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Fun and Teamwork Promote Cards For Jersey Shore
FCU
Ambitious goals and a powerful competitive urge
were the keys to success for Jersey Shore Federal
Credit Union when it ran a pair of promotions
simultaneously in late 2005.
The Northfield, New Jersey, credit union, with more
than 10,000 members and assets of more than $77
million, worked with TNB Card Services on a
three-month balance transfer promotion from
September through November, and at the same time
launched a drive to gain new credit cardholders.
"We wanted a promotion that would be supported
by employees, so we approached it from a team
concept," says Devon Callan, chief operating
officer for Jersey Shore Federal. Participating
employees were divided into three teams of 10 in
preparation for the promotional efforts.
"We set a goal of 100 new cardholders and
$600,000 in balance transfers," Callan says.
"We set the new balance goal high, since we had
never offered either a zero percent or 3.9 percent
rate before, and we hoped our members would
respond."
Those tempting interest rates, plus a standout
effort by employees, powered Jersey Shore Federal
past its goals. The credit union ended the promotion
with 149 new cardholders and $609,000 in new
balances.
Dividing employees into inter-departmental teams
between the credit union's two branches helped make
a game out of the promotion and really inspired the
employees. Cash bonus incentives were offered for
achievements such as 10 new card applications and
each $50,000 in new balances.
Teams had a small budget for displays and giveaways,
and came up with their own promotional activities.
For instance, teams offered a latte with each new
application, had someone dressed as Santa Claus
outside with a sign that said "Even Santa Likes
Low Rates," staged a hot dog roast for members,
and developed a prize wheel that card applicants
could spin to win a prize.
"We had done employee incentives before, but
this was the first time we had approached it in a
team format," Callan says. "The
competitive spirit really drove the success for
us."
That spirit also translated into enjoyment for
members. "Members got caught up in the fun
here," Callan says. "They enjoyed the
camaraderie. This was a fun place to come,
especially when there was a different team-promoted
activity every few weeks."
One of the teams, aptly named the Gold Diggers,
emerged as the top team, accounting for nearly half
of the balance transfers and winning the new account
race by a nose.
But Jersey Shore realizes that without a good
product to offer, the promotion would not have been
nearly as successful.
"This was the first promotion we've done since
we began processing with TNB, and the flexibility of
being able to set our own interest rates for our
members was a key component of the promotion's
success," Callan explains. "TNB allowed us
to determine the rates that would work for our
members. We didn't have this type of flexibility
from our former processor, so our past promotions
never generated the level of results we received
from this one."
Being able to promote the attractive rates made the
employees feel more like they were helping the
members rather than trying to "sell" them
on a card or a balance transfer, he adds.
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