We all want our computer systems to talk to one another wherever possible. Using compatible software makes life and work a whole lot easier. But have you ever really looked at why it’s so important and more importantly what this means for your customers?
Flexible, agnostic solutions are a great way to increase customer satisfaction and in this article we’re going to go over the topic from a few perspectives. At the end we think you’ll see why it’s so beneficial and give you some inspiration to push the idea further in your own business.
First, let’s cover what an agnostic solution actually is so that we can better understand its benefits.
An agnostic solution, at least in software terms, is one that doesn’t favour any particular form of technology. This seems like a straightforward outlook; but often in the tech world people become very attached to specific platforms and solutions.
Being open to using any technology – providing it fits your scope – gives your customers enhanced flexibility. This choice is a great way of onboarding clients from different sectors and allows you to home in on the best technology to fit their needs.
A lot of businesses become accustomed to working with the same vendors and continue to do so, because it is just easier for them. There is a much smaller learning curve using known software than moving to a new solution.
However, offering agnostic software means giving clients the best result in the long run. In this way, we can see the adoption of agnostic solutions as a strategic effort – the ability to leverage customer satisfaction through flexibility.
Offering flexible solutions just makes sense. Fewer providers are limiting themselves to a specific ‘brand’ as customers want choice. But not everyone. We hear of it time and time again – vendors aren’t able to provide solutions which accommodates particular functions.
Imagine a customer wants a specific feature that isn’t offered by the software vendors you’ve aligned your business with. Telling them that you can’t offer it might tempt them to look elsewhere. It might even jeopardise the relationship completely.
One example is integrating multiple card providers into our expense management platform. This has enabled customers to avoid changing how they operate at all. They shouldn’t need to switch card provider or bank to enjoy all the benefits of automated expense management.
Our approach has pleasantly surprised many customers, as their experiences elsewhere in the market hadn’t been the same. By offering greater flexibility, not only do we provide them with what they want, it makes us stand out from the crowd.
Whenever you market a product, you are offering something to a client which adds value to what they’re doing. It’s a simple definition, but by focusing on what your solution offers, you can often see the ways it can be improved. Is there a feature you can add that would complement another piece of software many customers already use?
Taking it a step further, can you create real integrations with other platforms? Rather than just having features that complement other systems, can you augment them with your own technology?
This is where the real gains can be made in a market. Creating deep integrations with other popular products will benefit both systems simply by making yours more accessible. This is something clients love because you are adding further value to what they already do.
A great way to access other platforms more deeply – over and above API access – is to form partnerships in your industry. Due diligence is key here; as aligning yourself with the wrong partner is going to be costly. However, if you can pick the right one you’re going to increase your audience size by becoming more visible to their customers – as well as having a deeper insight into their specific tech and how you can adjust your solution to work with theirs.
It doesn’t matter what function a financial tech solution is providing, it must work seamlessly with a variety of other platforms on the market. By being able to weave it into other systems you ensure that your solution can be adopted more widely and in turn, benefit from a level of futureproofing – deep integration is hard to argue with.
At Findity, we’re set on delivering real benefits to customers using our platform by staying agnostic and enhancing the platform through optimal flexibility. If you want to learn more about our white label expense platform, get in touch with us today.