[In any important endeavor, the proverbial rubber hits the road in its attempted execution. While “execution” per the dictionary has a primary definition of carrying out or putting into effect a plan or course of action; don’t doubt that we all get concerned with the secondary definition which connotes that the execution may be of ourselves…if we get it wrong. Getting this crucial step right makes all the difference and needs to be carefully planned.
To that end, this second interview with Steven Lewis, SVP of MarketBridge, is a deep dive into the precise steps that financial services firms can take to execute a competitive response to fintech disruption. Specifically, how sales and marketing teams can respond in an agile fashion with improved customer experiences, strategic messaging, refined product/service offerings while management develops changes to the firm’s business model and larger scale innovation efforts.
Just like our first interview on properly identifying and diagnosing the nature of the challenge before us, then isolating firm strengths and opportunities, MarketBridge’s recommendations are pulled from their extensive research report on developing a response strategy and execution plan to industry disruption — Fintech Disruption Go-To-Market Toolkit .
As a marketing and research firm with 25 years of experience in helping businesses develop and implement innovative go-to-market strategies, MarketBridge analyzed over 100 financial services and fintech companies and surveyed 1,500 consumers across banking and payments, insurance and investments to identify best practices which can promote strategic advantage.
This measured approach to effective execution provides a roadmap, mindset and process allowing you to marshal the right resources and activities to strategically respond to industry disruptions and create ongoing new value to customers in our new operating environment of accelerating change.]
Hortz: In our previous interview, we discussed how sales and marketing go-to-market pathways can be altered to respond to fintech disruption while bigger firm innovations take place. Can you specifically explain these opportunities?
Lewis: To quickly rehash what was said in our prior article, established financial services firms may be unaware that their disruption responses are often hindered by internal bias or superficial analysis. That is, fintechs may not be completely redefining an industry, product or experience, but rather innovating in certain areas of high-perceived customer value:
• CX innovation – ease of use and/or reducing friction or increasing speed of the purchase process
• Product innovation – editing product features or modifications or reducing cost
• Market innovation – creating entirely new experiences or approaches for solving customer issues
Incumbent opportunity lies in first identifying which one of those areas competitors are innovating on and then applying one of the key Advantage Factors we uncovered in our research that incumbents have:
a. Pathways Advantage: Their large customer base and established position.
b. Perceptivity Advantage: Their expansive historical customer data and insights
c. Presence Advantage: Their greater presence of customer online support and physical locations
d. Platform Advantage: Their existing awareness and marketplace experience
These four advantages are specific to incumbent firms and we have developed practical strategies to leverage these strengths in executing an effective disruption response.
Hortz: How would you suggest incumbent firms begin mapping out a response and execution plan?
Lewis: Diagnosing the disruption, as mentioned, is key to response. Competitive CX Innovation will affect customer perceptions and encourage switching – making customer retention more difficult. Whereas Product Innovation inflicts price and margin pressure for incumbent firms and make acquisition harder. Market Innovation is the most difficult as it can be both around the experience or the product/solution and, in time, change the entire market.