Northern Inland Credit Union (NICU), a mutually owned authorised deposit taking institution (ADI) delivering financial services to benefit Members, has selected Squiz to power its journey to providing digital and data-driven Member experiences.

With an existing platform that was focused on transactions rather than relationships, NICU selected Squiz, an Australian-based technology consultancy specialising in digital transformation, as its partner to overhaul its business and enable more digital ways of interacting with, tracking, and delivering personalised solutions to its Members.

As part of the solution, Squiz implemented a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, SugarCRM, and a marketing automation system, Marketo, for NICU.

Since on-boarding these technologies, NICU has gained insight into how their business is performing and the key sales drivers, which was not possible with its previous systems. Before working with Squiz only about 10 per cent of enquires led to a sale, with no data to explain why this was happening or how to improve the conversion rate within the sales funnel.

“We can now see everything in one place, and build a picture of Member behaviour. This involves tracking leads from multiple sources, including in-store visits and website enquiries, in one system,” said Derek McIntyre, CEO of NICU.

The implementation process in itself demonstrated the need for metrics within NICU. Prior to the implementation of SugarCRM and Marketo, NICU faced challenges with offering their Members a seamless Member experience across all digital and analogue channels and capturing all relevant data accurately.

“Our systems weren’t open and agile to accommodate external data capture, feedback loops, and Member relationship management. They also weren’t integrated – we had separate email and SMS systems that were not integrated with our other information systems.

“Now, we have detail on how our Members have developed, and a consistent sales process that contains all the information we need in one place,” said Derek.

A key benefit of working with Squiz’s experienced transformation consultant was gaining support and cooperation across the company, from the C-suite to the sales and operations teams. A dedicated Squiz consultant met with the NICU leadership team in Sydney for a full-day induction.

In subsequent weeks, Squiz visited NICU on-site several times, which enabled the Squiz team to answer questions as needed, learn the team dynamic, and understand how to make the implementation a successful first step in NICU’s digital transformation journey.

“The staff have responded so well to the changes overall. They are excited because they can see the potential. They’re open to collaboration, and have been integral in providing feedback. Having the vision from the top to drive a digitised Member experience and integrate all of our platforms has lifted the experience for everyone,” said Derek.

John-Paul Syriatowicz, Group CEO of Squiz, adds that having a digitally-led vision from the management team is key to successful digital transformation.

“Having buy-in from the top down ensures an efficient roll-out and robust support systems during digital transformation,” Syriatowicz said.

“It’s been a delight to work with NICU so far, and help them implement the technology and processes to enable their teams to deliver exemplary experiences for their Members. We are looking forward to a continued partnership with NICU.”

“We are excited to discover all the new ways Squiz can further enhance our digital offering to align with the changing expectations of our Members. Squiz has helped us make significant changes that go beyond adopting new digital platforms,” McIntyre added.

“They’ve helped us change the way we view and deliver service to our Members, the language we use to discuss Member experience, and our overall way of thinking about our Members.”

The next step for the NICU team will be to build a new personalised and optimised website with full integration into Marketo and the Sugar CRM system. The new digital interface and first point of call for Members will be designed with the next generation of digital natives in mind, prioritising the Members’ needs and expectations to develop a journey that is highly personalised, convenient and data-driven. This means each Member’s experience will differ depending on their relationship with NICU.

“We want to offer a truly personalised experience for all of our customers, across each generation. Being a mutually owned financial institution, the community is our focus and we are excited to bring everyone on this digital journey with us,” said McIntyre.

NICU are just weeks away from integrating with SugarCRM, having gone live with Marketo in October 2015. NICU offers a full fleet of banking products to its 16000 Members in north-western New South Wales.