Your board needs to establish the strategic context for your CU’s program. By Molly Parsells 
You see parents tell their children to think before acting. This is so the child has time to consider his options and respond to the situation he’s in, rather than just react to it. A credit union looking at launching member business lending may need to count much higher than 10 before it moves forward. In fact, the board of a credit union looking to succeed with MBL needs to take the time to develop a strategic context for its program. Fortunately, with enough foresight and good planning, a CU can respond rather than react to the MBL opportunity, according to Jim Devine, founder, chairman and CEO of Hipereon, Inc., and lead faculty for CUES Advanced Director Strategy Seminar, which will focus on boards’ role in setting the vision for MBL. According to Devine, a CU member business services and lending program has the potential to generate high net interest margins on loans and provide cross-selling opportunities. To make this possible, a board needs to set out a vision that the program will be run by qualified staff members and be based on a holistic relationship with members that addresses both their business and personal financial services needs. “Directors should have a good sense of the strategic design of their CU’s MBS/MBL program and confidence in the skill sets of their staff members responsible for managing this critically important business line going forward,” Devine explains. “A problem-solving, consultative selling process needs to be developed and utilized. Success comes from providing solutions to problems that can pass through a cost/benefit screen and provide measurable value to the business/business owner(s).” At the same time, the board should include in its vision the idea that the CU’s business development efforts will focus on the kinds of loans that both serve the CU financially and help members. Molly Parsells is CUES’ marketing and media assistant. You may also be interested in reading “Commercial Real Estate Lending,” about how boards and executives must move meticulously and provide a strategic context when establishing their programs. Devine will talk with directors about how to set a CU’s MBS/MBL program on the right track from the get-go at CUES Advanced Director Strategy Seminar, coming up June 16-17 in Asheville, N.C.
