EPL’s new product advisory team – paving the road to success

Having been in the credit union industry for nearly 40 years, EPL knows one thing above all else – customer feedback matters. Customer feedback is the lifeblood that fuels the innovation and ingenuity behind our products and services. Some of our most rewarding business endeavors, including the decision to build i-POWER®, were the direct result of the feedback posed to us, all thanks to our close and symbiotic relationships with customers. Our customers put their trust in us to deliver industry-leading software and technology solutions, and likewise, we put our trust in them to help us remain ahead of the curve.

Since partnering with Dedagroup NA, the North American subsidiary of the Italian IT services group, Dedagroup ICT Network, we’ve seen some big and exciting changes at EPL. Among those changes include the decision to form our new Product Advisory Team. What is a Product Advisory Team? For EPL, it’s a chance to lay the foundation for an ongoing conversation with you, our customers. It’s a channel by which we can maintain consistent and relevant communication about the topics that matter to you and your credit union. Lastly, it provides a platform that amplifies our customers’ voices. As a customer of EPL, you’ve always been heard, but now you have a megaphone.

What do we plan to accomplish? First, we want to understand your business’ priorities and challenges. We know that no one credit union is the same, and consequently, each customer’s needs differ. However, there will be parallels that we can identify and, in turn, work to address as we continually update our systems and develop new products and services. Our product pipeline is and always will be dependent upon the needs of our customers. Second, we want to demonstrate our commitment to you. Without your vital feedback, we would just be another standard core solutions provider – it’s you that set us apart.

The Product Advisory Team was first unveiled at this year’s client conference as part of EPL’s three-year product roadmap. Since then, we’ve been preparing to launch and are excited to announce that this month we held our first meeting at Ross Bridge Resort in Birmingham, Ala. The turnout was fantastic, but more importantly, the ideas generated were game-changing.

One of the key exercises we conducted was designed to identify some of those priority parallels I mentioned above. As a core software and technology solutions provider, we know that innovation does not happen overnight, and most certainly does not happen without an end goal. By working with our Product Advisory Team to highlight the group’s top five priorities, we not only were able to detect key areas of need, but also ensured that EPL’s continued innovation benefits our customer base as a whole.

This is just the beginning. The Product Advisory Team is not a temporary gathering of the minds or meant to exist on an island. In time, the team will meet again to discuss the next phases of EPL’s evolution and we will invite further customer participation. With your continued help, EPL will become a credit union industry disruptor and challenge the status quo set by the big box providers, all while delivering the best customer service on the market.

Rhiannon Stone

VP, solutions delivery

EPL, Inc.