Member surveys. Member experience monitoring. Listening to the voice of the member. If you’ve read this blog, you’ve probably seen something about any of those topics.
But why do we talk about them so much?
Read on to see why connecting with the voice of the customer is so important for credit unions today.
What Is the Voice of the Customer?
On our blog, we usually talk about members instead of customers. But, in this particular post, we’re going to speak in more general terms. The member’s voice is a specific area of a broader category:
Customer service.
While the customer/member distinction is important, sometimes it’s good to zoom out and see how member and customer experiences are part of the same issue. So, we’ll be talking about customer service and the voice of the customer today. It will help us paint with a broader brush the concepts at hand.
The voice of the customer is simply a term describing customer feedback about various experiences:
- Needs
- Expectations
- Values
- Interactions
As people visit your branches, apply for loans or credit, and read your media posts, they’ll develop feelings about their experiences.
Many of those people will also talk about those experiences.
That feedback about experiences is known as the voice of the customer.
Why the Voice of the Customer Matters
Not everyone will jump onto Yelp right off the bat. They may not even talk about things on Twitter or Facebook. But at some point, something might happen that makes them want to share about their experience. Someone might ask them to share.
Here’s the question:
Who do you want your customers talking to about their experiences?
If you answered, “a thousand random strangers on the internet,” then you do NOT get a gold star. You should want your customers talking to you, the credit union.
Who better to celebrate in their victories? To address their concerns? To right the wrongs? It should be your credit union they talk to first.
If you listen to your customers, you can build something better, together.
It’s All About the Customer, Right?
Not every industry has the luxury or privilege of helping people so much. Credit unions help people manage their money. They give people the tools they need to take charge of their financial futures. Credit unions fund people’s dreams.
And they do it all while building community. Credit unions are people-focused financial institutions.
But it’s hard to be people-focused if you don’t listen to them.
So, to stay in tune with your members, you must listen to the all-powerful voice of the member. Doing so will ensure that your credit union delivers the experiences they need, expect, and remember.
Further Reading
Subscribe to our blog to learn more about how your credit union can improve member experiences. Alternatively, follow the links below to see more about tapping into the voice of the member, or about how member surveys can help you understand what your members are thinking.
