Credit union member surveys measure member satisfaction across a broad range of metrics. Credit unions can use this member feedback to add, eliminate, promote, or refine products and services. Survey responses also help credit unions find problem areas and pain points to be addressed.
Credit unions have many tools at their disposal when it comes to giving out member surveys. There are strengths and weaknesses associated with each tool. In this article, we’ll explore four major survey tools that credit unions can use. Each tool is a little different, and so while one might be a good fit for Credit Union A, it may not work for Credit Union B.
Credit Union Member Survey Shootout!
Before we dive into the nitty-gritty details, we’d like to throw in some disclaimers.
- This list is far from exhaustive, and
- All five options listed provide high-quality services.
Okay! That was easy! Now, onto the good stuff.
SurveyMonkey ($–$$)
The SurveyMonkey platform is the largest and most popular survey tool on this list. However, that’s because SurveyMonkey is a generic survey tool that can work for just about any industry.
SurveyMonkey is intuitive and easy to learn. They even offer a free version for individual users. Their business and enterprise plans cost much more than their entry-level plans, though.
Credit unions would need to spend several hundred dollars per month to gain the kind of features that LiveSurvey and Member Loyalty Group offer natively. For example, to get unlimited responses, white-labeled surveys, skip logic, and phone support, you’ll need their premium enterprise plan. The biggest downside to SurveyMonkey is that surveys are anonymous, thus preventing insight about demographics, product mix, profitability, and so on.
Still, for a bare-bones, SurveyMonkey-branded survey, they provide good options.
SurveyMonkey Pros
- Many templates
- Easy to use
- Includes analytics tools handle simple datasets
- Optimized across PC and mobile platforms
SurveyMonkey Cons
- Not CU-specific
- Browser-based (won’t integrate with Outlook, e.g.)
- Surveys are anonymous, preventing follow-up on detractors, and data can’t be segmented for analytical insights
- No easy way of exporting and presenting data
- Doesn’t fit with credit union core software, so transaction surveys must be identified and sent manually
LiveSurvey ($$–$$$)
LiveSurvey is a CUSO built to address credit-union-specific issues. However, their platform is flexible and intuitive enough that credit unions could use it to ask any question they want to.
LiveSurvey’s platform includes templates, support, an easy-to-read survey dashboard, and bounce statistics to help credit unions scrub their email lists. LiveSurvey’s best feature is its automated real-time survey administration—within minutes of any member transaction, LiveSurvey can automatically send a survey to that member. All results are collected and displayed in real-time as well.
The downsides of LiveSurvey come from the fact that it’s not a fully-managed solution. As with SurveyMonkey, credit union employees must manage their surveys and interpret their results themselves.
LiveSurvey Pros
- Queries core for real-time survey delivery and results
- Credit union-specific approach
- Group responses by member segments
- Highly customizable
- Automatically sends surveys within minutes of a transaction
- Automatically follows up with extremely dissatisfied members
LiveSurvey Cons
- Not fully managed
- Doesn’t make management or strategy recommendations
- Can’t send paper surveys
- Moderate setup cost
Member Loyalty Group ($$$$$)
Member Loyalty Group is another CUSO dedicated to helping credit unions better understand their members and employees wants and needs. They’re a fully-managed survey solution that provides extensive support, interpretation, strategy advice, and metrics.
Member Loyalty Group caters to credit unions that have more spare money and less spare time. Member Loyalty Group can handle the entire survey process—they can identify who to survey about what, when, and then explain what the results mean. Finally, they can make recommendations on how to act on member feedback.
Because they’re a fully-managed credit union member survey provider, they’re not as flexible or agile as SurveyMonkey or LiveSurvey. The real caveat for their service is their price tag, though. You can expect to shell out a considerable sum to retain their expertise.
Member Loyalty Group Pros
- Fully managed
- Interpret data for you
- Provide analysis and recommendations
- Can send paper surveys
- Quarterly benchmark report of MLG clients
Member Loyalty Group Cons
- No real-time survey dashboard
- Not as customizable as other options
- Requires outside data interpretation and presentation
- Very expensive
Raddon Group ($$$$$)
Raddon is part of Fiserv, and they’ve been working with financial institutions to improve member experience for decades. Their survey services are geared toward institutions that value standard performance-correlated metrics used for peer benchmarking, such as the Net Promoter Score (NPS).
Like Member Loyalty Group, Raddon handles survey creation, distribution, collection, interpretation, and presentation of surveys and results. More importantly, they also support employee surveys to better assess how staff can contribute to and improve the member experience.
Also like MLG, Raddon’s solution is more expensive and less flexible than SurveyMonkey and LiveSurvey. So, while they provide great survey services and direction, Raddon’s suite of survey features may be better suited to credit unions with bigger budgets and a preference for hands-off approaches.
Raddon Group Pros
- Fully managed
- Interpret data for you
- Employee viewpoint surveys
- Brand benchmarking
Raddon Group Cons
- No real-time survey dashboard
- Not as customizable as other options
- Requires outside data interpretation and presentation
- Very expensive
SoGo Survey ($$–$$$$$)
SoGo Survey is a nearly industry-agnostic survey platform that formed in 2013. In addition to surveys, polls, and quizzes, they also offer services to improve customer engagement and employee performance.
SoGo Survey is a large provider, and they provide many different plan and service options to credit unions. Their licenses run from individual accounts to major Fortune 100 corporations. Therefore, their pricing structure depends entirely on your credit union’s size, goals, and product mix.
The bottom line is that their platform is very well-built, secure, and flexible. However, like most providers on this list, they don’t specialize in credit union surveys and they can’t query your core for instant survey invites.
If your credit union’s goals are broader and more focused on tracking standard metrics (with a few one-offs) rather than diving into CU-specific relationship and transaction surveys, then SoGo survey may be a good option for you.
SoGo Survey Pros
- Trusted by major multinational corporations
- Easy to use
- Templates for many industries and survey types
- Great visualization
SoGo Survey Cons
- Can’t query CU core for real-time surveys
- Geared toward standardized metrics
- Cost increases quickly
- Not CU-specific
Which Member Experience Platform is Right for My Credit Union?
Ultimately, the answer to that question can be answered only by your credit union.
If you’re looking for a generic, intuitive survey tool, and if you don’t want immediate member feedback, SurveyMonkey might be your best bet.
If you want a user-friendly, customizable, credit-union specific survey tool that automatically sends surveys and displays live-update results on an easy-to-read dashboard, then LiveSurvey might be for you.
If cost is no object and you want a fully-managed survey solution, Member Loyalty Group provides in-depth analysis and data interpretation to keep your credit union competitive.
If cost is no object and you want to further integrate into the Fiserv ecosystem, Raddon offers a well-rounded suite of member experience tools.
If you want to use the same platform that other industries are using, SoGo Survey is a great industry-agnostic platform with FI-specific tools and plans.
Would you like to get started with your member surveys today? Book a quick demo with LiveSurvey now!
