Not every business services program gets "out of the blocks" as fast as everyone would like. Our Assessment Project is intended to diagnose the problems and recommend solutions to insure that the program is delivering the desired results. Some typical project outcomes are outlined below, but your Credit Union might not need help on every topic. A brief conversation with the "team" can usually identify the areas of most need, so that a program can be designed to get the program back on track.
Target Market: Determine how carefully the Credit Union has defined the target market, including members that have filed their d/b/a papers, current and prospective SEG companies, and companies within the charter geography.
Product Offerings: Determine how carefully the Credit Union has defined their current product offerings, including product descriptions, collateral material and brochures.
Systems: Assess the host system capabilities, including the ability to support current product specifications and any products that are being considering for the future, including the ability to support the purchase and sale of loan participations.
Marketing Plan: Review the current marketing plan and any marketing activities that are specifically directed toward the small business market, including the involvement of branch personnel and a review of the web-space that is devoted to small business.
Business Plan or Financial Plan: Review the financial plan for business services, including expectations for loan and deposit volumes and assumptions for alternative funding strategies, personnel expense and all direct and indirect expenses.
Personnel: Review the current staffing levels dedicated to member business service development, including current job descriptions and personal resumes. If specific personnel are not assigned to this function, determine staffing plans for the future, including position descriptions and characteristics of desired candidates.
Loan Policy: Evaluate the current loan policy, and loan participation policy, including a comparison of the Policy against the NCUA Aires Questionnaire to determine compliance.
Underwriting Procedures: Review in-house underwriting procedures and, if underwriting is outsourced, the procedures that are followed by the service provider.
Findings Memoranda: Prepare a findings memorandum detailing the results of each area of the Assessment, identifying areas of deficiency and outlining possible steps for improvement.
