As 2022 draws to a close, we examine the top finance tech trends of the year. These were the trends with the most significant impact on your business, your advisors, and your customers. Most importantly, these trends will continue to loom large in 2023. We previously discussed the central role the CRM plays in the tech stack, how to maximize its capabilities, common pitfalls to avoid, and bringing the human touch back to your automated business. Now, we look at the move toward increased efficiency.
Skience Tech Trend #4: Driving Enterprise Efficiency
“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” — Bill Gates
One of the primary goals of any business is to increase efficiency. Raise profits without adding to the labor. Work smarter—not harder, as it were. Choosing the right technology and involving users can cross items off your to-do list—while installing poor tech or leaving users uneducated can add unanticipated challenges.
All Systems Go
Picture your tech stack. Each tool has different login credentials, processes, and requirements. “The overall state of maturity in terms of the technology and operational infrastructure for most wealth managers is still behind the curve,” asserts Incedo Inc. CEO Nitin Seth. “It is often a password of multiple systems, multiple platforms that are trying to come together.” Sound familiar?
To increase efficiency, each feature must perform the correct task. Simply upgrading to the newest shiny object isn’t wise.
Founder and CEO of Save Co Service Katie Anderson took a pragmatic approach. “[I thought,] ‘This is a great bell and whistle, but does it ultimately support the efficiency and quality of what I’m trying to achieve?’” A flashy feature can quickly become useless if it never gets used. Keep the larger picture in mind.
“For me, it was about bringing simplicity to a complex, fast-moving system.”
Full Brainpower
Have you ever heard the statistic that humans only use 10% of their brain. Which leaves 90% of brainpower gathering dust.
Even though this statement has been proven false, it raises an important point. How many features and tools in your tech go unused, simply because users don’t know how to access them?
“If you’re an advisor thinking about adding new tech and you actually want to get a return on your investment, you have to spend more money on training and a commitment of time,” observes Asset-Map CEO and Founder Adam Holt.
Just as importantly, vendors need to be mindful of who will be using their tech. ‘Thinking about the process from the perspective of the user or from the perspective of the advisor and being advisor-centric is how we go about implementation,” states Skience Senior Vice President of Salesforce Services Greg Starr. “Thinking about it from an advisor-centric point of view can result in a very different solution.”
Listen Before You Leap
Ultimately, your technology needs to please leadership, users, and the end client. The solution? Seek input from all sides.
“We know what the investors want because we hear them,” remarks Patrick Meyer, Senior Manager, Solution Engineering at DocuSign. The tricky part? Working within your limitations. “We’re limited in what we can do and how we do it. We’ve got to get creative.”
Understanding what drives efficiency, and putting those rules into action, helps grow your firm. And spending less time on manual and repetitive tasks leaves you with more time for what really matters: building stronger client relationships.
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