Success in financial services often comes down to processes. Do your systems and processes allow for productivity and scalability, or are they hindering your firm from serving clients and reaching its potential? Even minor process adjustments can have a significant impact.

Business process management (BPM) goes beyond task or project management to analyse, optimise, and automate end-to-end business processes. BPM requires continual evaluation and improvement to streamline processes, increase efficiencies, and create scalable systems. When paired with technology, BPM allows firms to be agile and respond to process needs without uprooting existing systems.

BPM is effective in many industries but is particularly crucial in financial services. After all, a firm’s ability to operate efficiently and scale high-quality client experiences drives operational excellence and creates a competitive advantage.

Here are five key ways business process management benefits the financial services industry.

1. Improved compliance
   Staying compliant is all about operational excellence and following repeatable processes. Through BPM, firms can continually look for gaps in their systems or roadblocks in their operations to ensure compliance in everything from new client onboarding to recordkeeping and beyond. By creating streamlined processes, firms can ensure that nothing falls through the cracks and always stay compliant.

   And because BPM leverages technology, firms can automate data entry and cloud-based data storage through systems like Docupace, which ensures all data and documents are stored securely and in compliance.

2. Streamlined operations
   BPM focuses on simplicity and clarity. It’s about finding the most direct path to the desired result instead of following what’s always been done. By regularly analysing operations and processes, firms can find ways to streamline their daily tasks and make the most of their back office staff.

   BPM standardises and clearly defines procedures, helping reduce red tape and remove unnecessary steps. Through evaluation and automation, BPM can help lessen over-loverly complicatedness and eliminate repetitive tasks. Coupled with current technological advances, BPM follows the agile methodology to marry new technologies and processes in order to streamline operations.

3. Enhanced customer experiences
   Instead of getting caught up on mundane tasks or putting out fires, BPM allows firms to focus their efforts and resources on providing a high-quality client experience.

   One survey found that clients who were very satisfied with their financial advisors highlighted three key characteristics. Their providers:

   • Delivered personal advice suited to their situations
   • Were trustworthy and transparent
   • Provided a consistent client experience
     
     Financial advisors must showcase competence and personalization. But research shows that most advisors spend an average of 22.1 hours per week — or more than 40% of their time — on administrative tasks instead of working with clients and building relationships.
     
     By staying agile to adjust processes as a new generation of clients enters the industry, advisors can provide a top-tier client experience that leads to loyal, long-term clients and growth opportunities.

4. Reduced Costs
   Inefficiency is expensive. With slow and cumbersome processes, firms often spend more time and money correcting mistakes than if the work had been done correctly the first time.

   Researchers put it this way: “Agile projects are (better, can be) cheaper because they allow less-valuable work to be pruned away, and so do only the more valuable work.”

   BPM is all about making the most of your resources. As a firm finds ways to automate repetitive tasks, it frees that time and budget to spend on higher-impact tasks like problem-solving, relationship-building, and strategic planning.

5. Increased Efficiency
   Business process management aims to analyse, optimise, and automate business processes, leading to increased efficiency. As firms evaluate and standardise processes, they can remove or streamline inefficiencies to increase productivity and drive lasting results.

   Every time a process is evaluated, employees and leaders can likely find something that can be improved, even as small as eliminating a middle-man from an operation or leveraging new technology for automation. Those small improvements can significantly increase productivity and efficiency.

   Why does efficiency matter? It allows advisors and home office employees to do their jobs better, creating a better employee experience and a more productive firm. When the core work gets done seamlessly, firms have more time and resources for big-picture projects and relationships that set them apart from the competition.

   Business process management helps firms continually grow and improve, which leads to higher productivity, lower costs, and a better and more compliant client experience. As a leading provider of cloud-based workflowplatforms and document storage, Docupace is a strong partner for BPM. Click here to learn more and schedule a free demo.

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