Leading through innovation and quality customer service
The 21st century is testament to witnessing the evolution of the ‘consumers’, who, currently, have choices and control about how and where they spend their money. Consequently, marketing to these consumers sometimes is very challenging. The bigger the company, the more diverse the customer base. Further, the availability of data connects you to your target market, and it is a mammoth task to discern valuable information from the mountains of data available. With the advent of increasing social and digital media options, it begs the question, how do marketers stay focused, establish conversations with consumers, and increase the number of loyal consumers?
We at the NCB Employees Co-operative Credit Union (NCBECCU) had to brainstorm a number of creative and innovative ways to connect with our clientele in a bid to remain relevant in their lives. The wide spectrum of products and services we offer at competitive interest rates – are flexible enough to not just give the member a loan or invest funds on their behalf, but rather, we give advice and financial solutions to their challenges. These range from investments, insurance, and service options to loan products.
The NCBECCU, through community-based marketing, has forged a number of
partnerships and relationships with entities geared at developing and enhancing the quality of peoples’ lives. We have our annual: Soup & Soap Event – The NCBECCU has been partnering in the St Andrew Parish Church for the past six years with their monthly charitable activity dubbed the ‘Soup & Soap Event’. This initiative is geared at providing meals and care packages to over 200 less fortunate, homeless, and vulnerable individuals in our society. Last year, in particular, we collaborated with Nestlé Jamaica Limited and Cal’s Manufacturing Limited. They provided cups of warm soup and generously distributed breakfast Children’s Treat – May is celebrated as Child Month, and we shared the special moment with staff and children at the NCB Early Childhood Development Centre. We treated over 100 children with snacks and gift items such as toys, pencils, crayons, and books. Team members also read stories to them and played games. We extend our gratitude to a number of sponsors who partnered with us. They are as follows: Cals Manufacturing, Kremi, Carlong Publishers, and the Jamaica Biscuit Company. GSAT Awards Function – Every year, we look forward to celebrating the success of our children in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT). Our GSAT Award function was hosted under the theme ‘Celebrating our Legacy, Shaping Our Future’ at the Knutsford Court Hotel. Since 2011, we have been selecting two awardees from among our youth Treasure Chest Solid Gold Account savers – who have received the best grades in the GSAT. Each scholarship is valued at $25,000 and is granted each year for five years once an average grade of 70 per cent is maintained. This year, we have included five bursaries of $10,000 each for non-GSAT students who are in need of financial assistance. Our guest speaker – Damion Crawford – encouraged parents and students to acknowledge the value of a good education and the importance of making smart financial choices to mobilise their personal and professional development. Donations – we have also forged a partnership with International Credit Management Solutions (ICMS) to offer much-needed assistance to the Caribbean Christian Centre for the deaf (CCCD). The CCCD’s mission is to enable full language access and affirmation in the deaf community through knowing God, appreciating diversity and understanding the functions of the world. We have assisted the school with eradicating pests and rodents from the building and we are in the process of furnishing a nurse’s station.
PRINICPLES & STRATEGIES
To survive in today’s hectic financial marketplace, we employ six principles and strategies in our long-term plans, with our customer at the centre of all we do. These are: 1) Increased focus on the customer’s experience – This is how the customer is treated whether he is on the telephone or goes to our offices. Customers should be ‘wowed’ in every aspect of them conducting their business transactions. 2) Strategic business options – these should assist weighed in relation to the focus on revenue, customer retention, and satisfaction. 3) Lean on new marketing tools, channels, and research information – Aim to connect via email, social media, and earned marketing strategies (among others). they must incorporate technology needed to implement and support it. 4) Personalise everything – For the NCBECCU, we value our customers in such a way that we tailor their business transactions to fit their challenges and needs at the time. It is not a one-size-fitsall establishment. 5. Social media marketing – Social media strategies should market less and sell more. We have come to realise just how fundamental social media is to the survival of any business in today’s global financial dynamics. Social media’s primary role should be to engage the customer and not just send generic messages to each of them. 6. On-going market research and innovation – Really listen to your customers. There are endless opportunities through innovation, which has the potential to be developed into a business or service. We have a number of customer needs, garnered through continuous research reports, focus groups, surveys or simply engaging our customers in conversations about how we can serve them even better.
CONCLUSION
Marketing in today’s global marketplace is challenging, but is one of the most important aspects in business. Subsequently, companies have realised that the success of a service or product greatly depends on marketing efforts employed and how well the service or product was introduced and promoted into the market and to the consumers. It is imperative that companies understand their customers’ needs and psychology, so the service or product is developed around those two areas. With that in mind, at NCBECCU, we conduct regular on-going research to get answers for fundamental questions like:
• How to identify the right market segment for our services?
• How to compete with other brands?
• How to advertise so that the product/service can reach the maximum number of people? The NCBECCU is ready to serve you and your family with competitively priced products and services. Come, have a talk with us so together we can chart your path to financial independence and peace of mind! Charla-Ann Francis Marketing & Member Services Manager