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On August 9, Synergent, your League’s service subsidiary, held its 1st Annual Connect User Conference focused on connecting in-person with the credit unions it works with every day. Scott Johnsen, Senior Vice President of Operations, welcomed attendees to the “Synergent Family Reunion,” which definitely is the feel that the conference had for staff and attendees alike.
This innovative conference was formerly known as the Technology Workshop, which had been offered for 10 years. The new Conference featured an expanded agenda that included payments and marketing, along with technology topics. Registration far exceeded that of its predecessor, with attendees representing 42 credit unions in 7 states.
The day began with a welcome from Synergent President/CEO Todd Mason. He reinforced Synergent’s mission of helping credit unions succeed, and improving the financial lives of their members, using the analogy of a theme park not being the best at just one thing, but the entire experience that they provide to customers. Synergent is similar in that it is not one single service that it provides to credit unions that makes it the best choice for credit unions, but the entire package of solutions, service, and expertise that work together to provide the best benefit to credit union users.
“Every conversation we have influences what we do,” stated Mason. “We care about each other, we care about our credit unions, and we are like a family.”
Further illustrating elements that create “The Synergent Experience,” Mason also discussed how price, convenience, product, service, and experience are five competitive attributes that Synergent uses as its lens in providing the best value to credit unions and determining what credit unions care about most. Synergent’s Project Impact is a reflection of that, with upgrades underway to Synergent’s infrastructure that were planned based on credit union feedback to provide the latest tools for business intelligence.
“Project Impact is an investment in you,” stressed Mason.
Keynote Speaker Chris Brogan, President of Chris Brogan Media, CEO of Owner Media Group, and New York Times bestselling author of nine books and counting provided attendees with insight on how to connect through media and how credit unions can reach their best members in his presentation, The Customer Experience Journey. He urged attendees to all take ownership in marketing their credit union, even in roles that go beyond the marketing department, and to focus on offering concise information that entertains, has a clear point of view, and speaks to what the credit union supports and offers. Ensuring content is mobile-friendly, provides a way to further connect, and ties to a tool that can manage the interaction data is essential.
“We all need a database of one. I want all the companies that I work with to know a lot about me and the service of me.” explained Brogan. “You need to treat members like you know and remember them. How to do that is to store information about them.”
Brogan also provided 8 steps to the Connective Media Process for attendees to take away and use in their credit unions:
- Define the players
- Detail the journey
- Determine the wins
- Map touchpoints and context
- Design the media package
- Connect the business
- Publish media
- Seek to serve
Brogan also praised Synergent for the inclusivity of its conference, sharing, “I love that this conference pulls tech, operations, and marketing together. That’s rare!” He also followed-up after the conference with a post on Twitter, tweeting, “As a speaker, you don’t always get to work with companies you align with. Today, I enjoyed seeing how @synergentcorp shared their vision. They’re going in the right direction.”
Fiserv’s Dave Keenan, Senior Vice President of Card Products, shared insights on payments trends surrounding how payments are changing for buyers and sellers, the much buzzed about P2P payments, and the growth that will continue via digital payment and member verification methods. He also shared that Fiserv is introducing a product called Card-Free Cash(SM) as a disruptive alternative that enables consumers to safely, securely, and immediately get cash at an ATM or merchant walk-in location without using a payment card.
“Where are cardholders going to go and what are the spend pools affiliated with that?” asked Keenan. “Getting better intelligence from transaction data that can be used in beating the competition is critical.”
Throughout the day, Synergent staff members provided substantial updates on its plans for the future. Early in 2018, Synergent created a true Product Development team that seeks to lead the strategy of delivering effective products, services, and partnerships to assist credit unions in improving their members’ financial lives. The team will serve as the developers of the products delivery process and stewards of the product portfolio that assists credit unions in serving their members. This new initiative was officially unveiled at the Connect User Conference, with the Technology, Marketing, Payments, and Infrastructure & Security Roadmaps covered in detail by members of the Synergent team.
“A big part of Product Development will be finding what the problem is,” said Ben Jordan, Senior Vice President of Product Development. “Not the symptom, but solving the problem.”