A PR Executive's Guide to CX Transformation: Stacy Armijo at Amplify Credit Union

This episode features an interview with Stacy Armijo, Chief Experience Officer at Amplify Credit Union. Amplify is a member-owned financial cooperative with more than 57,000 members and over $800 million in assets. They’ve been serving all 50 states since 1967. At Amplify, Stacy is in charge of Marketing, Communications and Social Impact. She also handles Retail, Payments & Operations, Human Resources and Training. She has over 20 years of professional experience in the industry. In this episode, Stacy explains how to build meaningful, impactful programs to create a job you love. She describes effective PR strategies, and what resources are most important for any company.Quotes*“I have a unique skill set in bringing the right words to the right ideas to make those ideas meaningful and impactful for others. And when I think about what combines all the things that I do, and the moments in my professional or personal world where I have felt like I really did something, like I really made an impact and it was unique and it was valuable, it can be boiled down to something sort of like that.”*“I think so often people underestimate what they do well. They tend to focus only on what they don't do well and how can they mitigate the liabilities of what they don't do well as opposed to, ‘I do this really well, how can I lean into that and make that more effective?’”*“In my career, I think about, ‘What is my current experience and does it satisfy all three Gs? Am I giving something? Do I feel like I'm contributing in a way that's meaningful and useful? Am I getting something? Is there something that I'm getting back in terms of what I'm learning and how I'm growing? And do I feel gratitude? Do I feel gratitude for the people I get to work with, for the compensation that I get to earn for all the opportunities that I have to be involved in things?’ And if I can say yes to all three Gs, I'm in the right place.”*“In my opinion, someone who is an effective public relations professional is good at anticipating the point of view of the people that they're interacting with. Understanding the messages that have meaning for them. And expressing them in a way that gets somebody to move to action. In essence, that's what a good PR person can do. That's not different from what a good customer service person can do.”*“I see an opportunity to be more authentic and to connect to something that's more real for people. And then to take the personality of the institution and carry that through.”*“Money is not your most precious resource. It is attention. Attention is your most precious resource in an organization. And so to be able to say ‘great idea, not today,’ is something that I do all the time.”Time Stamps[00:03:17] Stacy’s elevator pitch[00:11:39] How Stacy’s career started[00:14:55] The overlap between PR and CX[00:16:42] Making your work personal[00:22:31] Making the most of your resources[00:25:41] Designing online channels[00:31:09] Prioritizing digital customer service[00:35:23] The start of fee-free banking[00:40:26] The future of CX[00:47:08] Making the most of your strategyBioStacy is Chief Experience Officer with Amplify Credit Union, a $2B community financial institution based in Austin, Texas. At Amplify, her responsibilities include (1) Marketing, Communications and Social Impact; (2) Retail, including Branches, Contact Center, Wealth Management and Consumer Lending; (3) Payments & Operations; and (4) Human Resources and Training. She started her career in communications, having spent over 16 years at Pierpont Communications and working up from an account executive to EVP. She brings with her over 20 years of professional experience overall, and has also served as a Lecturer at the Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations at UT at Austin. There, she taught “Strategies in Public Relations.”Thank you to our friendsThis podcast is brought to you by HGS. HGS is a digital customer experience leader dedicated to delivering winning customer interactions at scale that are prompt, personal, and positive. We continuously transform, optimize, and grow enterprises to exceed ever-rising customer expectations. HGS provides our clients with the right talent and technologies needed to champion every moment. Learn more at hgs.cx.LinksSee Stacy’s WebsiteLearn more about Amplify Credit UnionConnect with Larry on LinkedInCheck out HGS