The current global economic uncertainty has been unforgiving to all. But small and medium-sized equipment finance businesses have been some of the worst affect. While larger organizations are still enjoying some stability due to sheer economies of scale or inherent strengths of a larger business, SMEs are having to bear the double burden of rising costs and a very uncertain market.
With the pandemic came a new wave of adoption of emerging technologies, and it provides SMEs with an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from digitization.
While the incentives for digitization are plentiful, there are inherent risks associate with any investment, and for SMEs to maximize the impact of their investment on recovery and sustainability. They need to understand this risk curve in the context of their business environment and customers.
However, one thing is certain. A robust digital foundation will assist small and medium-sized equipment finance businesses to secure the finances they need to recover after the pandemic.
Seizing the digital opportunity
Legacy systems have lived their days. The slow processing of transactions and technical limitations have emphasized the need for a more modern approach to integrated equipment leasing software systems- one that is automated, intelligent, and collaborative.
The right equipment finance software enables equipment finance companies to improve speed, efficiency, and customer focus. All the things today’s market and digital economy require. In addition to helping ensure resilience during the current crisis, digitally enabled asset financiers can also help provide a better future financing model as well.
Open banking and digitalization
The pandemic did accelerate and emphasize the need for digital change, but technology and regulatory reforms were already reshaping the financial industry. The introduction of open banking in 2018 has compelled financial institutions to electronically share data with third parties via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), with the owner’s permission, facilitating the development of new products and services.
Using open banking and technologies like a cloud-native, end-to-end equipment leasing software, and artificial intelligence and data analytics, equipment finance companies can tailor their services to better meet the needs of their customers. As a result, applications are process faster, and paper-based processes are eliminate, which allows for better customer relationships and support. Moreover, since all the relevant information is digitally accessible, customers have a greater and faster chance of being approve.
Equipment finance software and recovery
The clarity, timeliness and completeness of financial information are crucial. This is where equipment finance software can create a matching service to bring lenders and borrowers together. Open banking data can be gather and distributed most efficiently, delivering the service levels. And attention that customers expect today, and security can be streamline and enhanced. With digital audit trails, lenders can speed up onboarding rather than deal with physical documents and time-consuming manual processes.
A platform for growth
In the past, narrow product choices, an inability to match needs or preferences, and a lack of personalization have characterized the borrowing experience. The advent of modern-day technologies like artificial intelligence, analytics, open banking, and machine learning has changed all that.
Traditionally, the borrowing experience has been characterized by a lack of matching needs and preferences to customers, narrow product selection, and a lack of personalization in solutions and offerings. But thanks to open banking and digital progress, companies no longer must face these challenges.
It is essential, however, that lenders build their businesses on a future-proof equipment finance platform to maximize flexibility and customer focus in the digital age. For the economy to recover and grow, borrowers will be looking for digitally enabled lending and partnerships. In addition to more choices and better communication, they will want on-demand and customized solutions.
For equipment finance companies, building the right strategy in this age of digital requires them to use platform technology to add value to the lending process. Equipment finance companies should therefore look beyond numbers. And find ways to widen their core offering and become more than pure asset financiers.
By utilizing cloud-based platforms, lessors can access centralized customer information. If they go one step further and deliver their businesses via Software-as-a-Service. They have a highly versatile and scalable platform that can be upgrade with new functions and services whenever necessary. This opens valuable partnerships and integrations without the limitations of legacy systems or unwieldy internal IT (Information Technology) architectures. It widens the field for niche lenders, among others, and allows them to grow and diversify their customer base.
How to future-proof your business
There is a growing opportunity for equipment finance companies to step in with technology to bridge the finance gap and create more value for customers. With the right equipment leasing software and a digital transformation partner- small and medium equipment leasing enterprises can become more efficient and productive. While saving costs and delivering a better customer experience. Here are some ways in which your organization will benefit from digitization
Better customer acquisition and retention:
As a result of digitization, SMEs can communicate more effectively with their target audiences and reach customers in any country. Through different tools, they can improve customer relationships and gain customer insight. Using these tools, recent sales channels can be devise, and products can be market more effectively.
Efficiency gains:
SMEs can use technology to automate core processes, making them more efficient. This will help them use resources more effectively and give them greater control over coordination.
Improved productivity:
Digital tools allow SMEs to identify skill gaps and identify shortfalls in their workforce. Employee productivity can be tracked, and employees can be train around digitization concepts.
Risk and compliance management:
Digitalization allows SMEs to protect sensitive information through security software, improve physical asset security through advanced surveillance, and utilize coordination to their full potential.
Innovation:
By adopting digital tools, SMEs can assess their business better using metrics, resulting in better access to innovation. In addition to activity metrics like web traffic, sales, and acquisition, knowledge metrics such as consumer insights, and people metrics like employee satisfaction, various aspects of an enterprise can be improve.
Improving the bottom line:
In addition to reducing operational costs, digitization will give SMEs the ability to expand their business worldwide by automating core processes and streamlining everything. By utilizing digital tools, most business processes can be automate and the need for workforce will decrease. Companies can build leaner teams since they are less likely to make mistakes and require less monitoring.
About Odessa
Headquartered in Philadelphia, USA, Odessa is a software company exclusively focuse in the leasing industry. The Odessa Platform powers a diverse customer base globally, providing end-to-end. Extensible solutions for lease and loan origination and portfolio management. Odessa facilitates business agility through rich feature sets including low-code development, test automation, reporting. And business intelligence to ensure organizations can more effectively align business and IT objectives.