Treat enhancements like your competitive advantage, not a distraction.
The pace of banking software enhancements is staggering. At Abrigo alone, we could roll out anywhere from a few enhancements to dozens of changes to our solutions in any given month. These enhancements vary from straightforward upgrades of dynamic forms to more complex workflows, and all of these changes are aimed at helping users do their jobs more easily, efficiently, and compliantly.
Are you systematically taking advantage of new capabilities? Understandably, keeping up with and using new features can be tough when staff are extra busy or shorthanded. Some solutions?
- Have one power user check the product update notices and review them with the admin or leadership.
- Keep a simple “change tracker” spreadsheet to monitor what’s new and what’s next.
- Build feedback loops between front‑line users and admins to accelerate adoption.
Pro tip: Group enhancements by quarter to avoid change fatigue, align rollout messaging, and encourage adoption with purpose.
Capture and act on user input consistently
Front-line users are your best source of truth about what’s working and what isn’t. If the institution has numerous users, create a feedback loop to regularly understand what features they can’t live without, or which save the most time.
Join any networking and resource portal hosted by your software provider. For example, Abrigo Community, a networking and resource portal for customers, has 95,000 monthly users, product-specific discussion groups, and reams of product resources to help users learn about shortcuts and features initially overlooked.
Pro tip: Interactions with other users can make your job easier. Treat their tips and enhancements not as “more to learn,” but as steps toward improvements in efficiency and satisfaction.
Make workflow optimization part of the culture
Every extra click, rekeyed field, or manual workaround adds cost and introduces risk. But it can be challenging to slow down long enough to ask if certain steps are still necessary.
The most successful institutions make time to get a better handle on processes that are chewing up valuable time. One Abrigo team built a step-by-step process map organized by role and time spent, and they linked it to the corresponding hourly wage. The result was a clear “cost to process” view that justified fees, informed staffing, and clarified ROI. Another invited a fresh set of eyes (a new hire) to audit workflows. That outsider lens helped eliminate redundancies without sacrificing quality.
Pro tip: Host a “workflow audit week.” Crowdsource inefficiencies from power users and new users alike, then close the loop with fast fixes.
Activate integrations that eliminate manual work
Often, a software provider will offer integrations with third parties and partners to generate even greater functionality within the original solution. These integrations may mean a better user experience, a faster process, or inefficiencies removed. The gains from reducing “swivel-chair time” can be significant, especially in lending, compliance, and onboarding.
Partner integrations that pull key third-party data into the application and workflow, such as credit data and flood determinations, reduce keystrokes and errors. Document preparation systems also eliminate rekeying, and vehicle/asset valuation data and industry intelligence tools can deepen borrower or customer insight. Sometimes the institution already has access to an integration but hasn’t turned it on.
Inventory the integrations available in your platform and assess usage. Make sure to prioritize connections that can reduce turnaround time or errors.
Pro tip: Talk to your Client Success Manager. You might be one toggle away from unlocking major efficiency.
Celebrate small wins that add up
Organizations tend to celebrate the fireworks—shorter cycle times and smoother compliance, but the small wins that compound effort deserve equal fanfare.
Consider the “small wins” that have made a major difference. Some not-so-obvious metrics to consider tracking include:
- Touches per item/handoffs eliminated
- Workflows centralized across work areas
- Feature utilization and login frequency
- Customer effort score
- Staff satisfaction with tools
Pro tip: Periodically recognize what you’re doing differently that’s helping management, clients, and teammates, and lock those gains in your playbook. Reporting the wins to the team helps connect the dots between software spend and strategic outcomes. It also reinforces the behaviors that drive ROI.
It’s never too late to start small
Technology only becomes transformational when it’s operationalized with care.
The institutions that unlock the full value of their banking software build routines, communication structures, and cultures of improvement around those tools. That’s how they create measurable ROI, quarter after quarter.
If you’re not seeing the return you expected from your technology investments, it’s not too late. Start small. Pick one workflow to improve. Stand up a feedback loop. Communicate the change clearly. Then build from there.
The path from license to value is paved with intention.
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