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| Lighting it up...! |
The "incoming twittery" was just more of the same old stuff ("SOS").... A few flashes of madness and originality would have been much more interesting.
If you aspire to be a thoughtful
and effective CU marketeer, it might be wise and necessary for you to
spend some time with Thorstein Veblen and his work "The Theory of the Leisure Class". Believe it or not; despite being an economist, Veblen's fun! ("The most impressive satirist of his day." -- Time Magazine)
Perhaps you need to read Veblen simply because you would like to consider
where your moral compass should point, as a cooperative, non-profit
leader in a for-profit, take no prisoners, "buyer beware" world. Veblen, the economist who created the
phrase "conspicuous consumption", will not only make you think; he may help you choose: for-profit or not-for-profit, truth or whatever, sinner or saint?
Mr. Veblen challenges you to consider the hard-edged realities of an
impersonal, industrialized economy, juiced-up by advertising and consumption... with AI waiting in the wings!
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| "WE-aSELL" !! |
But even back in 1899, Thorstein Veblen was not optimistic about the logical "endgame" of a race to the bottom
in a marketplace, increasingly unrestrained by local accountability, with uncertain ethical values, and flexible moral scruples.
Veblen predicted
that marketing would eventually feature the following:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
OF MODERN MARKETING?
(Future predictions from 1899!)
- Attention to overstatement
- Fabricated demand
- A low traffic in salesmanship
- Promises much, delivers the minimum
- Promises much, delivers nothing of value
- Creates an artificial scarcity
- Enlarges the list of life's "necessities"
- Downplays the truth, implies the false
- Encourages contemptuous consumption
- Promises a margin of something for nothing
Are we there yet CU marketeers?
why should secu rely only on word of mouth?
ReplyDeleteDo you ever read or quote books from this century? I agree that there are things to be learned from the past (the Bible is the most important book in history in my opinion), but the world and business techniques continue to evolve. Follow up question, when was the last time you read something on a business related topic and it caused you to change your mind on a topic?
ReplyDelete4:21am Interesting question. Can you give us a brief list of the modern day books "from this century" you are reading that are important to you?
DeleteThanks it will be very helpful.
6:59pm Don't hold your breath on an answer. If you didn't know, trolltwits reach peak intellectual capacity as teens and see no need to learn more.
DeleteWhen you know it all, why waste time thinking?
Those of you who have lived with teens will understand...
We shouldn’t. We should industry standard marketing. It’s never a bad idea to let the community and prospective members who you are and what products we offer. In prior decades, we got growth the easy and unsustainable way. Now we have to do it the hard way like other credit unions, and market in the space(s) we compete against, and as we compete with a bunch of new players.
ReplyDelete*:29Am Might want to clarify the "should/shouldn't"... wasn't sure where you were heading.
ReplyDeleteWould you explain how the credit union grew in the past in "the easy and and unsustainable way"? What was that? Thanks.
Answering the question why should we rely on word of mouth. My answer: we shouldn’t
DeleteOn growth, I covered that in a post you suppressed. Won’t repeat except to say. You bought the market on deposits, and you funneled horrible adverse selection in lending. Unsustainable growth. Don’t need marketing dollars to do that. You were right about that.
DeleteSomething tells me you still believe that no marketing budget or a minimum marketing budget is best since, during the decades you were in charge, you never believed in it being a line item in the budget, or at best only believed it should be an extremely small one in comparison to the rest of the industry.
ReplyDeleteWhen did these trolls earn the right to re-write history? During Blaine and Lord's tenure exploding growth, biggest mortgage lender in the state, low chargeoffs, delinquency and foreclosures, a Mortgage Assistance Program that was the envy of the industry, great member service, knowledgeable branch network, etc. The model worked no matter how much you wish it didn't. If you're successful the marketing takes care of itself. Folks want to be associated with a Unicorn, not so much for an industry standard jack-ass.
ReplyDeleteYes, when you’re the lender of last resort and make loans no other lender will, we agree, the marketing takes care of itself. Water runs down hill. The term you should embrace is adverse selection.
Delete4:31pm If you'll check the facts, which I realize may not be of much importance to you; SECU used to be the mortgage lender of first and last resort in North Carolina.
DeleteWhat exactly is the problem with being the lender of "last resort"? What does that mean?
Is it tied to the problem that the new/new lending regime is afraid to help less than perfect members, because they don't want to be bothered?
... or because the new/new lenders don't know how to collect?
See SECU set another all-time record high in loan losses in 2023! When do you think you'll reach a billion?
See SECU set another all-time record high in loan losses in 2023!
DeleteWhen do you think you'll reach a billion?
Oh no, they'll be taking this as a challenge ...
Simple question: you talk about high credit losses and surely you see the massive, and I mean massive, mortgage delinquency. Given that, how do you make a credible claim that the new regime is afraid to help less than perfect members? Can you reconcile that? Or better yet, do you have any facts or data to back up that claim?
Delete7:17pm Sorry that was sort of a typo... meant secu set a loan loss record in 2025! Which surpassed the record set by the new/new in 2024! Which surpassed the record losses set by new/new in 2023. Which... well you get the idea.
Delete7:43pm Interesting thoughty, let's hope you are helping all segments ofr the membership... that would be great!
Delete'Course if you are helping all members, then that confirms that your execution of managing the portfolio is weak... the losses continue to mount.
Poor execution has been a problem for LA for several years... time to accept blame and stop the bleeding.
8:41..you didn’t answer the question and we’ll take your fudge as an acknowledgement that you have no data or facts to back up the claim you made. let’s consider a simple thought you might be able to comprehend:
Delete* Help only A tier = lower losses and delinquency
* Help all members (A thru E) = higher DQ and losses
Do you agree with that simple concept? If not, you’re hopeless and really stupid, so end of discussion (no point in going further)
9:05pm Thought the massive losses and delinquency you acknowledge on the new/new watch was self-evident.
DeleteIt is factually horrible, verifiable on the fed call reports, and yep setting shoot the moon record levels not seen in prior years.
In the past, SECU helped all those tiers you list, without the record losses. Your soaring losses just verify that the lending regime is weaker, collections problematic.
Don't mind agreeing with you in confirming execution is weaker and costing members millions in losses not seen in the past.
Just own it... you're running out of runway trying to blame your current losses on lending practices that are now over 10 years in the past!!!
Really, loans made in 2016 are causing you these major losses. Sorry, nobody is buying that!
It's your watch... quit trying to weasel.
Who said losses are from loans in 2016? Not me. Your stupid arm mortgage model is still in play, though.
Delete8:33 If the model is "stupid" and "still in play" aren't you really saying you believe our board, CEO, and ELT are "stupid".
DeleteAren't they the "new/new"?
Perhaps if they would just let you run the place...
No. They’re not stupid. Just your model and we’re swimming in bad arm loans orginated before new/new. We’re fixing your model by doing more saleable business.
Delete10:04 See 9:33am below.. Your rants continue to ignore the facts about the reliability of SECU members in repaying their mortgages.. quit falsely demeaning them!
DeleteIf the board/CEO aren't "stupid" as you indicated, but have now recanted... who is?
10:09. Not demeaning members. Demeaning you and current decision makers that less this crisis happen
Delete11:47am Guess by "current decision makers", you're again claiming the Board and CEO are "stupid".
DeletePersonally, believe you are well ahead of them in that category... keep it up, go for the gold!
Board and CEO aren’t stupid. You are. But the Board and ceo have been negligent in not fixing your broken mortgage model and preventing the situation
Delete@12:40 You make me laugh. You're like a spoiled 3 year old who doesn't get their way. Good stuff.
DeleteIf SECU really is paying for you to troll this blog. They ain't getting their money's worth. Lol
7:08pm "What exactly is the problem with being the lender of "last resort"? What does that mean?"
ReplyDeleteBelieve it’s defined above, but by lender of last resort, in this context, means when high risk loans (High LTV, low fico, not following QM and ATR guidelines, variable rate loans in fixed markets) are given. More specifically, when secu will give loans to folks that no one else will because they deemed them to high of a risk. When we’re willing to give loans at prices to borrowers that they cannot get anywhere else in the market, that’s being a lender of last resort. It also means being adversely selected, or attracting loans you wouldn’t otherwise get because the program gets exploited. Other banks and mortgage brokers steer people here. Gee, go to SECU, they’ll do its.
... and you just don’t get credit risk and lending half as much as you think you do.
Delete9:16am Could be right! I definitely "don't get" the logic of your rant.
DeleteIf you are so sure the mortgage lending model still in place is terrible and the Board/CEO are "stupid" then can you explain these facts?
1) In 2025 SECU had loan losses of $251 million a record high!
2) SECU held $37.6 billion in member loans of all types at 12/2025.
3) Of the $37.6 billion in member loans, $26.9 billion were member first mortgages - or 71% of all loans.
4) Of the record $251 million in loan losses, $5.3 million resulted from mortgage defaults - or 2.1% of total loan losses.
5) SECU mortgages (71% of all loans) created only 2.1% ($5.3 million) of the $251 million in total loan losses.
6) Who's "stupid"?
the new/new ...
DeleteA fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
(Proverbs 18:2)
you need to spend more time attacking the challenges instead of "attacking/blaming" everyone else ...
you're in charge now ... the issues have been laid upon your feet, let's see what you can do... impress us with your new/new philosophy else it's just folly ...
We’re fixing your model by doing more saleable business.
Delete8:48.. send us your mama! We’ve got quite the deal for her! We’ll give her a high LTV loan! We know she can’t price all of her income and has no savings, but we do the right thing around here. We don’t care that her FICO is 620 because she is loaded in debt and doesn’t pay her bills on time, but don’t treat people as numbers here. Best news of all? We know fuxedcratescare at an all time low, but we’ll give her an adjustable rate loan. In 5 years when rates go up and she can’t afford her payment, send us your mama again and we’ll ask for to pay $100 on her mortgage for the next three years. But don’t despair, when she can’t pay, we’ll take mama’s house and send her to you so she has a place to stay!
DeleteIf the allure and prowess of the new/new is as impressive as we’ve been led to believe, then I'm sure we will be well positioned for the next crisis ... or will we continue to blame others?
Delete“..Like classic narcissists they weaponized a crisis they created because their motives are impure: ”
ReplyDeleteSo by now you would have looked up your mortgage portfolio performance and decided not to post it. Looks too bad by comparison and is neither defensible nor fits the narrative. Just sayin.
ReplyDelete8:57am Sorry faithful readers, but felt this twit needed to be posted or our troll wouldn't have a life today. Been cold and rainy under that rock this weekend!
ReplyDeleteOur friend rants about how past - and evidently current - mortgage lending policies at SECU are destroying the credit union. And, how bad it is the credit union has become the "lender of last resort" for SECU members!
The troll-twit goes on to infer the SECU Board and our CEO are "stupid" and negligent (see 11:47am & 12:40pm above) for continuing these policies which have helped hundreds of thousands of SECU members buy their homes over the years - 177,000 as we speak!
Unfortunately, as with most of these troll-twits, the "damp-rock" hallucinatory claims don't hold up to reality. Our troll's reasoning abilities have become impeded by moss, mold, and misanthropy. Seems to need to dry-out... or up.
If the current (and past) mortgage lending practices at SECU were "stupid and negligent" then the harm from poor policies/decisions would show up in the form of high loan losses from making bad mortgage loans.
The facts are that SECU has @ $27 billion in outstanding member mortgages. The loan losses from that portfolio were $5.3 million in 2025, which represents a loss rate OF LESS THAN 2/100THS OF 1%!!!
That's about as close to "perfection" as one can get in loan decision making! That record of high success and low losses stretches under those "stupid/negligent" policies stretches back decades.
SECU as the mortgage "lender of last resort" in North Carolina has helped tens of thousands of members not by "making home loans other lenders wouldn't make"... but by making home loans that "other lenders should have made".
The high performance of the portfolio over decades proves the point. SECU members should be rightfully proud that their savings have been used - now and in the past - to fund homes in hometown North Carolina.
Many North Carolinians are enjoying the results of that unicorn difference SECu represents!
Time to dry-out or dry-up on the SECU mortgage lending critique...