Word of caution… This is not a technology article.
The co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs, recently phrased the beginnings of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, and all related software services, as really the beginning of a post-PC era. In a sense, the PC is then not so much about specifications (speed, memory, etc.) but about experience, form, and function.
A recent editorial by Joshua Topolsky on engadget.com interprets “post-PC” from Apple’s perspective in this way, “There’s no Mac vs. PC here — only “the future” versus “the past”. “It won’t be a debate about displays, memory, wireless options — it will be a debate about the quality of the experience. Apple is not just eschewing the spec conversation in favor of a different conversation — it’s rendering those former conversations useless. It would be like trying to compare a racecar to a deeply satisfying book. In a post-PC world, the experience of the product is central and significant above all else. It’s not the RAM or CPU speed, screen resolution or number of ports which dictate whether a product is valuable; it becomes purely about the experience of using the device.”
Topolsky’s potentially most important point for our credit union conversation is, “Apple’s not saying that it beats other tablets on the market. It’s saying “we do one thing, and these guys do something else altogether.” They’re not competition — they’re not even playing the same game!”
So how does this scenario play out in the financial services industry?
Because we so often debate and concern ourselves over the minutia of the specifications and features of products, services, and facilities and less on the outcomes that truly affect the consumer/member. I say consumer, because that is what all non-members are. I believe many of the credit unions with community charters also have a significant number of consumers in their membership versus members. Consumers have not bought-in yet. Consumers are shopping specs, members buy you. If you are shopping specs (example = rates), guess what consumers and members are going to care about when they think of you? We continue to commoditize our value. We continue to play the same game…
Regulation, supervision, etc, make our products/services similar. We can offer incentives or differing rates based on our operations, but these again are all specifications. Although specifications can occassionally be unique, they are never unique for long.
Consumers are moving. Delivery and consumption is changing quickly. If consumers are moving into a post-PC world, are we moving into a post-Financial Product world with them?
This isn’t a conversation about things like, “Should we offer something like The One Account?” This is more a conversation about totally re-inventing ourselves with only our philosophies as our core. Look from the outside-in. See 10 years in the future and start creating that vision now.
One credit union moving in this direction is Mazuma in Kansas City. In 2007, Mazuma began the process of re-building the credit union with a foundation centered on member experiences. This credit union has maybe promoted/marketed a product’s rate once or twice only during this 3-year span, yet they grew significantly during tough times… without mergers and without significant member growth and acquisition marketing. They re-built new members out of consumers and strengthened heritage member relationships seemingly every day.
Growth from 12/07 to 12/10 (ncua.gov call reports)
- Assets = +26%
- Loans = +15%
- Deposits = +35%
- Members = +3%
So, what’s your credit union doing to compete in this post-Product environment?