By Jeff Rendell
“Ninety-seven percent of credit unions created a new loan product in 2020.”
Did I hear that correctly?” I thought, as a top credit union leader shared a survey result as I facilitated a national virtual conference. In a year that began with a feeling of “energize,” it shifted in the Spring to “mobilize,” with the Summer to “stabilize,” and credit unions ended the year finally in a mode of “strategize.” Yet through all that 2020 sent our way, just about every credit union found time – made time – to innovate. Let’s maintain this in 2021.
To keep the process of innovation straightforward, work with your executive and management teams to answer three sets of questions.
Where is there room for innovation?
The list will be exhaustive, and that is the idea. Discuss everything – membership growth; deposit retention; loan products; revenue enhancement; expense value; operations and support; marketing; business development; digital shifts; speed of delivery; work from home; hours of operation; and the list could go on.
Every unit and function at your credit union can boost its contribution to value – financial and experiential. This method of thinking keeps you leading change rather than waiting for it.
Where can we best focus our resources on innovative ideas and solutions?
Amongst all you answered in the question above, some ideas will present better business cases and opportunities. Where you find small wins, execute right away. Progress is progress, after all. Then, push more to discover the several concepts that produce the most immediate tangible value, hold the highest strategic fit, and offer relative ease in execution. In selecting a few initiatives for focus, you will finish more of what you start (the most valuable executive skill).
How can we execute faster and deliver solutions to members and colleagues?
One lesson 2020 taught us is that we do not always have three months to research, three months to analyze, and three months to decide. Nor should we. Members and colleagues with real-time challenges need real-time solutions. Once you select your concentrated initiatives, aim for 30, 60, or 90 days for completion. In many cases, you will have enough information to act, knowing that refinements will follow. It is part of being nimble and ready to serve in any situation.
Innovation is more than a corporate value.
Your members are counting on you to deliver resourceful products and services to better their lives and businesses. Innovation is a standard action practiced by credit unions creative and ambitious enough to shape the future of their business, one idea at a time.
Continuously tinker with your business model; welcome new insights and ideas, and recognize that consistency, discipline, and execution is a strategic advantage that allows you to lead during times of economic and industry expansion, contraction, and disruption.
Jeff Rendel, Certified Speaking Professional and president of Rising Above Enterprises, works with credit unions that want entrepreneurial results in sales, service, and strategy. Each year, he addresses and facilitates for more than 100 credit unions and their business partners. For info: jeff@jeffrendel.com or www.jeffrendel.com.