Jack Welch said, “An organization’s ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” Doing business in the 21^st century has its advantages, one of them being the wealth of industry information available. When the first credit unions were forming early in the 1900s, there were no trade journals, conferences or blogs sharing stories of success or failure as guides of what to do or not to do. Knowledge is one of our greatest tools. Here's a look at what the competition in the banking industry is doing that can help boost your credit union lending:

The rich history of credit unions serving the everyday needs of members runs deep. As a loyal industry, credit unions make their members feel welcomed and not like an account number in a database.

So what are the big, top performing banks doing when it comes to lending that many credit unions aren't?

1. Exclusivity: They are making an effort to create a feeling of exclusivity even if this comes with added cost to their customers. As noted recently in the American Banker, top performing banks have “recognized the need to be the bank of choice in a crowded marketplace, and their management teams have embraced a strategy of building stronger brands and delivering better or unique value to customers.”
   
   
2. Sales: Historically, credit unions have avoided a strong sales pitch to generate lending leads. While banks have been quite the opposite, generating sales leads through automated selling processes and incentives to staff. Credit union lending may be improved by taking the sales process a step further and begin to create a sales culture from within. Educate your staff on how they can help members by providing the right loans at the right time.
   
   
3. Analyze Data: To determine what the right loan is at the right time, the data needs to be accurate and accessible for staff to leverage the member database with their service offerings. This is how top-performing banks have found success in the digital age. They have more data at their fingertips than ever before.  With the amount of transactional data available, banks can analyze customer history for better loan decisions.  Plus, they have made mobile lending convenient via online applications, mobile apps, and electronic signatures.

Banks have moved beyond legacy technology and processes. They have invested in core technology that helps them deliver a balanced, multi-channel model with the ability to dig deep into data analysis and off shoot new services when necessary.

Credit unions looking to achieve the same qualities that have transformed traditional banks into lending giants should have an integrated data processing system in place. The investment to improve technology will allow for deeper data analysis to personalize the member experience and sales process, while affording you the ability to add digital features such as online lending and mobile apps.