Comments on: Club Med http://cuinnovators.com/blog/club-med/ At CU Innovators, we help credit unions, CUSO's, and service providers create meaningful products and services for their members and clients. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:08:47 +0000 hourly 1 By: Matt Monge http://cuinnovators.com/blog/club-med/comment-page-1/#comment-1711 Matt Monge Tue, 02 Nov 2010 14:50:08 +0000 http://blog.cuemployee.com/?p=71#comment-1711 It's the culture, of course. Culture attracts, engages, and keeps employees, and is easily one of the most underutilized potential competitive differentiators. Club Med is just one of many examples that could be pointed to. We could easily add Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Zappos, et al. The credit union industry, and by extension, individual credit unions, have a huge opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by intentionally cultivating a unique and healthy culture and identity. As the credit union industry evolves, we seem to be losing our way a bit in regards to that identity. Who are we, anyway? I understand the fundamental differences in structure and business model, and I know we like to say we offer better service than the big, bad banks (which I'm not really convinced we do to the degree we think we do); however, that doesn't really answer the question of who we are. In a way, it's similar to what Maya Bordeau said at the recent CU Symposium. We need to provide a compelling reason for people to switch to a credit union. By the same token, we need to provide a compelling context for those within the movement to stay, innovate, and excel. It’s the culture, of course. Culture attracts, engages, and keeps employees, and is easily one of the most underutilized potential competitive differentiators. Club Med is just one of many examples that could be pointed to. We could easily add Ritz-Carlton, Southwest, Zappos, et al.

The credit union industry, and by extension, individual credit unions, have a huge opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by intentionally cultivating a unique and healthy culture and identity. As the credit union industry evolves, we seem to be losing our way a bit in regards to that identity. Who are we, anyway? I understand the fundamental differences in structure and business model, and I know we like to say we offer better service than the big, bad banks (which I’m not really convinced we do to the degree we think we do); however, that doesn’t really answer the question of who we are.

In a way, it’s similar to what Maya Bordeau said at the recent CU Symposium. We need to provide a compelling reason for people to switch to a credit union. By the same token, we need to provide a compelling context for those within the movement to stay, innovate, and excel.

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