I recently had to take out a loan from my credit union to cover the cost of selling the car I purchased last year - and it was a great experience.
When I began the loan process I didn't expect it to be easy or painless. Here are three reasons why it rocked.
They were able to email me my documents instead of mailing or faxing them.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - fax machines suck. I used a fax machine for the first time in college and hated it. I don't have a fax machine, don't plan on having one ever, and thank goodness for the 24 hour Fed Ex Kinko's down the street, because signing and returning things seems to be a necessary evil. By emailing me the documents that needed to be signed, I could print them out and fax them back at my own leisure - much better than having it faxed elsewhere and picking it up.
When I was initially not approved, they told me why.
I wasn't approved for my loan - and my CSR took the time to inform me why I wasn't, why I need a cosigner, and what I could do in the meantime to make it better. This helped me to make a more informed decisions about how my credit history made me look to financial institutions.
I stayed with one CSR throughout the whole process.
When I called, I was connected to Shanda, who stayed with me from start to finish. The loan process isn't the most complicated undertaking in financial history, but it requires a bit of work on the part of the service rep. When I needed to be placed on hold, Shanda would give me an estimate of how long I would be waiting, and usually beat that time. My father, who was cosigning on the loan, had to sign and fax some papers over. The next morning, after all documents had been recieved and the loan was approved, Shanda called me to let me know the good news - she even apologized for waking me up.
These three small things made a world of difference in my experience taking out a loan - and I suspect it has to do with comprehensive training on the front lines.
How is customer service training handled at your credit union? Let me know in the comments!
DeAndre