For more information:
Maripat Blankenheim 608/232-6539 maripat.blankenheim@cunamutual.com
Rick Uhlmann 608/231-8940 rick.uhlmann@cunamutual.com
 
Feb. 22, 2008
 
CUNA Mutual Webinar Pairs MemberCONNECT®, Agency Approach to Marketing
 
MADISON, Wis. – Today’s economy challenges credit unions to be even more innovative in how they market and sell personal line insurance products to members while adding revenue to the bottom line. As credit union leadership studies their options for the coming year, there are many strategies to be considered and employed simultaneously to achieve success.
 
MemberCONNECT®, CUNA Mutual Group’s thoroughly analytical approach to relationship building, provides credit unions with a direct marketing solution for auto and homeowners insurance. While the channel provides a unique tool for building member relationships on its own, it’s also a complementary tool for credit unions with strong agency relationships.
 
“We recognize the challenges faced by credit unions in this market,” said Keith Kremers, a MemberCONNECT sales specialist who formerly ran a credit union-owned insurance agency. “By positioning and using new channels and member distribution methods that are marketed and distributed around the existing agency, we are able to provide more revenue and relationship opportunities to the overall insurance strategy of the credit union without competing for the same members.”
 
To that end, CUNA Mutual developed a Webinar that speaks to the possibilities available through the MemberCONNECT program and how those opportunities can help credit unions with agency relationships grow their existing business. Additionally, the Webinar provides hypothetical case studies of how this complementary approach to marketing personal lines insurance can increase revenue, provide added economic resources and increase product distribution and member access.
 
“We’re not suggesting credit unions drop their agencies in favor of MemberCONNECT,” said Kremers. “We are suggesting they can significantly increase their product distribution and increase profitability by doing both.”
 
MEMBERS Auto & Homeowners, marketed through MemberCONNECT and in conjunction with Liberty Mutual, provides a 100 percent profit margin. For example, on a $1 million premium with an average commission rate of 1.2 percent, gross commission – and profit – is $12,000.
 
Jim Sarver, manager of CEFCU Financial Services, Inc., Peoria, Ill., provided a real-life example of how the MEMBERS Auto and Homeowners Program enhanced the CUSO’s profitability and improved member access. Sarver provided a brief history of CEFCU Financial Services’ journey through various carriers and business models to explain how they decided to try the program with their out-of-state members, which constitutes 20 percent of their total membership.
 
“We were very pleased with the results we saw with the out-of-state members, and in 2008 we’re expanding the program to market to all of our members,” said Sarver. “We’re really looking forward to some positive growth this year, with help from the MemberCONNECT program.” 
 
CUNA Mutual Group is the leading provider of financial products and services to credit unions and their members worldwide. More information on the company is available at www.cunamutual.com.