Selling to credit unions

Credit unions buy on trust and mission before they buy on capability. Walk in talking about member experience and you'll get a hearing. Walk in talking about disruption and you'll get shown the door.

They're a great market for services firms that are patient. Thousands of them, lean in-house teams and real problems with old systems. But they don't buy like banks, and selling to them like a bank is the most common mistake.

Who decides

Credit unions are member-owned and governed by a volunteer board. The CEO runs the place, and big decisions often go to the board for approval.

The economic buyer is usually the CEO, the CFO or the chief operating officer, depending on the size. Larger credit unions have a CIO or a chief technology officer. Smaller ones might have an IT director who reports to the COO.

Your champion is often the person closest to the member experience. The head of lending, the head of member services or the digital banking lead. They feel the pain when the app is slow, the loan process is manual or members leave for a fintech.

And the technical lead is often the core processor's relationship manager as much as anyone on staff. Credit unions lean heavily on a handful of core providers and on credit union service organizations, called CUSOs, that share services across institutions.

The pressures they face

Member experience is the big one. Members expect the same digital tools they get from large banks and fintechs. Younger members especially. A credit union that can't open an account on a phone in minutes loses them.

Margin is the second. Credit unions return value to members through better rates and lower fees, which leaves thin margins. Every cost matters, and the board watches efficiency closely.

Regulation is the third. Credit unions answer to their own regulators and examiners. An exam finding on cybersecurity, data or lending compliance creates a deadline.

And the core is the fourth. Many credit unions run on older core systems. Every digital project depends on how well the core plays with others.

Signals that matter here

Credit unions don't file 10-Ks the way public companies do, so lean on other sources.

A new leader is strong. A new CEO, CFO or CIO arrives with a fresh view and often a mandate from the board. Watch LinkedIn for new seats and the credit union's own news page for announcements.

Mergers are a big signal. Credit unions merge often, and every merger means a core conversion, combined operations and member communication. That's a lot of work on a fixed date.

Hiring for the problem is useful. Postings for digital banking product managers, data analysts or integration roles tell you where the money is going.

Topic signals matter more here than in many industries. Credit union leaders talk to each other a lot, at conferences, in associations and on LinkedIn. A CEO posting about member growth or digital strategy is telling you what's on the board's agenda. The buying signals guide covers the full set.

An example opener

Say a mid-size credit union announces a merger with a smaller one nearby. A month later, it names a new chief digital officer and posts for a digital product manager.

Here's a note to the chief digital officer.

Saw you joined as chief digital officer, a few weeks after the merger announcement. In a new seat with a merger in flight, the board will want members from both credit unions on one digital experience fast. My guess is the two online banking platforms sit on different cores, so you're choosing between a rushed conversion and two apps for months. Is that accurate, or is the bigger issue something else?

It names two real events, connects them to the person and guesses at a specific choice they're facing.

What to avoid

Don't sell like you're selling to a big bank. Credit unions are smaller, more cautious and more mission-driven. Size your proposal to them.

Don't skip the core provider. Know which one they use and how your work fits around it.

Don't lead with cost savings alone. Lead with member outcomes. Cost matters, but the board wants to hear about members first.

And use warm paths. Credit union leaders know each other well. A referral from another credit union's leader carries real weight. I wrote about how in the forwardable note, line by line.

Credit unions reward firms that respect the mission and understand the constraints. Name a real member problem, tie it to a real person and show up ready to work at their scale.