Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.salesforce.com
Great insights on how to work with uncertainty and volatility. The real lesson is that whether you use data with heavy AI, or completely without, to go slow during these times and be thorough when evaluating your business needs.
Facebook, Google to be stronger after Virus Crisis
Cathie Wood, chief executive officer of Ark Investment Management, discusses her views on how the coronavirus outbreak is affecting U.S. technology giants.
Credit Bloomberg
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.technology-in-business.net
Really interesting to think about how the tech giants will fare after the crisis, and how that could potentially change the landscape!
It wasn’t so long ago that doing business online wasn’t considered to be a given. Depending on the industry you were in, the attitude may have been something like, “Internet? We don’t need that to do our jobs!”
Can you imagine saying that now?
Well in a few short years, there is a pretty good chance we will be saying that same thing again, only this time it will be about AI. As in, every business will be using some form of AI and it will be virtually unthinkable that a company wouldn’t be. AI and machine learning platforms can provide tremendous benefits to a business, from providing actionable insights, to reducing or eliminating time consuming manual tasks.
As AI only continues to grow, we wanted to share a recent article from Forbes, discussing Three Ways AI will Impact the Lending Industry
In addition, for anyone using Salesforce, regardless of industry, the presence of AI is steadily becoming apparent in the ecosystem. Want to see how much? Take a peek at the link below, where you can see on the Salesforce AppExchange there are over 170 apps that offer some form of AI, and not to mention the various components, bolt solutions and consultants that can help enable AI for your business on Salesforce!
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Need a better Loan Management Solution?
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With the continued growth of FinTech and the Alternative Lending industry, systems and solutions that are tailored to these industries have also flourished. Loan Origination, that fundamental piece to any lending business, can be one of the biggest pain points as it involves a complex sales process as well as various documents, checklists and qualifications to complete.
Naturally, digitizing and automating your loan origination process will mean a huge savings of time, effort and investment. What’s more, because so many systems and solutions are available through the cloud, lenders no longer have to buy a custom built option or spend a lot on in-house hardware.
Replacing an outdated loan origination solution with a streamlined, automated and scalable system is not an easy decision, or one that should be done spur of the moment. Whether your company is coming from an analog process involving pen, paper, notepads and spreadsheets, or a computer system that you have simply outgrown, you know that moving to one of the newer and better options could be a huge boost for your business. If you’re dissatisfied with your current system’s performance or concerned about growing operating and support costs, then your company’s overall success and profit are taking a hit and it’s time for a replacement.
When browsing around for a solution, you will see that most of your solution options will have many of the same features, including automated deal submissions, renewal management, stips and document tracking and easy to use application pages. Further, with so many companies having slick, modern looking websites with well written copy, it can be hard to know who you can trust to really deliver a system that will take your business to the next level.
So, in addition to the features and price of your potential solution, here are some characteristics of the solution and the company that provides it, that will help guide you to a winning option:
First and foremost you should consider where the company came from and what their focus is? Do their employees have experience working in lending and do they understand if from all sides? While a very large software provider may have some advantages, if they are providing solutions for dozens of industries, how can you be sure that what you get will really meet your needs?
What you are really looking for, at the end of the day, is someone who speaks your language, understands loan origination inside and out, and intimately knows the lending industry.
A team of highly-knowledgeable employees with a background in lending, or hands-on-experience using a loan origination system, can significantly enhance the design, development, and support of a lending system.
Another tell tale sign of this is the solution provider’s client list. Have they worked with just a handful of businesses similar to yours, or dozens? If some of the top players in your industry or vertical are using their software, it’s probably a good sign that the solution is a good one.
Cutting edge technology for software and solutions isn’t exactly like a new phone, which usually equals a better camera and sharper display. For a loan origination system, it means not only being built on a solid foundation of proven architecture, but one that also has the capability to grow and adapt to whatever developments arise down the road.
Software platforms can only grow as much as their development company puts into them. However, when a loan origination solution is built on a robust, worldwide CRM platform, like Salesforce, which spends billions every year to grow, enhance and develop, you can be sure your system will stand the test of time. After all Salesforce isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and their arsenal of products, features and results only continues to grow.
Lenders rely heavily on 3rd party data providers to help them make quality decisions. With growing online support, this has become much easier than it was 15 years ago, however the next step is a quantum leap forward. A new loan origination system can integrate directly with your data provider, giving you instant access and sometimes pre-built automation, giving you a supercharged process. What was once a tedious, manual process, that could take hours of going back and forth between different screens and manually entering repetitive data, can be automated and reduced to just a fraction of the time commitment.
In addition, lenders can take advantage of Integrations with of Lender API’s, giving them direct access to some of the biggest players in the game, such as OnDeck and Kabbage.
When looking at a new system, take a look at which data sources and integrations you currently use, which ones are supported by the solution you are looking at, and which ones you might want to grow into in the future.
No two lenders have identical procedures. Your process is something that you have worked with and developed based on your own experience, portfolio and the overall market. You want to remove pain points, not scrap the whole thing.
So when looking for a new system, you should make sure that the system can not only be configured to your needs, but that you have transparency into the process as well. Some questions to consider:
Again, a system like Salesforce built its reputation on “clicks not code” meaning users everywhere were given the power to configure their system by clicking, dragging and dropping, rather than needing a coding background.
Going hand in hand with this is scalability. If you are going to make a big investment into a new solution, you don’t want it to break or be completely outdated in just a couple of years. So make sure to look for a system that is built on proven tech, built to last, and can be changed and configured without too much hassle. If you can meet these requirements, you should have a system that will grow with you.
So you have done your homework and know which system will be best. Now comes the next challenge, the implementation. While you naturally want to have the system up and running as fast as possible, sometimes good things come to those who wait (at least a little).
Get a system that can be implemented at lightning speed and you might be running a risk that it isn’t robust enough to really handle your business needs for today and for tomorrow. Or there could be corners being cut when it comes to QA and testing, so while the system is up and running fast, it is full of errors and you end up wasting more time and money to get things right.
On the other hand, a solution that takes a long time to implement might end up costing you more than you expected, as you are stuck with your in-effective system while others get further ahead.
The Goldilocks zone is different for every company, and will change based on the project and level of customization. After all, if you are spending $5 million on a system versus $30K, your timeline and expectations will be very different.
Finally, there is user adoption to consider. How easy is it for new users to be on-boarded and trained? How challenging or cumbersome do employees find it to be diligent with their data and practices? No matter how good the software, how quick it is implemented or how great the price, none of it matters is your team doesn’t use it, or doesn’t use it the right way. So make sure you look for a loan origination system that is easy to adopt and use, and is built on a platform that is known for its usability!
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Want to get started with Salesforce?
Need custom development or consulting to enhance the Salesforce you already have?
One of the characteristics of modern technology is that just about everything that can be automated, is being automated. From shopping to restaurants to CRM’s, automation is one of the most common changes to come to any business. And the various branches of alternative lending, funding and fintech are no exception.
An automated loan management system has a number of significant advantages over legacy lending systems. Using a modern cloud platform, these systems provide superior customer experiences, improved decisioning accuracy, and eliminate paper documents. It streamlines the entire process of originating, underwriting, and servicing Alternative Loans and Merchant Cash Advances, or whatever funding vertical you work in.
Replacing manual steps with automation, transforming paper into digital format, and gathering performance data on all aspects of your lending practice lets you:
Unlike legacy solutions, that are often a hodge-podge of outdated and unconnected systems, each handling only a single element in the funding process, modern, automated loan management solutions helps firms attract and close more deals, accelerate the underwriting process, generate more pricing options, reduce errors, and ensure greater consistency. These funders also earn a more professional reputation among borrowers, brokers, and syndication partners.
For each origination, loan officers collect a large number of documents and data points, including face-to-face interactions, email, fax, text, or documents uploaded through a site. They all need to be added to the system, carefully tracked and thoroughly reviewed against information on the loan application and from third-party sources. Technology can identically process every document, and easily integrate 3rd party data sources to provide a faster, more reliable and more accurate process.
Automation also decreases the manual work associated with notifications. Every application, and often the various stages requires a response or notification. A quality system helps lenders create a variety of notification templates, specify triggers for when they are sent, and then populated with loan-specific information before sending the notification.
Using intelligent technology options, such as smart content recognition, and automated data population, document review and verification times can be drastically reduced, which speeds up processing and shortens origination time frames.
Automation improves applicant evaluation and loan decisioning. It eliminates repetitive manual steps that are best executed digitally and allows human expertise to be applied where it works best. Some examples include:
With just a couple of clicks, automated loan management solutions can prepare a comprehensive view of all documents that have been received, verified or flagged for follow-up, and where the application is in the approval process. In contrast, documents collected and tracked through manual efforts may not be available on various systems, paper-based checklists or a loan officer’s email account.
In addition, advanced reporting options in a CRM give managers essential data on conversion rates, lead sources and more!
A better loan management system also greatly reduces training demands and risk, helping lenders quickly and more affordably scale to meet peak seasons. That translates to lower risk of quality degradation and lenders can save on overhead costs associated with ongoing training.
The more you eliminate manual processes and streamline your business, the more volume one person can handle. This means that with your current team, you could dramatically increase your deal volume. Further, adding more resources lets you increase your deal flow just that much more!
Because cloud based CRM’s can be implemented and used anywhere, you eliminate all sorts of restrictions, such as geography or only being able to login from a certain machine. Since the process and data is also shared amongst the team, adding new team members becomes faster and more intuitive, helping you onboard without slowing down the train!
-Ryan and the CloudMyBiz Team
Want to get started with Salesforce?
Need custom development or consulting to enhance the Salesforce you already have?