As 2012 begins the superstitious among us may be worried about ancient Mayan predictions of armageddon. Credit unions have heard it all before. In my short 32 years on this planet the years 1989, 1998, and 2008 also (supposedly) signaled the end of days for financial institutions of all shapes and sizes.
Alas, we are still here.
Still, it is easy to look at economic data and conclude that the Mayans may have been onto something. The optimist in me, however, suggests that financial institutions should be more concerned about another ancient myth: the story of Philemon and Baucis.
Jupiter and Mercury visited the the countryside of Tyana disguised as worn and weary travelers. They went house to house to seek shelter, food, and water. Instead of help, the Roman king of gods and his son found only rude rejections or villagers that would lock their doors and pretend they weren’t home.
Finally, the pair visited the humble home of Philemon and Baucis. The impoverished elderly couple barely had food, water, and shelter of their own, but warmly welcomed the travelers in nonetheless. They offered a place to stay, brought in the last of their firewood to make sure the fire was comfortable, and scrapped together all of the food in their cottage to make sure that the guests were well fed. They had next to nothing, but the couple gave everything they could.
After discovering that the weary travelers were actually gods, Philemon and Baucis were instructed to leave town for the top of a hill. Jupiter flooded the village, destroying all in its path. The elderly couple was spared, their house turned into a beautiful temple, and upon their eventual death were transformed into intertwining trees.
I’m not convinced that financial institutions necessarily have to worry about Jupiter flooding them out of existence, but it definitely seems like many have come to the conclusion that Philemon and Baucis’ approach may be the best way to avoid the business equivalent of armageddon.
Consider this:- Credit card issuers sent twice as many credit card offers to subprime consumers in 2011 than 2010
- Despite the lowest mortgage rates in the past 60 years, lenders are slashing closing cost fees
- Cash incentives for new account openings are back
After years of tightening marketing budgets and managing the risk out of risk, financial institutions seem to realize that you can’t avoid disaster by turning away people who need help the most or cutting costs to the detriment of marketplace competitiveness. Successful financial institutions over the past few years have seen the great recession as an opportunity to grow, not to hide.
If a credit union’s end of days comes in 2012, my bet is that Jupiter’s to blame. My bet is that too much energy was spent fixing unprecedented internal, regulatory, and macroeconomic issues, and not enough on fixing unprecedented external, human, and microeconomic issues. My bet is that self-preservation took precedence over service.
If the end of days doesn’t come…well done! I knew you had it in you.
Comments
6
Good post. I enjoyed reading that and I believe you are right…helping those in need and providing the best service is the best approach.
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Bruce,
Thanks for the comment! Our 2010 study with McKinsey on customer experience (http://filene.org/publications/detail/mckinsey) suggests that “best service” doesn’t have to be the goal. Good (even excellent) service? Yes. Nailing moments of truth like complaint resolution and the account opening process? Absolutely.
What’s interesting to me right now is that after nearly three consecutive years of turning their backs on the people who needed them the most, banks are starting to realize that self-preservation is much more likely to come through helping more, not doing less.
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Good schtuff. Back to the basics. Do the right thinK. Then the right thinG is so much more meaningful to our members (and potential ones out there!). This ‘new’ ole world we live in is having gooooood things happening. Getting back to more of a ‘needs-based’ USA rather than a ‘wants-based’, get it now country. People are more willing to self-preserve, self-educate and ask FOR help TO help themselves. That’s the real ‘work’ happening today in the minds of many Americans. And Credit Unions have been modeling and doing THAT work for years. It’s time, Credit Unions, to ‘GET it ON’ and SHINE. 2012 is happening, alright. ArmaGETitON. The End of The World (as WE know it). And just like Stipe, I feel fine. because Here comes the sun…it’s been a long, cold winter (of want)....
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REM, Beatles, and Lisa…oh, my! (and was there also a Cinderella reference in there? If so, Yahtzee!) I have the feeling that this will be a big year for credit unions. We’ve stopped worrying about what was, and started to focus on what is and what could be. That’s an exciting change.
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Yahtzee it is…. My only concern (yeah, I have those too, given our CU history of passivity) is waiting for someone to make the move… So if NEED be… listen to a little more Marvin. Let’s get it on, cuz a Change (always) gonna come. And a tribute to our IN homies, Johnny Cougar. Jack and Jill with Little Pink Houses for you and me (and the pink is NOT a slip btw ;) CU’s need to start living, not existing in a HAPPN’IN (HAPpy, Productive, and relevaNt IN) NEW YEAR (world). jussayin….
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Love the story! Praise the attitudes written in the comments. True! All of it. Bitter or better – we choose. Thanks for the positive – we hear enough of the negative.
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