TruStone Financial is a credit union with $5.3 billion in assets and 23 branches across
Minnesota and Wisconsin with a mission of helping members achieve lifelong financial well-
being. Guided by values like integrity, collaboration, simplicity, and continuous improvement,
TruStone’s team works daily to create exceptional financial experiences.
For TruStone, strong member value is the key to growth. They believe that members who feel
valued, connected, and understood will stay loyal and deepen their relationship. That loyalty has
fueled TruStone’s extraordinary financial performance, growing membership and assets at rates
far exceeding industry averages.
TruStone partnered with Customer Service Profiles (CSP) in 2009 to make member feedback
a driving force behind their success. Over the past 15 years, this collaboration has empowered
TruStone to better understand member needs, align its strategy, and build a culture of service
excellence. The result: Remarkable growth that proves building strong member value, with a
foundation of member feedback, is a primary pathway to organizational success.
About CSP
CSP specializes in helping organizations unlock the power of feedback to drive measurable
growth. Trusted by thousands of organizations nationwide, CSP offers the tools, expertise, and
collaborative support needed to turn insights into action.
For TruStone, CSP has been instrumental in aligning member engagement with actionable
strategies that drive performance and growth.
“We’re perpetually doing great things for our members, but distilling those actions
Marty Kelly, TruStone’s EVP/Chief Marketing
into simple marketing messages can be a challenge. After all, it’s noisy out there.
The CSP Relationship Index Study – in conjunction with other measures – helped
us to identify what resonates most with our target segments. Knowing that is
powerful in the optimization of our brand.”
Officer.
The Challenge
Building Growth Through Strong Member Value
TruStone set out with a clear challenge: to build deeper member loyalty and use it as a
foundation for growth. They knew that delivering great service alone wouldn’t be enough. The
credit union needed to truly understand its members—what they valued most, where they faced
pain points, and how their expectations were evolving.
At the same time, TruStone faced the complexities of rapid growth. Their assets and
membership were expanding, requiring a scalable, data-driven approach to maintain high
service standards and continue building member value.
The Solution
Using CSP’s Insights to Strengthen Member Connections and Drive Growth
TruStone relied on CSP’s expertise to put member feedback at the center of its operations.
Together, they implemented two key programs to gather actionable insights:
Transaction-Based Member Experience Program
- Tracks member interactions across all channels, providing real-time insights into service quality and opportunities for improvement.
Annual CSP Member Relationship Index Study
- An in-depth survey that identifies the key drivers of member satisfaction and loyalty. Using a demographically aligned sample, CSP and TruStone ensure the feedback represents the full spectrum of its member base. With these tools, TruStone gained a clear understanding of its members’ needs and expectations, enabling them to make strategic decisions that strengthened member relationships and fueled growth.
How Insights Fueled Growth
CSP’s data didn’t just inform; it transformed. TruStone used these insights to make member
value the foundation for its growth strategy:
- Focusing on What Matters Most: Member feedback helped TruStone prioritize the
areas that had the biggest impact on satisfaction and loyalty. This included streamlining
digital services, improving in-branch experiences, and introducing new products tailored
to member needs. - Refining the Brand for Deeper Connections: Using CSP’s data, TruStone crafted
brand messaging that resonated with different member personas, creating an emotional
connection that drove higher adoption of products and services. - Scaling with Consistency: As TruStone expanded, CSP’s insights ensured that service
standards remained consistent across all branches, building trust and loyalty even in
new markets. - Empowering Staff to Deliver Excellence: CSP’s insights informed personalized
coaching and set clear expectations for member interactions, equipping employees to
provide exceptional service every day. As Steve Steen, TruStone’s EVP/Chief Retail
Officer, put it:
“Listening to members is a cornerstone of our value proposition. But we also need
to respond, and quickly, particularly if an experience doesn’t meet a member’s
satisfaction. Transactional surveys through CSP’s Voice of the Member program
allow us to immediately react, often turning a negative (or neutral) into a positive.” - Recognizing and Rewarding Excellence: The KeyStone Club, TruStone’s employee
recognition program, rewards staff and branches for outstanding performance based on
CSP metrics. This incentivized a member-first culture while driving tangible results.
THE RESULTS
Growth Powered by Strong Member Value
TruStone’s ability to leverage CSP’s insights and focus on member value has driven
extraordinary growth, fueled by both strategic mergers and a steadfast commitment to delivering
exceptional experiences.
- Membership Growth: TruStone’s membership has grown from 56,527 members in 2010 to 215,860 members in 2024, an increase of 382%. This growth reflects the combined impact of M&A activities and enhanced Member loyalty driven by their focus on CX.
- Asset Growth: TruStone’s assets surged from $643 million in 2010 to $5.33 billion in 2024, an increase of 829%.
- Retention and Engagement: TruStone has strengthened loyalty by prioritizing member needs, with members increasingly using TruStone as their primary financial institution.
- National Recognition: TruStone was named one of America’s Best Credit Unions by Newsweek in 2024 and will receive the honor again in 2025, marking its second consecutive year on the list. TruStone is also ranked in the top 1% of best-performing credit unions nationwide.
Growth Through CX
At its core, TruStone’s growth story is about more than just numbers. The credit union has
created a culture of accountability and continuous improvement by focusing on building strong
Member value. Every initiative, from refining digital services to empowering staff, reflects their
belief that exceptional Member experiences are the foundation of financial success.
This growth—both organic and through strategic mergers—highlights how a commitment to
Member value, supported by actionable insights from CSP, can position an organization for
sustained success.
Conclusion
TruStone Financial’s partnership with CSP highlights how building strong member value can be
a primary pathway to growth. Through CSP’s insights, TruStone has aligned its mission of
member engagement with strategic actions that drive performance.
Over the past 15 years, this approach has transformed TruStone into a high-performing,
nationally recognized credit union. By turning member feedback into action, TruStone has
shown that excellent customer experience (CX) doesn’t just improve satisfaction—it powers
growth.
