5 Effective Tips on Selling Technology to Banks

Technology is growing rapidly and there’s no looking back.

The reason?

In the digital age, people are more inclined towards convenience. They want the information at their fingertips. 

While every business is shifting its focus towards offering customer convenience, the Fintech industry is no exception.

Banks and financial institutions are in need of innovative ideas to keep their customers engaged and build customer loyalty. 

When was the last time you actually visited the bank to do your transaction? 

Awhile back, right?

However, when you are trying to replace traditional methods with AI and modern-day technologies, you are likely to face challenges. 

Let’s look at a few common challenges before we get into the tips to increase. 

Challenges

The overarching challenge is that banks and Fintech  companies have entirely different mindsets and viewpoints. Bank staff is drawn from a diverse, risk-averse, legacy environment. Technology companies prefer to be cohesive and agile.

Here are a few points that add to the challenges:

• It’s tough to get included in the consideration phase. If you’re not a “household name,” this is an uphill battle. Working with established players is much easier for a selection team. 
• At a big or even mid-sized bank, you are most unlikely to be able to sell directly to the economic buyer. You will be talking to a person or team who will make suggestions only after a predetermined procedure is completed.
• You are definitely going to be in a situation of competitive bidding. Larger banks usually need an RFP or similar procedure, even if you see your company as the only one solving a problem. 
• The team vendor selections would have some preconceived ideas about what they need. They should learn what sort of company they want to partner with, and what they need to sell an internal business case.
• The selection committee may already have made informal assumptions on who they think is the likely winner. Or if you don’t know about them, they can have unspoken standards that rule you out.

Now that you know the challenges you may face while selling a product to a bank or financial institutions, let’s move on to the tips that will make the selling to the banks and financial institutions a lot easier for the Fintechs.

1. Make Sure You’re Addressing the Dilemma of the Bank

You’ve got amazing technology and other people think it’s a brilliant idea and the time is ideal. 

But do you know what particular problem you are resolving with the bank? 

Can you show that in terms of banking ROI? 

Have you tried it out with bankers?

You can’t expect a buyer to relate their issue with your solution. To do so, you have to motivate them. 

You also get a chance to show them that you understand banking challenges in doing so. Thus, understanding the specific issues of the banks and financial institutions is a precondition while selling.

And how will you do that?

• Do your research to understand the challenges of the banks, or employ someone to do it for you.
• Listen to prospects, with sufficiently informed questions to explore. Use the particular variant of the problem to respond to zero in on the deposit.
• Rely less on your technology, and more on the merits of the bank.
• Use SalesIntel to get the accurate technographic and firmographic data along with the contact information of the decision-makers.

2. Establish a Reputation 

It is hard to build a reputation for a Fintech startup. Banks today are more likely than ever to work with independent technology providers. Yet, there is still a major obstacle to surmounting legitimacy.

The bank would like to learn: 

• How well do you understand their banking domain? Well enough to be able to successfully work with them? They shouldn’t have to spend their time teaching you domain knowledge.
• Whether you have a solid enough business strategy that they can count on the long-term existence of your solution.
• Whether you have understanding of the third-party risk, from their viewpoint, as it applies to your domain. This would be especially relevant if you manage consumer purchases or data on behalf of the bank. 
• How you can help them with challenges regarding integration (technology, operations, risk, etc.).

3. Show Them You Are Serious

You shouldn’t show desperation too much with the bank team, or else they will get the idea your company will go under if you lose the contract.

• Make sure you put the best people you can to the table. Engage experts to fill holes instead of making an incomplete team come in.
• Answer questions, both inside and outside of an RFI or RFP phase, within the time requested.
• Look for ways to demonstrate your understanding of the business of the Bank. Offer alternatives or enhancements that carry additional benefits to what they have requested.
• Provide fresh industry perspectives on the regulatory threats they face.

4. Differentiate Your Value Proposition 

Selling technology to banks and financial institutions has always been competitive. The competition has become unreal with several thousand Fintech startups added to the mix.

It is important that you are able to express in a clear, succinct and convincing manner the unique value of your solution.

• Identify the issue, challenge or opportunity for the bank that you are addressing. Then show how your approach tackles it then. Keep it simple.
• You just need a few minutes to be able to explain your solution. Try to keep your presentation concise. A concise presentation should be enough to encourage a bank executive to see why your strategy is better than anyone else.
• You want your prospect to think, “this is the best solution for us – how can we make it work?” Otherwise, they will focus on the challenges themselves.

5. Use the Power of Email Marketing 

You can’t underestimate the power of emails when it comes to creating and nurturing B2B leads. In fact, 73 percent of B2B marketers rate email campaigns as either “excellent” or “good” as part of their marketing strategy.

However, you need to make sure that your email offers and personalized messages reach the right person.

Partnering with a reliable B2B data provider who can help you with accurate banking and finance industry database will help you tap the decision-makers and save time. 

Fintechs Can Sell To Banks, If…

Selling to banks is challenging. Sometimes it seems you’re never going to break through to the right people. If you do, you may fail to persuade them that your solution is the best for their dilemma, even though you think it is. 

But if you’re careful, take the right approach, do your homework and include the right data partner, you can do it.