The survey from pricing strategy consultancy Simon-Kucher & Partners found that while four out of five firms (81%) across the world have made some form of investment in digitalisation, not even a quarter (23%) have seen revenues grow as a result.
Mortgage brokers are increasingly offering advice online, with a host of online-only brokers – the likes of Habito, trussle and now Burrow – gaining attention, though a poll by Mortgage Solutions earlier this year revealed that 40% of intermediaries do not even have a website.
Many broker firms are also opting against investing in their business, with last week’s Mortgage Solutions poll finding that more than half of brokers are not making significant cash investments.
Mark Billige, UK managing partner at Simon-Kucher & Partners, said that the firms who were getting digitalisation wrong tended to make one of three common mistakes:
- Investing in the wrong digital initiatives
- Failing to recognise the full benefit of the technology to their customers, pricing their offering too cheaply
- Failing to create a “dedicated digital lead” who can champion the initiative and counter internal politics
Getting digitisation right
Clearly, investing in the right initiatives is the crucial first step to getting the process right.
According to the study, finding ways to optimise prices using Big Data and monetising digital products were the initiatives which led to the biggest topline revenue change, yet they were two areas where companies were least likely to invest.
By contrast, digitalisation projects aimed at increasing efficiency and cutting costs are most likely to attract investment from firms, but these have very small impacts on actual revenue levels.
The report also highlights the importance of improving customer segmentation and sales process when integrating technology, arguing: “This avoids automating ineffective processes. Use digitalisation to free up your salesforce and help them engage with the right customers.”
Finally, digitalisation cannot be left simply to your IT department; it is a task for the business as a whole.
The report says: “You cannot automate (or digitise) your way into a strategy. Work with all areas, from marketing, sales and pricing to operations.”
