Jeanne Bliss, a customer experience expert and author, asked the question: “Are you building a beloved Credit Union or an everyday Credit Union?” Beloved companies make 5 decisions each and every day:

1. Believe. Believing in your customers and your employees, a core belief that people are good and try to do the right thing. Believing people are assets.
2. Clarity. A clarity of purpose helps you to eliminate legacy rules and patterns. Making decisions to improve the customer experience and creating positive memories.
3. Real. Beloved companies decide to be real, they revel in being real. Skip the corporate speak and be authentic. Do you walk in your customers’ shoes? Do you test each and every day the customer experience of your Credit Union, filling out forms, using your site? Do you encourage flexibility and “gut” of your employees, eliminating the dreaded “This-is-not-my-responsibility”attitude?
4. Be There. Decide to be there in order to earn the right for customers to return. What’s your service magnet, do you offer people something special that makes them return? Do you allow your employees to jump across the silos of their responsibilities and silos?
5. Say Sorry. Considering apologies as a peace process. You need to respond swiftly, across all silos, with humility and solve the problem. Credit Unions should consider proactive customer problems prevention systems. Can your frontline rescue customers, do you give them the authority to correct mistakes?

By making these 5 decisions, you will be able to lower recruiting costs, increase employee retention and increase ROI and profit margins. What’s your story? And, are customers are telling your story? Ultimately, you make the decision to be a beloved Credit Union.