Thinking Ahead Saves Back-Office Hours—And Operating Dollars

Ron Daly
August 2, 2010 | COMMENTS

Convenience. Simplicity. Value. Every business operates in the hopes its products and services fulfill these attributes for their customers. But how often do we give short shrift to an equally important aspect of product development: making sure the back-office process is efficient? Sometimes that's especially hard for companies that want to beat the competition in getting a new product or service out the door. But to credit unions and service providers in our industry, understanding how new initiatives will work operationally is just as important – some would say more important – than reaching early adopters. And it can avoid a lot of retooling down the road.

Case in Point: Distribution of Daily Reports

One credit union service provider discovered this valuable lesson and met success by reworking a key operational process early on. Washington, D.C.-based CUSO Credit Union Student Choice offers credit unions turnkey private student-lending services. The concept quickly caught on, and, after just two years in business, CU Student Choice now serves 150 clients – thanks in part to an operational fix it implemented.

CU Student Choice provides participating credit unions with daily reports on the status of their loan portfolios. Initially, this involved a labor-intensive process of encrypting and manually emailing reports to each credit union – every day, 365 days a year. But with growth of the lending program quickly exceeding expectations, the company knew it needed a better way to get its reports into the hands of client credit unions.

“With our client list growing quickly, the reporting process would soon become very labor-intensive, and it was apparent we needed a better solution,” said Michelle Pezzulli, vice president of operations for CU Student Choice.

The CUSO began using an online customer communication center developed by DigitalMailer to securely house its online reports and other important documents for its credit union partners. Now CU Student Choice sends automatic email alerts to participating credit unions when their clients' reports are available for pickup from the communication center's password-protected online mailboxes.

According to Mike Weber, CU Student Choice's vice president of marketing, the process change came at the right time – before the CUSO's fast growth became an operations issue. “Now, there's no more manual work associated with these daily reports and life is a lot easier,” he said.

Not only does using a central, online communication center automate the process, saving CU Student Choice staff time, but it translates into significant cost savings that can be passed along to clients.

Other Ways to Ease Operational Burdens

Many time- or cost-consuming operational processes have simple, online solutions, too. And no matter where you call home in the credit union industry – service provider, credit union, CUSO, or trade association – using today's improved technology can translate into dollars to the bottom line while increasing clients' or members' overall satisfaction. Here are a few examples:

• Statements and invoices: Control the operational cost of mailing statements by making electronic statements the default option. This saves back-office staff time and dramatically cuts the cost of postage and printing. With the cost of a first-class stamp now at 44 cents – and expected to rise each year – working with an electronic statement provider is a no-brainer when it comes to saving money and building efficiencies.
• Notifications: Credit unions can reduce the number of phone or in-person inquiries by sending email notices to members when, for example, their balances dip below a certain dollar amount. And any organization can save time and money by using email notices to announce new services, send reminders or provide important information. A good email service provider also can tie into your MCIF data to automatically deliver messages and notices.
• Disaster recovery communications: In emergencies, traditional communications may not be possible. But companies that specialize in using technology to send immediate, widely dispersed, “any to any” communication can keep you in touch with staff, clients or members during times of crisis. Whether via email, text, voice messaging, or all three, today's online tools can replace cumbersome calling trees, and track and monitor responses to ensure everyone is contacted.

Ron Daly is president of DigitalMailer. Contact him at rdaly@digitalmailer.com.