Topics of Interest

Velocity Community Credit Union: Pioneering a sales culture in a service-centric world

Written by America's Credit Unions | November 21, 2024 at 3:00 PM


Velocity Community Credit Union confronted a set of complex challenges that tested its operational resilience and member-service principles.

The Jupiter, FL-based organization’s primary challenge was cultivating a robust sales culture within an institution traditionally focused on service.

“We had a really strong service culture, but our sales culture was nonexistent,” said Ryan Terrell, a Velocity Community Credit Union branch manager.

The transition from a service-dominant mindset to a balanced service-and-sales approach required fundamental shifts in employee training, mindset, and daily operations. Ensuring that every team member, from frontline staff to management, understood and embraced their role in this new culture was paramount.

“Our culture was a big driving force as to why we started (using Creating Member Loyalty),” said Amanda McFarland, training manager at Velocity, adding that they wanted to address teammate relationships within the credit union, as well as their relationships with members.

To overcome these challenges, they needed a tailored training and development program, leading Velocity Community Credit Union to adopt the Creating Member Loyalty (CML) program.

"(The need for) consistency across the company is huge,” Terrell said. “(CML) breaks it down into such small detail about each step and each skill that we want people to focus on.”

CML brought a level of consistency and focus that was previously missing.

Velocity purchased the Service, Sales, and Sales Leadership programs of CML.

CML’s leadership focus has played a crucial role in redefining managerial effectiveness within the credit union.

“Leadership is what we can directly point to as what got us over the hump,” Terrell said. “We've done service, sales, and leadership through Creating Member Loyalty,” he added, “and I would say the leadership part of it is what impacted us the most.”

Managers, equipped with new skills and frameworks from CML, have become proactive leaders, setting clear performance standards and fostering an environment of accountability and growth. This leadership evolution has not only boosted team morale but also led to more strategic and effective decision-making, aligning with the credit union’s goals of member-centric service and business growth. 
“For Sales Leadership, we held three sessions, the first with managers, the second with a mix of our senior team managers, and the third with remaining managers,” McFarland said.

She added that they are considering training only tellers, consultants, and lending in Sales, since the material covered in those sessions may not apply to other staff roles.

The program's use of behavior modeling and structured practice scenarios enabled staff at all levels to seamlessly integrate sales into their service routine, thereby elevating member interactions into opportunities for relationship-building and value addition.

Managers learned to effectively coach their teams, ensuring that the CML principles are consistently applied in everyday operations.
“CML brought a level of consistency and focus that was previously missing,” Terrell said. “We've been able to restructure our processes to try to eliminate certain contact points in the process,” he said. “Because we did it all at the same time as a company, we were able to get some movement on that and it actually did create a better member experience and staff experience.”

This shift is evident in the enhanced quality of member interactions, where employees now skillfully blend service excellence with insightful sales conversations, deepening member relationships and trust. Learn more about CML.