Regardless of your season for annual strategic planning, there is a new perspective that can transform this annual exercise from a recharge of last year’s agenda into a practical, frank, and strategic exercise. To tackle these challenges, credit union CEOs can ask themselves a set of pre-planning questions that require strategic candor, preparing the session’s agenda for an examination of the frankest path to strategic success. This exercise presses CEOs, ahead of planning, into tough yet necessary inquiries about their credit union’s true advantages and limitations. The principle behind these questions lies in solving several important issues. As CEO, give yourself a challenge and ask these sets of questions as you prepare to think, plan, and act with strategy in mind.
1. What is our current position in our chosen market? How well do we understand our market share (branches, deposits, loans, members)? What opportunities exist to grow in our current market? Are we able to move on these opportunities, or is an increased level of investment required?
2. In what direction do we want to place our strategic focus? Do we continue to drive growth through new members, or should we focus on growing revenue with our existing base? Have we exhausted our market potential; maximized our members’ loyalty; or, do new markets warrant our business model? How can we ensure that current levels of service and commitment to existing members do not wane as we introduce our credit union to new markets and members?
3. What will it take; and, how can we move forward? Where should we deploy our strategic resources – capital, marketing, expansion efforts – and what are our primary areas of focus? Do our current operations generate enough earnings and cash flow to support the day-to-day and replenish capital invested in strategic endeavors? Can we commit to a plan and particular area of attention, knowing that trade-offs have been analyzed and addressed?
Often, credit unions make honest assessments of where they fall in the crowded arena of financial services. When other credit unions, banks, and Fintechs are shouting similar messages, one must stand out for more consideration. CEOs can further their exploration into the validity of strategy through continued questions.
1. What makes our credit union unique? Don’t settle for “our service” as an answer. Prove your uniqueness. Deep lending practices, technology leadership, fee-free banking, and an outstanding auto lending program are just a few examples at work in the industry. Odds are good that your credit union won’t have all of a member’s financial business, but you can have some of that business all the time with an exceptional product, service, experience, or brand in the marketplace.
2. If we have a uniqueness, is it truly valued? Perceived value translates into growth in membership, revenue, digital transactions, Google review scores, etc. What KPIs tell a continuous story that your credit union is delivering on its promise to members? Real stories from real members are compelling, but numbers, ratios, and percentages prove a point.
3. How can we build on this distinctiveness? Here’s where marketing steps in with ideas on new, creative, immediate, even edgy ways to drive traffic (digital and physical) to your website, app, and branches. When members visit you, is mind share deepened to increase their levels of consideration when it’s time to go about their financial services business? If mind share leads to wallet share, how is your credit union regularly communicating with members?
From here, CEOs and executive teams can create plans that incorporate current operations, near-term opportunities, and long-term shifts in business focus. They can present recommendations to boards for consideration that delineate advantages and necessary enhancements in branding, costs, delivery, innovation, market share, products, talent, technology, and more.
Strategic candor offers a renewed viewpoint on strategic planning for credit union CEOs. By asking these questions – and ones that naturally develop during the process – CEOs can establish innovative approaches that drive their credit unions forward. This practice enriches the strategic planning path and helps CEOs address the most pressing opportunities, challenges, and routes to design long-term, sustainable results.
© 2024 by Jeff Rendel. All rights reserved.
Jeff Rendel, Certified Speaking Professional and President of Rising Above Enterprises, works with credit unions that want entrepreneurial results in leadership, service, and strategy. Each year, he addresses and facilitates for more than 100 credit unions and their business partners.
Contact: jeff@jeffrendel.com; www.jeffrendel.com; 951.310.7275 (mobile).