In a world with ever more sophisticated technology, and an ever increasing number of devices generating untold amounts of data across numerous platforms, the challenges facing companies in the financial services industry are not difficult to diagnose. Solving them, however, is another thing entirely.
In this whitepaper, we will discuss several of the most pressing challenges facing the industry, and examine how HubSpot’s Operations Hub can be deployed to tame, control and create value from even the most scattered, complex data sources around
Facing an onslaught from a trove of new entrants into the field, traditional financial services firms are struggling to keep pace, pivot and adapt to changing times. With the concept of lifelong relationships between brokers, advisors and clients becoming a thing of the past, capturing and leveraging data effectively is a critical success factor for companies seeking to compete for a new breed of consumer.
However, while it is one thing to gather data, the true challenge and opportunity lies in effectively managing data so that it can be leveraged across every stage of the revenue cycle, from marketing through sales, and onto customer service and retention.
The benefits of digital transformation have been widely projected across the financial services
industry for the best part of the last decade, with promises of double digit increases in revenue and even more significant reductions in expenses.
And yet, within many financial services institutions, these gains have failed to materialize--with issues related to data the root cause of many of these issues.
The problems are numerous, including legacy tech, disconnected apps and data silos--all of which give rise to operational issues and data quality and governance problems. The end result: mistrust and data hoarding between internal teams, manual processes being used as workarounds, greater levels of risk and compliance breaches, and lower rates of everything from closes to customer satisfaction. Those impact of all that risk is both significant and quantifiable. According to a 2016 IBM estimate, the annual financial cost of poor quality data to the US economy was some $3.1 trillion. As shocking as that figure may be, consider the potential impact by 2026, when the total volume of data being stored worldwide is projected to be some 10 times higher than in 2016.
On the individual company level, the trends point in the same direction, with estimates that poor or “dirty” data cost the average business between 15 and 25 percent of total revenues every year. One major cause of that: employees being forced to spend time cleaning and cross-checking data points,
According to a 2016 IBM estimate, the annual financial cost of the poor quality data to the US economy was some $3.1 trillion
The volume and type of data financial services companies need to capture has exploded in recent years--with every piece of it vital for users and key stakeholders to be able to gain and leverage insights into existing processes, while building and improving new ones.
Common data types for companies in the industry include:
This growing list of sources means that financial services firms can have dozens of separate
data streams for a single contact--a situation that quickly leads to data silos that reduce the ability for the right people to access the right information at the right time. This in turn reduces operational effectiveness, slows time to close, and can lead to retention issues.
And this isn’t a small problem: according to a 2018 study by Claranet, some 54% of UK based financial services organisations reported difficulties in drawing insights from the data they collect--with siloing across disparate sources a major contributor to that issue.
Overview
Launched in early 2021, HubSpot’s Operations Hub is the first tool of its kind: a dedicated solution for powering RevOps that is capable of connecting all of your organization’s apps, syncing and cleaning your customer data, and automating your business process. In short, it creates a single source of truth that is both easy to access and maintain for key stakeholders, and improves efficiency across your entire revenue operation.
As the number of apps and data sources in your tech stack continues to grow, legacy CRM setups represent a decreasing piece of your overall data set. KYC and AML requirements have lead to an increasing reliance on real-time external data such as:
For a number of reasons, some HubSpot customers use external tools that do not connect to HubSpot natively. Even when these tools provide publicly available APIs, the increased costs and complexity associated with building a custom integration using middleware is high.
Using native coded actions built inside HubSpot, it is possible to fetch data from external systems, without the use of costly middleware solutions. For example:
When a new contact record is created from a form fill, an automated workflow could send the relevant parameters to Equifax or Transunion to get an instant response with the customer’s credit score--all without needing a full bidirectional integration.
Insurance companies can query databases specific to the type of insurance policy and enrich that record with corresponding information to provide faster and accurate quotes. Triggering this from HubSpot reduces the need for complex, risky third-party integrations and coded solutions, and allows full control over when and how these scripts run--all without ever leaving HubSpot.
Data transformation is one of the most painful parts of any new system implementation or business process migration. For example, it is often the case that a source system has a flat file that needs to be converted into multiple records within HubSpot.
In one instance, we helped an asset management firm that wanted to:
1. Load securities valuations.
2. Load these positions in the funds that held those positions.
3. Derive which positions clients held based on how much they had invested in those funds.
Anyone who has ever opened a bank or investment account in a branch knows the amount of
paperwork involved. Financial services professionals want to onboard new clients quickly and easily, with a few simple clicks. However, with several pieces of information that need to be collected, along with internal reviews and approvals, this is difficult to achieve. In addition, compliance disclosures, agreements, and the need to collect signatures all complicate and slow down the process.
Here is an example of how we can use Operations Hub to automate this workflow by leveraging CMS Hub Enterprise and coded actions.
It’s important to understand that Operations Hub is just one component of a well- crafted RevOps strategy. Depending on your organizational and HubSpot maturity, your choice of a partner may be limited to creating some highly targeted workflow automations to optimize your existing setup. Alternatively, it may come as part of a ground-up reimagining of your entire RevOps approach, from lead generation to customer retention.
Wherever you are on that spectrum, there are a number of common factors to weigh when considering which partner to engage with:
Technical knowledge - While Operations Hub has the ability to simplify your business processes and create huge productivity gains, it can only do so when it is appropriately set up. More than any other area of HubSpot, it is vital that your Operations Hub partner has a strong understanding and demonstrated history of success building out custom automations and integrations.
Industry knowledge - Beyond technical knowledge, it is also important that your partner understands how the automations, workflows and custom objects in your setup impact your presence within the financial services industry. From compliance concerns to the need to capture and leverage important information in real time on highly discerning buyers, relevant industry experience is a must-have.
Data fluency - The heart of Operations Hub is data. Whether generated directly within HubSpot or imported from a third-party source, an understanding of data mapping, best practices related to cleaning and storage, and the ability to leverage multiple sources for truly insightful reporting are key considerations.