First, You’ve Got to Grab Their Attention

Denis Karandjeff, CUNA Mutual Group
July 15, 2005

To catch fish, use bait that the fish like. That's the kind of thinking that Travis Credit Union employed with an indirect auto loan promotion that earned a 14% member response rate and a return on investment (ROI) of more than 400%.

Travis ($1.45 billion assets; 126,663 members) has an indirect auto loan program that generated $271 million of loan volume in 2004.

It used to be that after each sale, Travis, of Vacaville, California, between Sacramento and San Francisco, would send letters to members to welcome them aboard and provide them with a list of its products and services, excluding insurance products. But it wasn't enough to get members to use the credit union. So Cathy Rios, the marketing vice president, and her marketing team created a successful direct-mail campaign that led to members using more of Travis's products and services.

The credit union did these four things right. They're the same elements any credit union can use to successfully market products and services.

Grab the member's attention. Instead of the usual solicitation letter, Travis sent members something unexpected and alluring: a plastic toy car in a box.

Set the hook with an irresistible offer. In the mailing, the credit union included a gift tag thanking members for financing their recent vehicle purchase with Travis and offering a $20 gas card if someone would stop by a branch office.

Make the pitch. When members visited, the managers handed out the gas card and chatted, using a script to introduce themselves, thank the member for stopping in, and offer to answer questions about Travis and its loans, savings, and checking accounts.

Measure the results . The credit union tracks results monthly and measures ROI quarterly. They discovered that on average, each member who stopped in for a gas card added 1.78 credit union services. These typically are another loan and a savings account, Rios says. "One quarter we had an ROI over 2,000% because we sold several home equity lines of credit," says Rios. Measuring allows you to isolate which elements are working and which aren't, so you can improve next time out.

Denis Karandjeff is lending marketing solutions manager at CUNA Mutual Group. This story first appeared in CUNA Mutual Group’s online publication called Added Dimensions at http://www.cunamutual.com/cmg/addedDimensions/ home/0,1775,9057,00.htmland is reprinted with permission.