One of the worst things anyone can do with survey data is to shrug and say, “okay,” and forget about it. Surveys can be informative, and often they help people identify and address major issues. Credit unions in particular can get useful, actionable data from their transactional surveys.
This blog will explore how credit union transaction surveys can paint a more detailed picture of their members’ sentiments. If you’re looking for ways to use your survey results to make positive changes in your credit union, read on!
Which Kind of Survey Should I Use?
Credit union transaction surveys are a little different from regular relationship surveys. In fact, relationship surveys come up short in the realm of actionable data. They’re fine if you want to know how you’re doing overall, but they can’t give you any specifics about why people feel the way they do.
If you really want to know specifics about what is and isn’t working at your credit union, transaction surveys are the right tool. A relationship survey can’t tell you if your members are frustrated by a lack of ATMs or long wait times in branches. A transaction survey can.
How Transaction Surveys Give Data
In order to make transaction surveys work for your credit union, you have to know which questions to ask. Here’s a reasonable timeline of events for how to dial into an issue at your credit union:
- Send out relationship survey
- Get responses and see how your NPS score stacks up
- Begin asking questions related to specific services (Remember transaction questions should follow the three tenets of survey questions)
- Receive answers
- Identify which transactions your members appreciate least
- Strategize about how to improve those transactions
- Implement improvement
- Start the whole process over
Of course, the above is an over-simplified timeline for your survey. Each credit union has different needs, and you might follow different steps.
Example Time
The most important part of sending out surveys is listening to the people who respond.
Let’s say you asked a question about wait times in branches, a question about automatic bill pay, and a question about teller experience.
If your members tend to respond that wait times in branches are interminable, automatic bill pay is a godsend, and the tellers are uninspiring, then you already have an idea about which aspect of your service to address first.
How to Use That Data
The data you received from the example above is already actionable. While the data won’t give you a plan of action—that’s your responsibility—it does help you identify which services are in need of the most attention.
Your first priority might be addressing wait times in branches. If surveyed members overwhelmingly indicate that wait times are bad, then speeding up queue times should rise to the top of your to-do list.
If people feel neutral about their experience with your tellers, then there may be something you can do to improve member interactions. However, your members have shown you that it’s not as big of an issue as wait times, so any retraining or customer-service improvements can come later.
Finally, if your members love your automatic bill pay feature, then you might want to put off or rethink your overhaul to the system.
Next Steps for Credit Union Surveys
After you’ve sent out your surveys and reviewed the results, you should have the data you need to make informed decisions about where to focus your efforts for improvement.
As you make changes in your credit union, continue surveying. First, keep a relationship survey drip campaign running to see the effect your improvements have on member satisfaction in real-time. Second, send out transaction surveys after you’ve made changes to see if people appreciate the changes you’ve made.
If you’d like to read more about credit union transaction surveys or survey strategy, follow the links below!
Credit Union Member Survey Ideas
Survey Questions to Avoid for Better Credit Union Member Insight
