The Wealth Dynamix team relish the chance to mingle with movers and shakers keen to forge ahead to meet the rising expectations of their clients. And so, we were excited to be amongst the sponsors and delegates flooding into the Digital Integration in Wealth Management event earlier this week.
Bringing together asset managers and private banks across the UK and Europe in pursuit of ways to better serve their clients, the event took place over two days and explored how the sector can thrive in the digital age. How can firms achieve a more personalised client service alongside operational efficiencies? And how can they optimise the wealth management process end to end?
With the first day dedicated to client-facing technology and the second focused on back-end digital integration and process optimisation, Johnny Beloe, our Director of Pre-Sales, took to the stage. His goal? A notoriously complex one: to help decision-makers cement their strategic thinking to build a compelling case for technological investment.
Building an Effective Business Case
First up, let’s be frank. Scoping a project with such extensive potential for change can be daunting, with so many stakeholders across your organisation likely to use client data in different ways for various means. And to add to the dilemma, there may be data siloes and legacy technology hampering everyone’s understanding of the perfect world. Therefore, Johnny’s presentation centred on avoiding seven all-too-common pitfalls we’ve observed when developing a business case for a new Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) solution is tackled.
The Bigger Picture
His first piece of advice was to step back and look at the bigger picture before making any knee-jerk decisions. It can be easy to be seduced by flashy innovations or client-facing tools, but before you consider the finer details, it’s vital to think deeply about what you wish to achieve before you mandate ‘the hows’. According to Gartner, a staggering 35% of projects never meet their original business case, so the team at Wealth Dynamix counsel an approach that takes your strategic direction and priorities into account before you get stuck into the intricacies of planning.
Joining the Dots to Avoid the Pitfalls
Where is the business looking to go strategically, and what are the blockers to your grand aims? Plus, what actions do you need to take to overcome these challenges? These are all crucial considerations before you can go on to scope the benefits, costs and likely outcomes of the new solution.
Jumping in without achieving strategic alignment, scrutinising your data’s quality (your gateway to meaningful insight), or considering the soft benefits such as improved client satisfaction and improved staff retention are common oversights.
Your free eBook
We hope all the delegates that attended the talk left feeling more confident in their ability to compile a compelling business case. It’s a complex subject that warrants far greater investigation, however. Having received great feedback on the value Wealth Dynamix can add in this area, we have developed an eBook on building an effective business case and 7 Pitfalls to avoid.
Our benefits calculator is also here to help you fully assess the benefits available to you when you embrace digital integration across your client lifecycle. Click here to try it now.
