SAGINAW, Mich.—Just what does a Member Experience Advocate Supervisor do?
Catholic Federal Credit Union here recently named Adam Pelc to just that position. In making the announcement, Catholic Federal said Mr. Pelc’s primary responsibility will be “to assist the credit union to live out the service mission of “Improving the member’s financial well-being” at every touch point. He will ensure staff and management receive all necessary skills and systems for success including coaching, training, coordinating ongoing service mission meetings, monitoring, assessing and reporting performance metrics.”
Adam Pelc
Given the unique nature of the title, CUToday.info asked Mr. Pelc for some additional details on the job in the Q&A that follows:
CUToday.info: You have been named Member Experience Advocate Supervisor at CFCU. What does that job entail, what’s involved?
Pelc: I will develop each employee to their highest potential by identifying their areas for improvement and appropriately coaching in areas of member appreciation, education & referral, etc. I also coordinate, oversee and train on product knowledge training and testing for new and existing employees. Member Shopper and Internal Service Survey Programs are used as performance metrics and areas to catch staff doing it right and follow up in areas where it is needed.
CUToday.info: Is this a new position? If so, why was it created? If not, how long has the position been around, why was it created and how has it evolved?
Pelc: This position was created at the credit union in the fourth quarter of 2010. With six office locations and staff growing close to 100, it was evident a position was needed to oversee every touch point of member interactions to keep our service consistent in all areas.
This position has evolved as the credit union partnered with Mike Neill and his ServiStar program in 2012 and has grown enormously since then as we completed the program and continue to work with Mike.
CUToday.info: The credit union says its mission is “Improving the member’s financial well-being.” What does that mean, and how does the credit union/you go about ensuring that it is fulfilled?
Pelc: Improving the member’s financial well-being means that our staff will look for opportunities to save member’s money by lowering their interest rate, consolidating debt, making them money by offering suggestions of higher dividend paying products, and giving them peace of mind with time-saving products, such as direct deposit where their check will be deposited no matter where they are. We do this by really getting to know our members and asking them questions and listening to better understand their financial needs as well as only offer those products or services that are in their best interest.
CUToday.info: Catholic Federal described the job as ensuring that mission is being executed at every touch point. Member service is often thought of as the human interactions, but how do you live out that mission in the technology-based touch points that are increasingly used?
Pelc: We live out our mission with the technology-based touchpoints by making sure those touch points are user friendly, timely, and convenient for all of our members and also have great communication with our member’s if something by chance goes wrong. We use many types of social media as well as email to stay in contact with our membership.
CUToday.info: How do you measure whether you are executing on that mission?
Pelc: We measure whether we are executing our mission by using three different tools. We are part of Constance Anderson’s Member Shopper Program, where we receive feedback from our members on how their experience was with Catholic Federal and everything from the branch appearance to what the staff member said and did is reviewed on the member’s visit.
We use MNA’s Internal Service Survey where staff can rate each other on how they were treated when a service request was initiated from another co-worker.
The third tool that we have to measure whether we are executing our service mission is through a Member Effort Survey. This is a new measure we are beta testing with Competitive Edge & MNA and a short survey is sent via email to members who had any interaction with the credit union: ATM, phone, branch, loan, mobile, home banking. This survey reviews the friendliness of staff/user-friendly system (based on what channel the member used), timeliness, accuracy, convenience, overall satisfaction with the credit union, intention to continue using the credit union, if they would consider the credit union first for their future banking needs, how likely they are to recommend the credit union to family and friends.
CUToday.info: What advice would you have for other credit unions considering this approach?
Pelc: The advice that I would give to other credit unions that are considering our approach would be to work hard and focus on how your internal service is, because if your staff is not treating each other respectfully, what makes you think that they will treat your members any differently? I can tell you first-hand that it is so rewarding and you feel so proud of yourself when you truly can find a way to improve the financial well-being of a member!