EPL’s May 2016 Product Advisory Team Meeting Recap

May was an exciting month at EPL, as we were thrilled to host our second Product Advisory Team (PAT) Meeting here in our hometown of Birmingham, Ala., at The Wynfrey Hotel on May 23—24, 2016. The biannual strategic meeting provides an avenue to connect more deeply with many of our credit union customers, discuss new developments within EPL’s “Connection Suite” of products and collaborate to identify collective top areas of focus for the upcoming year.

This customer-centric event is significant and meaningful to EPL, as we value our customers and their members’ experiences above all else—it is the core of our industry. We were very pleased with the turnout at the May meeting, with a larger number of credit unions participating than at our first PAT meeting in September 2015. The increased participation is more evidence that our customers know their voices are heard, and they value the opportunity to connect with us and other credit unions in this forum.

Not only is the PAT intended to be the direct voice of EPL’s customer base, but also is intended to empower growth, maximize revenue and improve members’ experiences at credit unions of all sizes. During the first day of meetings, we had the opportunity to discuss progress on initiatives laid out last fall, including general ledger enhancements, relationship pricing, in-house credit cards, proprietary lending services, e-communications, teller operations, online banking and other functionalities of our technology offering, such as security, client support and architecture.

On day two, we engaged collaboratively to hone in on top areas of focus, and will direct our attention toward additional capabilities for the general ledger, more choices and options in lending within i-POWER® and also via integrations, online banking enhancements, major additions to document management, user interface enhancements and advanced account research, including great ATM, debit card and electronic interaction enhancements.

We have recognized the critical need for more in-depth communication on industry issues, and need you—our subject matter experts—to share your institutional knowledge and experience with us during our smaller focus groups. Your insight is invaluable to the process, and plays such a vital role in helping us discover what is working well and what we need to improve upon. Customer insight is what allows us to continue to build a system that better accommodates evolving needs.

Our post-meeting feedback surveys showed that customers positively responded to the new format of the meeting, and we will continue to refine our approach in an effort to increase engagement and streamline various processes. One thing is for certain—we are convinced of the value created by our PAT meetings—not just for improving EPL’s technology offering, but also for building deeper relationships with our customer base as a whole.

At EPL, customer collaboration does not begin with or end at the PAT meeting. We invite you to continue to share your thoughts, concerns and ideas with our customer support team as we look toward our next PAT meeting in November 2016. Until then, we will work tirelessly to deliver on the issues that that matter most to our customers.

If you have questions about EPL’s PAT, please let us know on Twitter, Facebook or via email at rhiannon.stone@epl.net!

Rhiannon Stone

VP, solutions delivery

EPL, Inc.

5 ways credit unions should engage with members on social media

Did you know that one in every five mobile minutes is spent on either Facebook or Instagram? With an average of 1.04 billion daily active users, these social platforms have the potential to be an outstanding marketing tool for your credit union. If used correctly, social media can engage your members in a customized way that will enhance their overall experience and increase their loyalty to your credit union. Here are five best practices for engaging with your credit union’s members on social media:

1. Utilize Facebook Messenger
Connect with your members – instantly. People, especially millennials, don’t want to wait for answers when using social platforms. They crave instantaneous responses and therefore tend to prefer their communication to be on social channels rather than in-person or over the phone. Credit unions can easily take advantage of this customer preference by utilizing Facebook Messenger. This platform allows members to privately direct message your credit union’s Facebook page with questions or information that one might not want to disclose on the public Facebook wall. It’s important to discourage your members from sending personal information such as social security numbers and account details through this platform, as Messenger isn’t completely secure. Setting up notifications and closely monitoring this channel will allow your credit union to respond to the questions in a timely manner and bolster member satisfaction.

 2. Interact and be responsive
Social media wasn’t developed to be a silent one-way street. Make sure your credit union is interacting with content that is posted on your page and answering all member inquiries.
Received a negative review or comment? Be proactive in establishing a company strategy for responding to negative comments and complaints. An aspect of this plan will be your response timeline – it is best to always respond within one business day, if possible. In addition, have your team craft specific language so multiple employees are able to properly respond to member comments while maintaining one cohesive brand voice.

3. Prove you’re a thought leader
One of the best ways for a credit union to establish itself as an industry leader is by pushing relevant content on its social channels. Whether it’s breaking news, trends or original content, engaging in relevant conversations about the credit union industry will demonstrate that your credit union is a thought leader. Has new technology been developed that will significantly impact the credit union industry? Write a blog about the possible effects to insert your credit union into the conversation, and then share the content across your social media channels. If done properly, your members will find significant value in your content and will in turn actively follow and engage with your channels.

4. Show your credit union’s company culture
While sharing industry news is one excellent way to engage with your members on social media, it’s equally important to showcase your company’s culture. Connect with your members on a deeper level and humanize your brand by thoughtfully highlighting employees, departments, awards and social events. Do you have an all-star member? Feature him or her on your social channels! Keep in mind that these posts are most appropriate on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to save LinkedIn for the industry insights and original content such as white papers, news articles and blogs.


5. Share member-generated content
Actively seek member engagement by running contests, asking for photos and posting questions on your social channels. Utilize your members’ creative ideas and opinions by simply asking for it; you can gain valuable insight from member feedback.
Once your credit union implements these best practices, monitor your channels and utilize social analytics to gauge your success and channel growth. Not getting the results you’d hoped? Vary your content and test new strategies. Remember that establishing a solid social strategy takes time, so be patient during your evaluation. If done well, your credit union will see higher engagement and increased member loyalty through your efforts.

Rhiannon Stone

VP, solutions delivery

EPL, Inc.

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.