Financial services technology 2021 and beyond: Embracing disruption
By Betach Solutions
Technology is transforming financial services. In recent years, the financial sector has begun to recognize the economic upside of adopting various technologies. This has enabled firms to gain insights from data and make more informed decisions, decrease risk, automate business processes, and improve customer service via intelligent chatbots. Many early adopters are attributing significant revenue growth to AI technology. Process centralization and standardization have become an industry focus as the return on investment increases due to the efficiency such technologies bring. Many CFOs have sunk major investments into automation tech as they recognize this as the best way to transform their organization and ensure continued growth and future success.
Automation Doesn't Take Jobs It Frees Up Resources
The debate on automating finance processes is no longer a debate. It is quickly becoming a sink or swim situation. Most finance workers are busy taking care of operations, leaving them with limited time to invest in value-adding activities. By automating these processes, workers are empowered to take advantage of real-time analytical insights and predictive algorithms to better strategize for the future. World-leading organizations in efficiency and effectiveness have recognized these advantages and are making the most of the opportunity by focusing these newly freed resources on adding value. It is time to let finance organizations drive these enterprise transforming initiatives.
Automation is now a core competency for any technology solution provider worth its name. It is no secret that technology can outperform human beings in speed and accuracy, among other things. As technology continually improves and new technologies arriving in the market like machine learning, robotic process automation, and chatbots. A whole new world of possibilities has opened up. The only question is, how are you going to seize this opportunity?
Industry leaders are often acquiring and developing AI via various approaches. This diversification allows for faster adoption due to wider access to resources. Leaders are even using AI for revenue enhancement and improved client experience projects with analytical insights to ensure success. By integrating AI into strategic planning, these industry leaders have been able to create company-wide strategies that other business segments could adapt quite easily.
BENEFIT SUMMARY
Cost savings + ROI
Improved employee productivity
Improved strategic planning
Produce complete audit trials that align with compliance
Monitor and test far greater amounts of data than ever possible before
Significantly reduce human error and decrease processing time
Increase data-processing accuracy
Resource allocation to value-adding activities
Trend 1: Increased Investments in Technology
When Covid 19 arrived, countless businesses went from running to crawling, while some ground to a complete halt. In the time it took late adopters to regain their footing, others have been able to shine and continue to double down on their tech investments. Improved security, improved customer experience, and efficient and collaborative processes are just a few of the benefits cloud technology can bring to your business.
This trend is not going anywhere in 2021. Though investing in such a project is difficult during times like these, if you can manage it, you will reap the rewards and take your business to places previously not possible. Especially when the added efficiencies of new technology will save you time and money in the future, which can be reinvested into revenue-generating activities. If things are slower than usual, it might be the best time to implement new technology and ensure your team is fully trained and confident with your new solution.
Choose the right solution and the right partner
Implementing new systems? Do your homework and ensure you are choosing the right technology, implemented by the right partner. Consider all the potential setbacks, the change management process, and the level of support your partner is offering.
Have your partner show you the value
Tech partners and vendors know they need to show you the value of their solutions, especially in these volatile times. Dig deep, find out when and how you will see the desired ROIs in order for you to determine this is the right time to implement. They should have a team that can assist you in determining the impacts of their solutions as well as the benefits you will see based on your unique environment. Lastly, they need to provide you with various payment options in order for you to manage the impact of the implementation on your books.
Trend 2: Digital Marketing isn't going anywhere
With in-person events suspended the future is difficult to plan for. To remedy this, organizations are more heavily investing in digital marketing as the most efficient method of generating leads. Digital marketing is a large umbrella that can be difficult to navigate, from social media, email campaigns, SEO, pay-per-click, the list goes on and on. With all these options, it is important to note that quality over quantity is the key, if your content is not of the highest quality you are wasting time and money. It is more important than ever to invest in your marketing and graphic design team, facilitate the development of their skills and help foster their creativity for maximum campaign effectiveness. These are exciting times with massive opportunities to differentiate your brand and land clients who previously never gave you a second glance. Here are a couple of tips:
Budget budget budget
How much were you spending on in-person events? Including travel and the expenses that come along with it as well as lost productivity as employees are preoccupied. You should be simply reinvesting everything you are no longer spending on such activities into your digital marketing budget. Remember, your unique created content is not necessarily an expense but an investment. Activities like updating all your marketing materials and improving your SEO will have a much longer-lasting impact than a single event.
Follow the data
Be where your potential customers have eyes! Determine the most appropriate channels as well as a timeline for when you need to see results. Time crunch? Paid social media ads may be your solution. If you aren't in a rush organic opportunities can have huge ROI potential, like your SEO. Your organic efforts will take more time to produce results, however, they carry fewer costs and will give you ROIs long after the work is completed. Focus on quality and start small so you can continuously measure the performance of your marketing activities and refine them as needed. You should always invest in the activities you know work and shift funds to new activities or channels when you are not seeing the performance you had hoped for. It is not an exact science, be patient and experiment, in the long run, you will be graciously rewarded for your efforts.
Trend 3: E-Commerce - do or die
E-Commerce has seen a drastic rise to the point of becoming an essential backbone of countless organizations and industries. The impacts on logistics, systems, data, and supply chains among almost everything else a business relies upon. This shift did not come as a surprise, it simply accelerated at a drastic rate due to Covid 19's societal impacts. This accelerated change has been devastating to many retailers that simply did not have the technology in place or the funds to quickly implement a solution. So, what can you do moving into the new year?
Find the opportunity in the chaos... fast
You thought you had time to manage your strategic shifts, but it is time to take immediate action and ensure your business is a part of a very innovative future. Retailers for example that may have been slowly nurturing e-commerce for the future need to consider reducing inventories and cutting any unneeded physical spaces that may be slowing them down. It is not just retail that will feel the impacts. Companies like UPS or FedEx are swamped if the strain on their resources persists expect delayed deliveries with serious implications to your supply chain. Plan for this and other potential setbacks so you can best reduce the risk and impacts of these obstacles.
Your business needs to carry the mentality of a shark, constantly on the hunt and moving forward if you remain complacent instead of innovating, your business will be dead in the water.
The financial-planning process for 2021 presents an opportunity to turn lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic into an exercise of linking strategy to value.
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