Would You Like a Loan with that?

Outbound calling allows a credit union to personalize the point of contact and can be successful at getting members to increase their relationship with the credit union.
Scott Trubisz

When you apply for a loan at Orange County’s Credit Union (Santa Ana, CA, $781 million in assets), you don’t need to spend days waiting by the mailbox to see if you’ve been approved.

Once approved, they’ll call you on the phone to personally tell you the good news.

Orange County’s Credit Union is part of a number of credit unions that are using outbound calls to their advantage. With the recent industry-wide slowdown in member growth, credit unions are searching for that extra push that will entice a potential mmember to give their business to the credit union instead of a competitor. Outbound calls are a great way to showcase the personal service of the credit union and differentiate it from the numerous competitors.

Show off the Credit Union Difference
Telemarketing is a delicate subject matter in today’s environment. Over 62 million telephone numbers were registered with the National Do-Not-Call Registry in just the first twelve months that it was active. Consumers are wary of the standard cold calls and sales pitches that interrupt dinner and are seen as an invasion of their privacy.

However, this doesn’t mean that credit unions can no longer use targeted outbound calling campaigns to leverage their competitive advantage. Most consumers are more than happy to talk to a live representative about their loan, their new account at the credit union, or the car that they just bought. With so much negative publicity about telemarketing, a friendly, courteous, and respectful call from the credit union can have a very positive impact on how that member views the credit union.

Cross Sell Additional Products
TeleServices,the outbound calling center at Orange County’s, has four representatives who concentrate solely on making calls. It also has a separate group of staff that process the loans aftermembers agree to move forward so that representatives can focus their energy on new leads. Since they have the member’s credit report in hand when making calls, they can easily identify loans and lines of credit at other institutions that couldbe converted to a better rate at the credit union. They have been very successful at converting loans in this manner.

MidWest America Federal Credit Union (Fort Wayne, IN, $317 million in assets) uses outbound calls to contact people who have recently taken out a new indirect auto loan. In the call, they welcome the member to the credit union and introduce them to otherservices that may interst the member. They have had great success with this approach, both in terms of increasing product penetration among indirect members, as well as converting loans that those members had previously held with competitors.

April 19, 2016

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