Foster Growth by Nurturing Your SEGs

Don't take your SEGs for granted if you expect to have long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

SIGNING UP NEW select employee groups (SEGs) is one way to grow business. But even more important for many credit unions is developing the business within their existing SEGs.

"We can't just sign them up and wait for the business to come in," says Scott Burgess, president/ CEO of Rivermark Community Credit Union, Beaverton, Ore.

Rivermark Community has $314 million in assets and 41,369 members. This year, the credit union received the Best Practices Award for Business Development in the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council's Diamond Awards competition (cunamarketing council.org).

Rivermark Community employs four business development officers and a manager to cover 300 high-priority SEGs and 500 smaller or less active SEGs. In hiring business development officers, the credit union looks for people with selling skills who are comfortable working with all types of people.

The other half of the equation is to find a good representative within each SEG. That's usually a human resource (HR) person, says Burgess.

"We want to get the HR reps to the point where they view the credit union as an employee benefit-where HR is in partnership with the credit union," Burgess says.

The biggest challenge in developing SEG business, Burgess adds, is maintaining regular contact with all SEGs.

Competition for a SEG representative's time is relentless. And if that person moves on to another job, the business development officer must know about it as soon as possible and develop a new SEG contact to maintain credit union services to employees.

To meet these challenges, Rivermark Community requires each business development officer to make 15 on-site SEG visits every month. Of those 15 visits, six must involve financial seminars for SEG employees. These often are conducted as "lunch and learn" events, which are well attended.

The credit union also sends someone to attend other employee events. These are great opportunities for meeting current and future members face-to-face, Burgess adds.

Another productive strategy, he reports, is an incentive program for SEG representatives called MyRivermark.com. Representatives earn points for bringing the credit union new business by scheduling lunch and learn seminars, distributing information packets to employees, and any of 15 other designated activities. They redeem points for gifts, trips, and other rewards. SEG representatives monitor their progress on the Rivermark Community Web site.

A similar Web-based program also works well at Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal Credit Union in Marietta. The credit union has $562 million in assets and 82,645 members.

President/CEO Edwin Collins says the credit union's Red Carpet Credits program awards points for hosting member drives or distributing literature. SEG reps redeem points for prizes such as cameras and airline tickets. The program has been effective in growing business at the largest of the credit union's 350 active SEGs.

Collins agrees SEG development is as important as finding new SEGs. Most credit unions have expanded SEG business, and the market is pretty well saturated, he says. For that reason, Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal maximizes contact with current and potential members at SEGs.

When hiring business development officers, management looks for responsible, hard-working professionals. Collins expects any branch manager located near a SEG to take an active role in maintaining contact. I And he wants all employees to help with SEG development simply by putting a friendly face on the credit union.

"Everyone here represents the credit union," says Collins. "I consider myself one of the people who can help with business development whenever I'm in contact with someone from a SEG."

One of the most useful tools for SEG development, says Collins, is the credit union's quarterly SEG newsletter. The marketing department tailors it to each SEG, printing the SEG's name as part of the newsletter's tide.

The newsletter informs SEG representatives of products and services available at Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal. It also lets SEGs know the credit union considers them to be important partners.

One of the biggest challenges, says Collins, is making sure SEG representatives process and pass along important information correctly. The newsletter supports that purpose.

Be a community player

Another credit union challenged to maintain visibility in a large metropolitan area is Fort Belvoir Federal Credit Union in Woodbridge, Va. Patricia Kimmel is president/CEO of the $200 million asset credit union, which serves 24,000 members through 134 SEGs.

"In the Washington, D.C., metro area, everyone is so busy that organizations are focused intensely on their business," Kimmel reports. "It's difficult for them to allow time for seminars or membership drives."

Kimmel focuses on developing relationships through financial education seminars, financial counseling, and other services. Two full-time business development officers and a member services specialist are responsible for these tasks.

Kimmel puts a premium on community involvement. When hiring a business development officer, she looks for community-oriented candidates-people who enjoy living where they do and who have plenty of contacts within their communities. They must be outgoing and dynamic because they'll be visiting current and potential members and SEG managers every day.

The business development officers' goals are to develop and maintain the credit union's image in the community. So they might sponsor charitable events or host golf tournaments.

Kimmel involves the credit union in chambers of commerce wherever Fort Belvoir Federal operates. She encourages business development officers to become chamber of commerce officers to build relationships with the business community.

Enjoy the rewards

SEG development has its rewards, Kimmel says. "Increased exposure for the credit union means increased penetration, which is our goal. It's great to get our name out there in a positive and reputable manner."

Rivermark Community's business development efforts have supported its new role as a community credit union, Burgess reports. Sponsoring events such as the Alpenrose Easter Egg Hunt has increased community recognition, thereby aiding community business development.

At Lockheed Georgia Employees' Federal, SEG development saved the credit union, says Collins.

"Lockheed once had 40,000 employees," he explains. "Today, it has fewer than 7,000, but the credit union has nearly 83,000 members."

Copyright Credit Union National Association, Inc. Aug 2005
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