by Greg Crandell

[Editor's Note -- Ron Daly is away this week, so Greg Crandell, DigitalMailer's Executive Vice President, will be sharing some insights on our family of blogs.]

This great article from BAI.org came across my desk the other day. Titled “Making the Cross-Sale in Difficult Times” by Katie Kuehner-Hebert [click here to read], it outlines the benefits of cross-selling for financial institutions that need more income and a deeper relationship with their members.

Some key takeaways from their article:

• Two things to overcome – product cannibalization and silo mentality. Just moving money from one account to another isn’t cross-selling. Encourage the various departments in your organization to know a little about another department and make smart, helpful referrals to members/customers.

• Get a taste for the term “needs based” – don’t waste time and effort chasing a consumer who’s not interested.

• Are you offering something that’s useful to consumers? Read the article to find more about Fifth Third Bancorp and their “Goal Setter” accounts.

• Regulation changes [like Reg E] are a hindrance to “big tent” marketing. Some target marketing isn’t just more practical, it’s essential, because certain consumers can’t/won’t qualify for every product.

• Objective Business Services, Inc recommends measuring the amount of money a consumer brings in, not just the number of products they use. A member with five accounts might be more profitable than a member with ten - it all depends which services they're using and which they're in the market for later on.

The article really is worth a read, and reemphasizes what we try to tell new email marketing clients and potential clients every day – target smart. Don’t be afraid to market to people who already know your value and are willing to buy. Go back to the well, there's still plenty of water.

"What about new members?" you ask. Yes, recruiting new members should still be a focus for you, but don't hesitate to bring new members in with a bang - look to onboarding campaigns to help you fill in the gaps in their financial picture. Maybe they just came in for a cheaper loan or a balance transfer to your credit card. What's stopping them from switching other services to you? Talk to them and find out. Making each member a repeat consumer is vital to credit unions' survival.

We can walk you through some of the finer points of email cross-selling. Join us for “Do You Want Fries with That?”, our free webinar. Click here to see our events list and sign up.

Labels: Credit Union News, Credit Unions, Marketing, marketing on a budget, smart marketing