, Credit Unions, Generation-Y Marketing, Marketing, Money
posted by DigitalMailer, Inc. at
1:16 PM
7 Comments:
I rarely, if ever, get sold things face-to-face. I have to read things to get going.
There's a related story over at The Financial Brand, "How To Build Relationships with Branch Avoiders."
http://thefinancialbrand.com/2008/09/23/branchless-relationships/
There's a poll embedded in the article that asks how often people go into branches. 50% said "practically never."
Online up-selling is one facet of the solution. I rented a car yesterday, and was asked if I wanted the slightly more expensive rental (complete with appealing picture, that I knew the rental wouldn't live up to) before I checked out.
Same thing with flights I book, and Amazon books I buy. If it's not a straight up-sell, it's a bundle offer: "Buy this too ..."
A recent Filene survey showed young adults (18-34) listing "convenience" as their most important trait in choosing an FI. Making sure the marketing they do get is "convenient" to their habits, is a good step.
Many CU's find it very challenging to achieve upselling when they are face to face with members. Inexperienced member services people often don't understand that "upselling" is really just helping members discover all the products and services they are entitled to. The digital environment creates opportunities to overcome this reluctance to offer product and service information by building it into the responses.
Maybe my CU is just different because I feel like members still visit our branches fairly regularly. Sure, they use our online services, where we try up-selling on certain products, but for many things people still come in to do business.
You mention joining remotely. Im curious as to how many CU's really
do this? For the most part, isn't it applying online followed by an in-branch visit where the information is basically rekeyed?
My credit union relies primarily on in person upselling. There has been a recent switch in my credit union to a new home banking system. With that switch they may also decide to add on upselling software for our online users. As a younger member I'd love to learn about new products online- where I do about 90% of my banking.
At my CU, we just conducted a set of focus groups and when asked the questions, "How can we improved the branch experience?" about 20% had no repsonse because they never go to a branch. They use our online branch, utilize our call center and apply for loans online or by phone.
Meanwhile, the other 80% of the focus group were branch users...therefore, by and large, the branch is a very important place to conduct sales and marketing efforts, but other communication vehicles are also important.
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