We continue to focus on providing the best possible levels of customer service and our latest member survey shows a high level of satisfaction with the services we provide.
We focus on good service not only because it is good for business, but critically, because our ‘customers’ are our members and they own the business. During 2021 we undertook our annual membership survey and asked our members how they rated us for customer service.
Of particular note was that nearly half of those responding said that they had no savings at all before they joined the Credit Union. As our primary objective is to promote saving, this is a very positive result.
The survey showed a high overall level of member satisfaction with the services we provide, with an average score of 8.6 out of a possible 10, very slightly down from 8.7 in the previous year.
On reviewing the results, we believe that this is a significant achievement, given the suspension of face to face service due to closure of our office to visitors to prevent Covid infections and our tighter lending policies that led to more people having loan applications declined.
During the year we completely overhauled our website and continued to upgrade our app for mobile devices. The membership survey showed that we still need to do more to communicate our services to members, with nearly 26% not knowing about our mobile app, and over 40% not having heard of our budgeting accounts or money advice services. Whilst this was an improvement on the previous year, it remains an area for further progress in communication with members.
Credit Union Chief Executive Martin Groombridge said: “2021 was another challenging year, so we are very pleased with the latest survey results. We will continue to develop our services with the emphasis on customer satisfaction, with a view to continuous improvement in everything we do. A high level of member satisfaction continues to be the most effective method of driving membership recruitment, savings and take up of our Saver Loans, and it is core to our objectives as a member owned co-operative.”
