Credit Union Marketing Strategies: Prospect Within Your Membership
Posted on Wed, Mar 02, 2011 @ 02:18 PM
I recently came across an article written by Matt Blumenfeld, a reporter at Credit Union Journal, back in June of last year. The title was: "Fittingly, Best Lenders ID Prospects at Home". Through a series of interviews with several executives at leading credit unions, the author explores best practices for increasing mortgage loan origination. His premise was that mortgage loans are worth working for, as they are the most profitable product within a credit union's arsenal. Not only that, they are also a powerful relationship-building tool, as studies have shown that members holding mortgages use more services than non-mortgage members.
The gist of the article was that in lieu of broad-based mortgage acquisition marketing, credit unions should focus on the "low-hanging fruit" that exists within their membership. The thought being that the battle is already half-won...they already have established some level of trust with their members...earning them the right to handle one of the most emotional transactions of their members' lives.
While the article was on point, and identified an undeniable opportunity for growth, I think it fell short of providing its readers with a comprehensive overview of the strategies that can be employed to increase originations within a credit union's membership.
In addition to the incentive initiatives mentioned by the author (both in the form of member discounts and employee referral bonuses), I would also encourage credit unions to consider the following highly targeted and strategic cross-selling strategies:
#1: Mine Your Membership for Qualified, Profitable Prospects. Let's face it, not all of your members will qualify for one of the mortgage loans in your portfolio. Not only that, I am guessing some mortgage loans are more profitable than others, either from a revenue or cost perspective, so wouldn't it be in your best interest to target members who qualify for your most profitable loans? Leveraging our tri-bureau prescreen marketing platform, we can append a wide variety of credit-based attributes to your membership file that will help you zero-in on these profitable target segments.
#2: Market to Members in the Market. Leveraging the same tri-bureau prescreen credit information listed above, we can also identify members who have applied for a mortgage loan within the last 24 hours...giving you the unparalleled opportunity to deliver your product offering at the very moment your members are making a purchase decision.
Our capabilities are not limited to helping credit unions identify cross-selling opportunities for mortgage loans. We can also identify ideal prospects for auto loans (see related post here), credit cards, personal lines of credit, and more.
All of these capabilities fall under our Loyalty Assurance product. You can learn more about this revolutionary cross-sell and retention solution by reading the following posts:
Of course, you can always call us directly at 888-707-7600! One of our experienced marketing professionals would be happy to demonstrate how you can increase the lifetime value of your membership by leveraging this proven credit union marketing strategy.