NetBanker 2.0

Vehicle auctions hit the homepage at Houston Federal Credit Union (HFCU)

Many financial institutions sell or auction repossessed vehicles to the public. However, not many use this by-product of installment lending as a prospecting tool on their homepage.

We came across this novel approach at Houston Federal Credit Union <houstonfcu.org> while putting together a presentation titled "Extreme Website Makeovers" for an upcoming American Bankers Associate conference. The first place we looked for inspiration was the client list of Trabian, a talented new website designer concentrating on the credit union market (grab a feed to their outstanding blog, OpenSourceCU here). 

Trabian's client, HFCU, includes a link to its vehicle auctions on the right-side of its homepage (see screenshot below). Clicking on the box takes users to the main auction page where any registered user may bid on the vehicle (in this case, just a single motorcycle was up for auction).   

Analysis
Everyone loves a good deal, and unlike retailers who can drop a loss-leader on their homepage to generate excitement, financial institutions have far fewer options. Vehicle auctions provide an interesting way to encourage members to check back periodically to see if they could get a smoking hot deal on a used sedan, truck, or bass boat.

It's also a good prospecting tool. Nonmembers are allowed to register on the site and bid. This provides the credit union an immediate opportunity to make a sales pitch such as the "Wish your auto loan was at HFCU instead?" in the center of the page.

The email address supplied by the bidder also enables the CU to market to the nonmember in future emails. Finally, anyone who buys the auctioned vehicle is a great candidate for an HFCU loan, which are positioned in the upper-right of the auction page (see screenshot below).

Making it even better
We love the idea, and it works well even in its relatively simple form. It would be even better with a few additions:

1. It would drive even more traffic with an email and RSS feed option for receiving information on new auction items and for monitoring bids.
2. The credit union would generate more interest by including a variety of vehicles (even if they bought a few at auction to seed the site). Today's sole entry was a 2005 Suzuki motorcycle with a buy-it-now price of $6300.
3. The auction format and tools are relatively crude by today's standards. For example, it wasn't obvious who the other bidders were, how long it had been up for auction, or what the next bid needed to be. There are numerous auction services that could provide a more eBay-like experience.
4. It would be helpful to integrate the auction more closely with the loan center so users could easily calculate monthly payments, insurance costs, etc.

Lead generation ideas: part 1

One of the goals of online marketing, especially financial services marketing where consumers may not be comfortable submitting personal data over the Web, is generating leads. According to LeadFusion <leadfusion.com>, the parent of Financenter, the leading financial calculator provider, there are four steps to good online lead generation:

The last step, ACTIVATE, is the key to identifying sales leads. While most major financial institutions have financial calculators available online, how many of them are used to capture leads? Since most customers will not put up with a registration process BEFORE using the calculator, you must entice users to identify themselves at the end of the calculations.

Some common methods:

• Subscribe to an information alert: Users sign up to receive email messages when certain events occur, such as rates hitting a certain level; for example, E*Trade's Rate Watch (click on inset to see the sign-up form).
• Complete an interactive coupon: Even normally wary consumers will hand over a surprising amount of personal data if you provide a tangible benefit, such as a significant discount or valuable freebie. One of our favorite examples, which was used continuously for more than five years, was Salem Five Bank's <salemfive.com> $100-off Mortgage Closing Costs coupon. The coupon, which is no longer used, required users to enter their name, phone number, and email address. Then they could print a personalized coupon that would save them $100 on a mortgage.
• Fine-tune these calculations: Users wishing to perform deeper analysis will be asked to register first. Registration should be brief: name, email address, and optional phone number. You can also capture inputs to the calculator, but intent to retain this data must be disclosed to the user.
• Lock in a special offer now: A tried-and-true DM practice, the time-sensitive offer. Tell users that rate/price/discount/premium can be locked in, if they enter their name and email address now.
• Sweepstakes/contests: It's one of the most cost-effective ways to pull a large volume of leads. The downside is the sheer volume of unqualified prospects that throw their name in the virtual hat for a chance at that iPod NANO. Make sure you include several simple qualifying questions. For examples, see the previous FMW articles in the Advertising & Promotion category.
• Set up an appointment: This may not be selected by many, but you should offer the option of setting up a meeting on the phone or in a banking office to discuss the product further.
• Apply Now: Most importantly, ask for the order.

For more information:

• Lead Fusion's white paper, Attracting and Capturing Online Leads for the Financial Industry