Mickey Garland, President of the Georgia Marketing Council, opens the fall meeting in Savannah, GA.

By Fonda Semerjian
Marketing Account Executive, GCUA

Sixteen credit unions and the Georgia Credit Union Affiliates were all represented at the Georgia Marketing Council's latest meeting held in Savannah, Georgia on Friday, October 11, 2002. Complete with an excellent speaker and wonderful accommodations, the meeting proved to be a great success!

The annual fall meeting began the night before as many of the council members met for dinner at Savannah's own Shrimp Factory. I think all who attended would agree that the food was impeccable, especially Mickey's $10 "duck" apple pie!

President of the Georgia Marketing Council, Mickey Garland, opened the official meeting on Friday morning with his usual creative icebreaker games. Following the opener, Mickey introduced the meeting speaker, Constance Anderson.

Constance Anderson is a nationally recognized credit union author and trainer.

(L to R) Holly Chalmers of MACO Educators FCU, Holly Dean of Northwest Georgia CU and Kelly Garmon of Lockheed Georgia EFCU all wear smiles as they participate in Mickey's notorious ice-breaker games!

She has been an instructor of marketing for the CUNA Management School, the Southwest Management School, the CUNA Marketing Management School, the CUNA E-Lending Conference, and the CUNA Consumer Lending Conference.

In addition, she has spoken to credit union marketers at state conferences from Maine to California and is co-creator and presenter for CUNA's Sales and Service Culture Institute. Constance is the author of three marketing texts published by CUNA & Affiliates: Strategic Credit Union Marketing, the Marketing Handbook for Credit Unions, and Catch Your Members on the Net.

Constance led us through an in depth discussion of relationship marketing, outlining the five strategies for developing member loyalty and profitability for life. The first of the five strategies focused on new membership. Constance explained that it is vital for credit unions to welcome all new members and for front line staff to cross-sell four credit union services at that initial sign up.

Constance Anderson, nationally recognized credit union author and trainer, eagerly offers her insight into relationship marketing strategies.

In addition, credit unions should develop discount packages for new members, send follow up postcards and thank you notes and survey new members within three to six months of the initial sign up.

The second strategy outlined by Constance was relationship packaging and pricing. Constance offered several options for credit unions to try including price incentives that will encourage and reward member loyalty. She emphasized that all new packages must first be sold to the staff and then to the members and that it is important to continually monitor the account reports and maintain contact with members to track satisfaction levels.

Constance continued with the third strategy by explaining the necessity of developing a sales and service culture within the credit union. This culture should include a mission statement, internal & external sales and service standards, staff coaching and the ultimate measurement. This culture is necessary for the relationship marketing to work.

The fourth strategy involved the product purchase follow-up. Constance reiterated the importance of thanking all members for opening accounts or maintaining high balances. She suggested using a "teleservicing" strategy to keep loyal members.

(L to R) Kathleen Hancock of Ft. Gordon FCU, Holly Dean of Northwest GA CU, Angelica Guzman of CORE CU, Sherry Futch of MACO Educators FCU, Leatrice Dooley of Atlanta City ECU and Dawn White of The Coca-Cola Company Family FCU all try for the largest bubble in Constance's bubble blowing contest. Congratulations Leatrice!!!

Many of the GMC participants and the "love experts" watch the bubble blowing contest in anticipation.

All members should enjoy that personal touch!

The fifth and final strategy in Constance's hierarchy of relationship marketing is the continued monitoring of relationships. It's not enough to implement strategies 1-4 without tracking such statistics as the new member retention rate, the loyal member retention rate, average account balances, attrition rates and the average member share.

For more information on Constance Anderson's appearance at the GMC fall meeting or upcoming speaking engagements, please contact her at (800) 548-4417 or e-mail her at SpeakerNow@aol.com. The Georgia Marketing Council was established to assist credit union marketing professionals in Georgia by offering the latest insight into the industry's business development, marketing and technological advancements. Meetings are held twice a year. If you would like to become a Georgia Marketing Council member or to receive additional information, please contact Dawn White, The Coca-Cola Company Family Federal Credit Union at (404) 676-0846 or send an e-mail to dawwhite@na.ko.com.

Be on the lookout for details of the next GMC meeting in Callaway Gardens!

(L to R) Debby "Dawg" Carter and Stephanie Cave (mother-to-be) of Georgia Heritage FCU enjoy the fantastic lunch provided to the GMC courtesy of the Hampton Inn.