“When I became a CXO in 2018, I was often asked, ‘What does that mean?’ These days, heads nod and I’m asked, ‘So, which experiences are you responsible for?’”
Stacy Armijo joined Amplify Credit Union ($1.3B, Austin, TX) as its chief experience officer in 2018, when the title was first gaining traction among credit unions. Before she arrived at Amplify, she spent more than 16 years at an Austin-San Antonio public relations and communications firm.
What has changed in member experience, what hasn’t, and how has its leadership matured at credit unions?
Stacy Armijo: When I became a CXO in 2018, I was often asked, “What does that mean?” These days, heads nod and I’m asked, “So, which experiences are you responsible for?”
That indicates a profound and positive shift in the industry. As proud as we are of friendly and effective staff in our branches and contact centers, often the best “experience” is one that means a member never needs to seek service. That’s why it’s crucial we don’t simply swap terms without touching responsibilities and organizational structures.
To make that change meaningful, we must give experience leaders purview over the practices, teams, and platforms that enable them to optimize across channels. We also need a clear point of view about how digital experiences should weave together with phone and in-person service. Long gone are the days of treating digital as a back-office function simply because it’s technology.
However, many organizations have a new challenge, which is digital member service in its own silo, away from phone and physical. That’s a mistake. Those teams should be working together every day and learning from the insights each can offer the other.
Who knows the weaknesses in your digital channels? Your contact center team. Who knows if your householding functions are working as they should? Your branch team. If those teams don’t talk every day, you’ll miss those insights.
Delivering that level of cohesion requires an organizational structure that doesn’t pit channels against one another for attention and budget. It means only giving someone a “member experience” title if you also give them the authority to shape that experience. It requires clarity about the distinct value each channel should deliver for members. And, it requires rewarding teams for contributing to success beyond their channel. To quote Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke of Two Guys on Your Head, “There is what you say, what you do, and what you reward … and people are motivated by those in reverse order.”
Experience leaders must have the capacity to lead across multiple complex functions while balancing the tension between quality member experiences with responsible fraud mitigation. That’s now table stakes and it’s the most significant evolution I’ve seen in my time in the role.
How does your organization approach member experience, and where does dedicated MX leadership have the most impact today?
Stacy Armijo: Our organization has gone the route of broadening the role, folding more under the experience function as the years have passed. I was our first CXO and, initially, it was primarily a marketing role with the intention of adding retail and other functions previously in operations.
Today, the role spans demand, deposits, payments, and people, which comprises almost half of our team. That occurred because we kept seeing contingencies and commonalities. For example, there was never a plan to add HR and training, but we quickly realized that if we wanted a unified member experience, we needed an aligned employee experience.
Also, we noticed how often we’d say, “We need input from so-and-so,” and eventually, it just made sense to have those teams together. If you believe, like we do, that member experience is shaped by far more than those who interact personally with members, then MX should be a strategic function, not a department.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Don’t stop here. Stacy Armijo works across her enterprise and the community to promote member service and brand awareness at Amplify Credit Union. Read more in “What’s In A Name: Chief Experience Officer.”