In the early 1980s when booking travel was an in-person experience, travel agencies in the U.S. peaked at around 20,000. Today there are around 10,000 travel agencies in America. What lesson can CUs learn from this dramatic change? Perhaps the biggest one is that these surviving travel agencies have been successful because they are focused on providing services where advice, expertise, and complexity management command a premium.
Just as members often self-book their flights, hotels and car rentals, many often handle basic financial transactions online or on their mobile devices. CU branches are increasingly reserved for delivering that human touch that so many people crave when it comes to seeking financial advice, expertise, and complexity management.
Key Takeaway: Now is the time to repurpose your branches to make them easy for your members to come to hold important financial conversations. Appointments and online queueing are key components in efficiently enabling this new consultative, non-transaction branch paradigm.