What is the "Happy Member Process"?

When working with credit unions in the past, I've often referred to what I call the "Happy Member Process". It's a simple concept, but thinking about it can lead to some great innovations.

Picture a member - or prospective member - who is unhappy about something that we can affect. That member has money, and unhappiness. Put the member through the Happy Member Process, and out pops the same member - perhaps a new member, now - but with more happiness and less money.

Here's the critical question: generally, members are less happy when they have less money. So why would this process make anyone happier to have less money? There are plenty of examples. A rapid turnaround fee for a loan application is an excellent one - we charge a fee, which means the member has less money, but we process the loan faster, and so the member is happier. One of the interesting challenges of the Happy Member Process is to see how much happiness you can cram into that member, and what the member would be happy to pay for that service.

-Robert