Most currently available CRMs are designed to fit general business applications. They are very powerful and full of features, many of which are not typically used. Credit unions have unique terminology and nomenclature that may not be directly supported by off-the-shelf CRM solutions. Terms like “member” instead of “customer,” “shares” instead of “deposits,” or “loan products” instead of “services” are common examples. Adapting the CRM to use credit union-specific terminology ensures consistency and relevance for users. In addition, these changes can be costly and not address your specific needs.

As you begin to implement a CRM, you will find you may require a full time CRM “guru” to manage the project. In addition, there will be a steep training regimen for your business development personnel. Keep in mind, that your business development representatives are not necessarily sales professionals. They don’t need to “push” for sales. They are ambassadors building relationships with potential and existing SEG companies.

Adapting a general CRM for such a specific industry can indeed be challenging, as it requires customization to align with credit union terminology, workflows, and priorities. Customizing a CRM, the long-term costs, and benefits, including maintenance, updates, and scalability can be expensive.

Why CU Force is Different

A little history. Dominick Edwards, the founder of CU Force basically started the SEG initiative in the United States. In 1974, while Ronald Reagan was Governor of California, he and Dominick Edwards worked together to introduce legislation allowing Central Credit Unions to include companies in the greater Los Angeles area with less than 25 employees as part of their field of membership. As you might imagine, the greater Los Angeles area had more than twenty-five thousand of these businesses. Mr. Edwards was charged with building membership via these companies. At that time, there were no PC’s, cell phones or communication tools to manage such a large endeavor. Everything was manual. You can imagine how difficult that would have been without automation.

Years later as automation tools were developed, the company embarked on building its first SEG database. The goal of the design was to address the problems credit unions would encounter in enrolling qualified companies and managing the process from beginning to end.

Today, CU Force’s success was and is because it provides a complete solution that is easy to implement and use. It has everything credit union business development professionals need and nothing they don’t. Beside the typical contact management and reporting information most CRMs provide, CU Force includes a core system interface that imports statistical information for each company.

Seamless integration with core systems is crucial for credit unions to access SEG Company account information. This integration streamlines operations, enhances company service, and provides a holistic view of company relationships.