GILLETTE, Wyo.—A new, modern building in the bustling section of this town has jump-started Campco FCU’s growth. In the first 12 months of the new location the CU signed up 1,600 new members who average four services apiece.
That business starkly contrasts with the fewer than 800 new members the $98-million credit union used to annually average before it moved into its new office, which has its name prominently displayed at the top of the two-story building in large letters.
The new location, much of it glass and sitting atop a hill so people can see it for miles, has also been a big contributor to the credit union growing loans from $31.8 million in 2010 to $61 million today, and growing assets by nearly $20 million since the office opened in mid-2014.
“We opened the new building with the same number of staff with the expectations that we would be reducing the total number of staff over the next few years by having cash recyclers and cross-trained staff,” said CEO Kurt Thelen. “The results were we added four people to keep up with the demand the new building brought us. Today, more than a year-and-a-half later, we have budgeted for one or two additional people for the call center as we continue to grow.”
Old Office, Bad Location
Thelen shared a story not unfamiliar to many small credit unions. He said Campco’s old main office was located off the town’s “main drag” and was not easy to get to. Making things tougher, the town over time grew in a different direction, away from Campco’s headquarters.
Kurt Thelen
“I came here six years ago and we were in four separate buildings,” explained Thelen, explaining that as the credit union had gotten bigger over the years it bought buildings adjacent to its tiny main office. “We ended up with one building for the teller lines and primary member services (which the CU still operates), a separate building for the drive through, another for operations and a fourth for the management team.”
Thelen said that arrangement combined with being located away from the busiest section of town worked to keep growth about “flat.”
That also left the Campco with a dilemma, said Thelen, knowing it could not compete with the local banks that were better situated and had bigger advertising budgets.
“A big part of our plan is that since we can’t advertise at the same level as the banks, we wanted our building to be a postcard for us—our signature in town,” said Thelen. “Our building is unique and stands out.”
But it has not been just the new office responsible for the business increase, explained Thelen. Staff were trained to be better sellers and to leverage the new interactive branch. The new office has teller pods instead of teller lines, which engage staff in conversations with members.
“We went from being order takers to consultative sellers—dialogue banking,” said Thelen, noting that staff were extensively trained on the consultative selling approach before the new location opened. “We went from members typically taking a single service from us to several. When we opened our doors here in 2014, in many ways it was like we were a brand new credit union. And our members and the existing community saw us that way.”
Jeff Boehmer, regional vice president at Cincinnati-based DEI Inc., which designed Campco’s new office, applauded the credit union’s “thorough” approach to introducing a new office to the community.
“Staff were really ready for this change,” explained Boehmer. “I have seen many financial institutions launch a new building and not train staff well. They mistakenly think the branch will do all the work.”
While the sales approach changed, incentives remained the same, with cash and gift card rewards for signing up members for a new product or service, and quarterly recognition dinners for the loan staff when they reached their three-month goals.
Worth The Price
The 11,681-square-foot building cost Campco $4 million, a big expense for a small credit union and one that pushed the CU above the 5% fixed assets limit in place from NCUA at the time. The credit union obtained a waiver from the agency to build the office.
Thelen said Campco has never regretted paying that price for the building and prime location, saying small CUs need to take some risks when possible.
“The old model was you never wanted to pay top real estate price to be where you really wanted to be,” said Thelen. “But in order to survive now you have to be proactive about where the market is or has moved to. The thinking in the old days was build it and they will come. But if you are not in an area of the main activity in town, people will not come to you.”