6 insider secrets to fintech growth€¦ · roadmap to sustainable growth and scale. 6 insider...

6 Insider Secrets to Fintech Growth

Introduction

IntroductionChallenge 1Lack of a Formal Business Plan

01Challenge 2Value Proposition is not Clear and Compelling

02Challenge 3Trying to Sell to Everyone

03Challenge 4Lack of Thought Leadership

04Challenge 5Marketing Campaigns are not Delivering the Right Leads

05Challenge 6Our Sales Results are not Where They Need To Be

06 Conclusion

The FinTech market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.17% from 2018-20231. We expect this growth to continue to flood the already crowded market with more disruptors, innovators, and new competitors. This will make it that much harder to achieve strong growth going forward unless you can differentiate your firm from the ever-growing competition.

This guide identifies the biggest growth challenges we have seen within the FinTech market and gives you 6 actionable strategies to grow and differentiate your firm today! You will also be able to get FREE access to our Toolkit for FinTech Growth. We developed this toolkit to be a practical resource designed specifically to help FinTech firms like yours accelerate growth.

1Global FinTech Market (2018-2023) ResearchAndMarkets.com

6 Insider Secrets to Fintech Growth 2

https://www.companyexpert.com/fintech-tool-kit/

Challenge 1: Lack of a

Formal Business Plan1







06 Conclusion

According to a recent article in Tech Trends, achieving scale and reach is the #1 challenge that FinTech companies face today. Unfortunately, there is a growing graveyard of FinTech’s who did not plan to fail - they simply failed to plan. You need a fact-based sales and marketing plan which enables you to make informed decisions and create a clear roadmap to sustainable growth and scale.








06 Conclusion

Action Strategy #1:1

Develop quantifiable sales and marketing goals and SMART objectives: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Based. For example: Grow our SaaS-based client base to 5,000 companies by December 31, 2020.

1

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yoigi Berra. You need to have clear goals to align and drive the firm to achieving specific outcomes.

Create an action plan that fills the gap between where you are today and where you need to be to achieve your goals

2










06 Conclusion

Quick Tip: Unless you are looking to raise capital, keep the sales and marketing plan simple and actionable. Learn from the technology side of your business and take an agile approach to planning. As an alternative to building an all-encompassing business plan, consider developing a series of 90 day plans with (3) 30 day sprints. This will help produce tangible results quickly while helping to inform your long-range plan. Continue to improve and adapt the plan until you are confident you have clearer visibility into what will work for your firm.

Grab your FREE copy of your Toolkit for FinTech Growth today!

Relevant Framework: Baselining Your Sales and Marketing SMART Objectives












06 Conclusion


Challenge 2: Value

Proposition is not Clear

and Compelling2FinTech is an amalgamation of the finance and technology industries —both of which are highly technical and complex. Unfortunately, for many FinTech firms, this translates into overly complicated and confusing value propositions. This can make your ideal customers turn to your competitors simply because they don’t immediately understand that you offer what they need. You need to simplify you messaging and craft a clear and compelling value proposition.







06 Conclusion


Challenge 2: Value


and Compelling2Action Strategy #2:2

Identify Your Points of Differentiation – Use our points of differentiation framework to help you be laser focused on articulating your strengths and identifying areas where you are vulnerable against your competitors. The resulting output is key to informing your value proposition.

1

Develop Your Value Proposition – Create a crisp and clear message that articulates how you create and deliver value to your clients. Use our value proposition tool to also develop the key pillars of your message and identify “proof statements” that support your claims.

2

Both of these frameworks are available in our Toolkit For FinTech Growth.








06 Conclusion


Challenge 2: Value


and Compelling2

Quick Tip: Your value prop is foundational to everything that you do. Make sure you use a team of people with different functional responsibilities to develop a compelling proposition. A value proposition is about how you capture and deliver value to your clients through all aspects of your business from sales to operations.


Relevant Framework: Points of Differentiation and Value Proposition Examples









06 Conclusion


Challenge 3: Trying to

Sell to Everyone3Many of the clients we work with have spent tens of thousands of dollars on advertising and marketing campaigns that have yielded disappointing results. The primary reason why these campaigns fail is they are not laser focused on their “ideal” clients. The days of spraying and praying are over, in an overcrowded market you need target prospects that will benefit the most from the value that you are delivering. By doing so, you will increase your sales effectiveness by reducing cycle times and increasing win rates, revenues and profit.







06 Conclusion



Sell to Everyone3Action Strategy #3:3

Develop a list of attributes that describe your ideal client. Some examples could include industry segment, revenue/profitability, employee size, budget, existing client, etc.

1

Next, creating a persona of a “typical” economic buyer at your ideal client by identifying the unique characteristics of that buyer. Some examples could include personality traits, personal demographics, key concerns or pain points, potential objections to your product or services, places where they get their information.

2

A target persona template is available in the Toolkit for FinTech Growth.








06 Conclusion



Sell to Everyone3Persona Roles to Consider

Economic Buyer

Someone who has budget authority for the purchase

InfluencerA person who is respected within the organization and can influence the purchasing decision

Business User

Someone who will be actually using your FinTech product

Technical User

Someone who will be relied upon to evaluate your technology







06 Conclusion



Sell to Everyone3Quick Tip: There are typically several employees involved in a B2B purchase - make sure you develop personas for other potential individuals at your ideal client that would usually be involved in the selection process.


Relevant Framework: Target Persona Example









06 Conclusion


Challenge 4: Lack of

Thought Leadership 4 Your prospects are looking for a FinTech firm they can trust and view as a strategic partner. However, many firms do not invest the time required to be considered an industry thought leader and trusted provider of FinTech services. Well written content engages your audience, captures your brand attributes, and positions your firm as a trusted partner. It is more than the words written on the page, it is a carefully tuned system of targeted marketing that puts the right message to the right people at the right time. Trust is not built in a day!

There are several types of collateral that will help position your firm as a trusted partner like industry white papers, research, and case studies. However, it is not only about the type of collateral, it is also the consistency of delivering that content to your target market. Many firms start out strong with social media posts, blogs, and white papers, but when times get busy, the first thing to suffer is their content.







06 Conclusion



Thought Leadership 4Action Strategy #4:4

Content development takes discipline and the best way to instill it is to develop a content calendar. A content calendar includes such items as topic, keywords, key points, author, due date, etc. To get started today towards establishing your firm as a thought leader in the industry, download our content calendar in the FinTech Growth Toolkit.








06 Conclusion



Thought Leadership 4

Quick Tip: Too often we read FinTech collateral which doesn’t have a call to action for the reader. If your firm has written a great thought-provoking piece that captures the reader’s attention, it’s ok to ask for something in return. This could include providing them with a means to reach out to you immediately, provide you with their contact details or to give them the opportunity to sign up for your newsletter.


Relevant Framework: Content Calendar









06 Conclusion


Challenge 5:

Marketing Campaigns

are not Delivering the

Right Leads5In today’s B2B FinTech market, marketing campaigns are an essential piece of your sales strategy because It lets you target your ideal clients, explain your services and promote your brand. This allows you to keep in contact with current clients and find new leads. Unfortunately for many, lack of success in generating the right leads has led to disappointing sales. Developing an effective and successful campaign requires a tremendous amount of planning, patience and hard work







06 Conclusion


Challenge 5:

Marketing Campaigns


Right Leads5Action Strategy #5:5

Use our Action Strategies mentioned earlier to make sure you are targeting the best prospects with a clear and compelling message and developing a content strategy that is timely, relevant and frequent.

1

Plan your campaign in detail with calls to action, follow ups and continued content that will sustain their interest and keep your firm in front of them. Continue to refine your campaign as you go including performing AB testing to identify what works well and what doesn’t.

2

Use marketing automation tools linked to your CRM to help you execute the campaign and track results

3







06 Conclusion


Challenge 5:

Marketing Campaigns


Right Leads5

Quick Tip: It is important to illustrate the full campaign to gain alignment with the team. Use workflow software like LucidChart or similar application to map out the sequencing of emails, the landing pages, lead scoring, CTAs, headlines, forms, etc. This will not only get everyone on the same page you can hand it over to your marketing automation developer for execution.











06 Conclusion


Challenge 6: Our Sales

Results are not Where

They Need To Be6Today’s B2B FinTech environment is challenging for salespeople. Buyers are better informed than they ever have been and they reach out to sales late in the buyers journey often with in depth research and a list of potential objections. Competition is fierce, and organizations are finding that their salespeople are unable to tell a compelling enough value story to set themselves apart. Having the right talent (with the right selling skills) to deliver your value proposition and differentiate your firm from the competition is among the most critical factors in accelerating sales revenues.







06 Conclusion




They Need To Be6Action Strategy #6:6

Assess the sales skills and competencies of your salespeople. Get a copy of the sales competency spreadsheet for FREE within the Toolkit for FinTech Growth.

1

Develop sales materials (pitches, proposals, product tear sheets) that clearly articulate your value proposition and how your products differentiate your firm throughout the buyer’s journey.

2

Develop a robust sales performance package that provides for the capture and reporting of critical sales activities and metrics that can be used to effectively manage the sales organization.

3








06 Conclusion




They Need To Be6

Quick Tip: When looking to expand your sales force, hiring a salesperson with a rolodex may be an advantage, but it does not always translate into sales. Look to develop interview questions that help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of the prospective hire’s sales skills. Hiring based on who has the better sales competencies will be your best path to long term sales growth!











06 Conclusion


You Will Be In Good Company

With Company Expert

Positioning your firm as a trusted advisor and a leader in your industry requires a proven approach. With so much at stake, you need a partner that works with FinTech companies like yours every day to continue to refine, adapt, and optimize strategies designed to accelerate growth. We work on both the development and execution of planning, marketing and sales strategies embedding growth into the DNA of our professional service clients. We have specifically designed our proprietary tools, processes and strategies to successfully drive sustainable sales and revenue growth for companies just like yours.

We have experience working with FinTech companies at all stages of growth from Fortune 500 companies to emerging firms.

All of our partners and your engagement leads have at least 30 plus years experience in the financial services and fintech industries

We are singularly focused on just one industry - professional services – e.g., fintech, financial services, consulting firms. All of our experience, methodologies, and strategies are centered on the B2B market. This narrowly defined niche drives unparalleled value and success for our clients.

Get Accelerated and Sustainable Growth from Experts Who Know Your Business. Call or Email us Today!

Company Expert520 Folly Road, Suite 264Charleston, SC 29412

Phone: 1.800.975.6186Email: [email protected]: www.companyexpert.com

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6 insider secrets to fintech growth€¦ · roadmap to sustainable growth and scale. 6 insider...

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