During new employee orientation, Dupaco President and CEO Joe Hearn talks about the Dupaco brand promise.
DUBUQUE, Iowa—Joe Hearn believes a credit union’s business strategies must feed on themselves and create a “cycle of success,” allowing the CU to grow no matter the economic cycle.
That philosophy, says the Dupaco Community CU CEO, has led DCCU to markedly grow before, during and after the recession, posting financials last year good enough to land the $1.3-billion CU into the 99th percentile in the Raddon Financial Group Performance Rankings, earning it a Crystal Performance Award from Raddon in the process.
Raddon’s awards recognize credit unions for achieving a Top 10 ranking within the company’s Performance Index, a balanced scorecard measurement of growth, income, efficiency and margin management. Dupaco received an award for CUs above $500 million in assets.
“What we do here is a cycle,” said Hearn. “Employees are engaged and enthusiastic about working with members to make sure they have the products they need to improve their lives. That brings members close to the credit union and using us as their PFI. As members prosper, so does the credit union. So we grow, reinvest in staff training and technology members need, and we keep moving the needle forward.”
Three Accounts Per Member
Dupaco, which averages three accounts per member, has grown from $475 million in assets in 2007 to $543 million in 2008, $778 million in 2009, $905 million in 2010, and
Joe Hearn, Dupaco
has now hit $1.3 billion.
“We have an intense focus on making a positive difference in our members’ lives, that is our brand,” said Hearn, who credited former CEO Bob Hoefer for establishing the CU’s culture. “We place heavy emphasis on staff training so they understand our products and have the skills to deliver on the promise of our brand. What we do is ultimately about our people.”
In addition to extensive training on the CU’s culture and brand during employee orientation, Dupaco has ongoing “Making Connections” training sessions in which staff is given training on ways to connect and engage with members and look for ways to improve their financial lives.
“Then we have a second-level Making Connections course where we continue the educational journey,” said Hearn. “We emphasize it is a journey here for our team, because they are never done learning.”
Ongoing training courses rotate by department each week, and there is a full suite of online courses that help staff refresh their member engagement skills and product knowledge.
“We also encourage managers to coach staff one-to-one,” said Hearn.
Back-office staff are coached as well to look for opportunities in their network of friends and family to improve lives with Dupaco offerings.
“We like to say we have over 350 people doing marketing for the credit union,” Hearn said.
Training is reinforced with cross-sales incentives that are awarded by group and by individual. Group incentives often lead to staff adding several hundred dollars to their income each year, with individual incentives typically delivering another 5%-10% or more of a person’s annual pay depending on their role within the organization.
“We talk about order-takers and difference-makers,” said Hearn. “In our eyes transactions are opportunities to connect with members, have them slow down and take a look at their financial situation.”
Money Makeovers
Dupaco promotes its Money Makeovers, where the credit union sits down with members, reviews their credit report, looks for opportunities to restructure loans to find savings and also encourage systematic savings.
Strong marketing keeps the CU’s name, and brand, in front of the communities it serves, added Hearn.
“We have a great connection with the local media and charities. We get a lot of awareness,” said Hearn, who noted the CU uses social media and traditional advertising. “We do a nice job, as well, using analytics for targeted marketing.”
Hearn said that some may think that what the credit union does is not all that unique. But he emphasized that executing well on all of its strategies, collectively, is what makes the difference and produces the “cycle of success.”
“When you roll it all up, together what we do has a big impact,” Hearn said.