Successful Strategies for Controlling Costs and Staying Profitable

Jerry Driscoll
Regional Director of FSI, IPG Enterprise Software
Exstream Software by HP

Reducing costs is a priority for financial services firms of any size during these trying economic conditions. Electronic document delivery is one area where every institution can realize immediate cost savings in expensive printing and postage expenses. It can also be touted as a ‘green initiative’ that helps save the environment.

Client retention is top of every institution’s priority list right now. Personalized interactions and correspondence has never been more important. We see the 80/20 rule in effect: 80% of our client’s efforts are geared towards working to retain their existing customer base, while 20% is dedicated to finding new customers. The challenge is how to leverage existing customer data from various systems – CRM, data warehouse, core data processing, etc. – and deliver it with a personal touch. Cross-sell and up-sell offers are much more attractive and effective when they are individualized, and the end results are a more satisfied and loyal customer.

At Exstream Software by HP, we offer financial services firms a single integrated suite of software, HP Dialogue and HP Dialogue Live, for creating all document types that effectively replaces many software products. Not only can we reduce development and maintenance costs while shortening implementation time, we can incorporate targeted messages and cross-sell campaigns into customer communications in real-time. While statements may come to mind immediately, there are many other types of documents that can be customized: notices, correspondence, fulfillment, and marketing materials.

In terms of output, we are completely agnostic: we support a multi-channel output for 22 different print and electronic delivery formats in a single pass. Older consumers often prefer paper statements and correspondence, while younger clients may choose to receive information on their PDA or other mobile device. The beauty of our Dialogue software is that institutions can easily output documents to paper, online electronic (XML, PDF) or mobile. The goal is to intelligently and easily transform raw data into customized correspondence based on each client’s preferred method of receiving information. Financial services firms can quickly deliver personalized communications at a low price point – a win-win scenario.