How your financial institution can leverage small business financial data to offer better support
Financial institutions are supporting the small business ecosystem across North America. 97.9% of Canada’s economy and 99% of the businesses in the United States are small businesses. As a bank, you know that it’s important to nurture these relationships. One way to continue growing your relationship with your small business customers is to provide them the support they need to succeed and scale their operations and improve financial wellness. Providing better services to your small business customers can also increase customer loyalty. By leveraging financial data on your small businesses, your financial institution can provide better personalization, education, and service offerings.
How data impacts your financial institution's service offerings
According to a study by Equifax, 52% of small businesses do not feel supported by their financial institutions. Data is the key driver to know what your commercial customers need and how they respond to service offerings. When your financial institution has access to historical financial and spend data on your small business customers, you are able to offer more accurate support and services to your commercial customers. This can mean that your small business customers are offered services that are tailored to their needs and education on the type of support available to a business in their situation.
Personalize your small business customer experience
Your small business customers expect a personal connection with the financial institutions they interact with. To stand out and ensure your services are top-of-mind, your financial institution needs to personalize your interactions with your small businesses. In a report by Epsilon, 80% of customers are more likely to engage and make a purchase when they have a personalized experience. Personalization allows your financial institution to offer services your small businesses need, when they need them. If your small business customer is experiencing a down quarter and not hitting their yearly targets, access to their financial and spend data can show you that. Personalization allows your bank to provide the right service to that business to ensure they are supported and that your service offerings are proactive, rather than reactive.
Offer your small business customer the best services
Do you know what your small business customers need to succeed and scale their operations? When your financial institution has historical and holistic financial and spend data on your commercial customers, you can leverage this data to provide the best services:
Offering services that customers with a similar profile have had success with
Offering credit or loans when real-time financial data indicates the business needs it most
Providing financial forecasting services to help your small businesses prepare for future growth or change
Sharing business insights based on spend, payroll, tax, and other data to prepare your small businesses for future spend
Offering new accounts to support savings, investment, and similar services
Small businesses continue to rely on financial institutions to support their needs and provide the correct advice and services. OnePoll Data and Digits discovered that 56% of small businesses surveyed are making decisions without an understanding of how or where their cashflow or spending is being allocated. Your financial institution can positively impact this by leveraging small business financial data to offer better financial wellness through personalization, education, and service offerings.
Samantha Lloyd
Director of Marketing
Samantha Lloyd is the Director of Marketing at Railz, the Accounting Data-as-a-Service™ API. She has a decade of experience building organic growth, brand, and digital marketing for startups and technology companies. Samantha hosts the Float or Founder podcast. In her free time, you can find Sam SCUBA diving, snorkelling, paddle boarding, and jet skiing.
