KQ Article

THE CHALLENGE
Boeing Employees’ Credit Union (BECU) currently serves more than 525,000 members, making it the largest credit union in Washington state and the fourth largest in the U.S. In 2005, BECU management recognized that its indirect auto loan borrowers remained underserved. These borrowers had become a sizeable share of the BECU member base, but little was being done to develop long-term relationships with them.

“We weren’t making the early and personal contact necessary to build deeper levels of engagement with these members,” said BECU product and delivery channel manager Mike Arizona. “In fact, most were unaware that their auto loan made them full BECU members.”

New indirect auto loan borrowers received a letter and packet of disclosure forms in the mail, with a request to visit a local branch or contact BECU for more information. Response rates hovered below 1%.

“We suspected we could be more proactive than simply listing contact information on print materials and hoping calls come in,” Arizona said. “It seemed that members would be receptive to a non-aggressive service call clarifying payment details and explaining the benefits of their BECU membership. This would also create the perfect opportunity to schedule a visit to a branch to learn more.”

BECU employees attempted to make these initial contacts on their own, but lacked the necessary training and skills to take full advantage of the calls, and were not supported by the centralized environment and software necessary to implement quality control measures. Outbound calling is also tightly regulated, requiring careful oversight to ensure compliance.

As a result, BECU began to look outside for support, and ultimately turned to Deluxe. This decision was based primarily on Deluxe call center management expertise, along with its reputation for helping financial institutions deliver a superior customer experience.

THE SOLUTION
In early 2006, BECU and Deluxe decided to run a two-month pilot, in which Deluxe call center employees would place outbound calls to 4,200 indirect borrowers on behalf of the financial institution. Key pilot objectives included ensuring members knew how to make payments and that all their service needs have been met, along with strengthening awareness of the BECU offering and achieving greater account depth among those contacted.

The team developed a methodology for testing various tactics to be used during the pilot, enlisting the assistance of a leading statistical analysis company. Since BECU had performance data on accounts established through new car loans to date, the program’s benefit would be clear if borrowers reached by phone had comparably higher rates of account growth.

Highly trained Deluxe customer care specialists underwent extensive additional training for the pilot. “These Deluxe employees were totally immersed in the BECU culture, and it was an amazing transformation to behold,” Arizona said. “They basically became BECU employees before our eyes.”

Through a combination of careful test design and thorough call analysis, the pilot yielded a clear best-practices approach to reaching indirect borrowers by phone.

THE RESULTS
Pilot results were staggering. Not only did consumers accept calls from Deluxe, some even called back. Visits to a BECU branch skyrocketed from less than 1% with mail correspondence to 21.4% for those personally contacted by Deluxe, and 40% of these individuals opened at least one additional account.

In November 2006, the Deluxe outbound calling service became a permanent fixture in BECU operations. Deluxe has also made this service available to all banks and credit unions, as the DeluxeCallingSM Solution.

“Without changing our operational functions or adding staff, DeluxeCalling allows us to improve brand equity and convert more indirect borrowers into long-term members,” Arizona said. “We’re building far stronger relationships with this growing segment of our business.”

DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH EARLY PERSONAL ENGAGEMENT
All new account holders want to be welcomed and acknowledged. Those who arrive through a third party need additional attention and care.

How do you properly introduce yourself and extend your brand to borrowers who receive their loan without coming to you directly? How can you make the most of these potentially profitable relationships? With DeluxeCalling.

This essential service contacts new borrowers by phone after they receive a loan through a third party, but before the first payment is due. Our expert call center professionals will provide information about the loan, introduce them to other products and services and invite them to visit a branch — without the off-putting sales pitch. It’s a proven way to secure more accounts, reduce missed first payments and build more profitable consumer relationships.

LUCRATIVE APPLICATIONS BEYOND INDIRECT BORROWERS ALONE
Many financial institutions have identified other effective ways to capitalize on this superior-quality outbound call service. In fact, DeluxeCalling is ideal for almost any situation in which you need to personally inform customers about services they can use to their advantage.

For example, First Community Bank of Bluefield, Virginia, recently engaged DeluxeCalling to support a new rewards program launch for its Visa® debit card transactions. The bank wanted its customers to feel excited about using the cards by clearly understanding the program and its benefits, and the personal contact from Deluxe worked wonders. Customers were highly receptive to this courtesy call, and First Community Bank achieved substantial interchange income much sooner than expected.

GET A FREE WHITE PAPER
It makes good business sense to find out more about DeluxeCalling today. Visit www.deluxe.com/brand to receive your free copy of DeluxeCallingSM: Deepening Relationships with Indirect Borrowers. It offers an in-depth study of the pilot program used to design DeluxeCalling, using hard data to demonstrate the tremendous advantages this service offers to financial institutions like yours.

Do you have another possible application for DeluxeCalling? We’d love to hear about it and discuss potential pilot opportunities. To get the conversation started, please contact your Deluxe Account Representative. You can also indicate your interest in other uses for DeluxeCalling at www.deluxe.com/brand.

_{© 2012 Deluxe Enterprise Operations, Inc.}