In members' best interest™

Our Vision

To reinvigorate the Credit Union Movement

through an Advocacy Imperative of doing what is best for members.

What is "advocacy?"

Advocacy is about doing what is best for your members. It's about treating members the way THEY want to be treated. It goes back to the foundation of the credit union movement of "people helping people."  Advocacy presents the right credit unions with an opportunity to position for a sustainable competitive advantage in the year’s ahead.  All while insuring the long term growth and the viability of your credit union.

Credit unions have a long-standing philosophy of helping people, and are committed to both service and driving value to their member-owners. Recently, banks and other financial institutions have closed that gap to the point that good service is “table stakes” in a larger bid to win the hearts (trust) and minds (financial commitment) of members. Credit unions need something more than just “great service” to thrive in today’s – and tomorrow’s – competitive environment.  Enter projectADVOCACY...

What is projectADVOCACY?

projectADVOCACY is a research effort that measures the degree to which members perceive that the credit union looks out for their best interests.  Research from leading analysts has shown that the strongest predictor of the likelihood of consumers to do more business with their financial providers is the extent to which consumers believe those firms are advocates for the customer or credit union member.  

projectADVOCACY can provide the assessment of where your organization stands with respect to advocacy (as viewed both externally from members and internally from staff/leadership) and then provide the roadmap for the highway ahead.

As an added feature, projectADVOCACY also includes a self-assessment feature targeting the credit union’s senior management team. The self-assessment tool gauges the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the credit union in the opinion of the decision makers in the credit union.  

What do participating credit unions get out of the project?

Participating credit unions will be able to utilize the project data, results, and recommendations to:

1. Link member advocacy ratings to member satisfaction, product ownership, and future purchase intention.

2. Tailor marketing campaigns and communications to the needs and preferences of specific consumer and market segments based on advocacy perceptions.

3. Identify process improvement areas.

4. Determine staff training needs.

5. Get ahead of your annual strategic planning cycle and uncover strategic service delivery opportunities and gaps.

6. Align credit union staff with member needs and priorities.

Who is projectADVOCACY?

• Ron Shevlin, currently Senior Analyst at Aite Group, who has done extensive research and analysis on the concept of customer advocacy.  While at Forrester Research, Ron pioneered much of the pivotal research on advocacy in the financial services. Ron's blogpost introducing the project.

• Neville Billimoria, Chief Advocacy Officer and SVP at Mission Federal Credit Union ($1.8 billion in assets).  Neville has spent the last four years actively invested in developing, implementing & operationalizing a value proposition based on the advocacy imperative for their  member-owners. 

• Paul Schwartz, Founder and Principal at CONGRUITY (a customer research and relationship strategy consulting firm) who helped take the aspect of trust & relationship marketing and build it into the total brand experience and advocacy-based value proposition for Mission Federal Credit Union.

Why participate now?

If you're measuring promoters and detractors, you're too late. Credit unions need to measure the key factors that will drive members to be promoters, not just how many they have.  The key to building strong relationships and developing member loyalty isn’t about getting member to advocate for the firm, it’s about being perceived as an advocate for the member. It means doing what’s right for the member, and not the credit union’s bottom line at the expense of the member.

How do I get more information or sign-up my credit union?

To learn more about projectADVOCACY, receive project updates, or to sign-up your credit union, please complete the form below and we will send you our premise document that provides details including descriptions of the assessment, what each participant receives, and pricing information.  

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy online. When you are on this site and asked for personal information, you are sharing that information only with us. We will not exchange it, give it away, or sell it to anyone.

Other questions? Contact us by email at info@projectadvocacy.org 

Copyright © 2008 projectADVOCACY