How To Sell To Today’s Credit Unions (Part 1)

Tips, tricks, and insights from Callahan & Associates on how to successfully sell to credit unions.

Don’t miss out. Skip to the entry you want to read by clicking on the links below.

  • INTRO: HOW TO SELL TO TODAY’S CREDIT UNIONS
  • PART I: IDENTIFYING TOP PROSPECTS
  • PART II: LEARNING FROM PROSPECT DATA
  • PART III: PREPARING FOR THE CALL

Credit unions are a breed apart, and Callahan has been serving them for more than 30 years. These tips, tricks, and insights draw on what we’ve learned about the movement and what you need to know to drive adoption of products and services within this growing niche.

Identifying Your Top Credit Union Prospects

After over 30 years of working with credit unions, one thing we’ve learned at Callahan & Associates is that no matter how great your product is or how well you pitch it, not every credit union is going to want or necessarily need what you’re offering.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are those credit unions that want what you have. You just need to reach out with the right pitch. Considering limited time and resources, these are the credit unions you want to focus your sales efforts on to rack up some wins for your organization.

But how do you identify these credit unions?

One method is to look for credit unions with characteristics similar to your clients. Another is to analyze performance data to find those with strengths you can complement or weaknesses you can improve.

You can then create lists of these credit unions so you can reach out with personalized campaigns. The easiest way to do this is with tools like CUTarget, which let you quickly build targeted lists of credit union prospects based on various characteristics and performance metrics that you filter by.

Today we’ll cover some basic criteria that most companies should look at when identifying top credit union prospects. Then we’ll break down metrics to look at for different types of organizations. That way you can build prospect lists of credit unions more likely to buy what you’re selling.

General Criteria And Metrics To Look For

While the credit unions that are most likely to buy from you will depend largely on what you’re selling, there are some areas that are always worth including in your prospect lists.

Assets A larger asset size indicates more buying power plus the expectation to provide more services and benefits for members.

Geography Besides being important for organizations focusing on certain areas of the country, it’s a way to segment credit unions experiencing regional trends you can capitalize on.

Field of Membership A credit union’s field of membership impacts everything from how many loans are on the books to the types of services its members expect.

Members Credit unions with more members may need more help managing and reaching their membership.

Branches This shows the size of its brick-and-mortar operation, an indicator of what products and services they may need.

Executive Contacts Keeping track of executive contacts is vital. For example, a recent CEO change could be an opportunity to pitch your solutions.

Technologies and Services Used Determine whether they are using products and/or services that work well with what you’re selling or to see if they are already working with one of your competitors. Core processor is particularly key. If you are selling a product that needs to integrate with their core in some way, make sure to know which core they are using.

Quickly Build Lists Of Your Top Credit Union Targets

With CUTarget, it takes minutes to create segmented lists of credit unions based on their characteristics and performance. That way you can target your approach and increase your sales wins.

Criteria And Metrics Dependent On What You’re Selling

The metrics and other data points in the slideshow below are segmented by the type of services credit union providers most often provide. Don’t find your niche below? Reach out and we’ll be happy to discuss the sort of metrics you should look at to determine potential buyers.

The numbers beside each metric are the industry averages for all credit unions as of 2Q17.

Credit Union Metrics To Focus On For Suppliers from Salvador Lopez Jr.

Now that you know the metrics to use to create lists of your top credit union prospects, the next step is to put them to use. CUTarget is designed to let your organization build segmented lists based on the latest available data in minutes. Learn more today.

February 23, 2018

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