Building Your Technology Shopping (and To-Do) List

Going to the store while hungry is bad. Worse is stepping into the store hungry and without a shopping list. Let’s face it, we’re all human and have done this.

We know all how to shop “the right way.” Bring a list based on a set of planned meals. If possible, to really ensure success, leave the kids at home. However, if the kids join … even they can shop based on following a recipe. Send them down the cereal aisle “One box each, girls!” and suddenly you’re halfway to breakfast.

Stepping into an electronics store is not as intuitive as grocery shopping (at least for most of us). Sure, you may want a new TV. But, exactly what type of TV do you want? Do you want a smart TV? What resolution? What’s the difference between OLED and QLED?

You may have had a similar experience when shopping for tech for your credit union. You know you need it, but you’re not sure what it is you’re looking for and why certain features may be beneficial. Like going to the grocery store or buying a TV, you must make a list before finding the right technology for your credit union.

Learn From Our Mistakes

AVANA has been a direct lender to small- and medium-sized businesses for over 20 years. In 2020 we acquired a CUSO; we did so to partner with credit unions on behalf of the business owners with whom we work. As we’ve shopped for technology for both our direct lending business and our CUSO, we’ve learned some lessons along the way. Much like overspending at the grocery store on food that will go to waste or getting completely overwhelmed in the TV aisle all to have buyer’s remorse, we’ve shopped without a list, made mistakes and now see the importance of being prepared. If you take anything from this article, laugh at our misfortune but learn from our mistakes!

At AVANA, we have a long track record of assigning people to processes. A loan comes in, and we assign a human to review all 1,792 pieces of paper from the application process. Then it’s time to pull credit, have one human email another human and request to make this happen. Once the desired report has been procured, the report goes back and is reviewed by the human who requested it. Again, we make loans. Our process of “making” loans benefits from automation much like automobile manufacturing does. Things have to happen in order. Finishing one process triggers the next, which triggers the next, and suddenly the loan “manufacturing” process looks a lot like an assembly line.

To scale our process of manufacturing loans, we set out to adopt technology. We failed. Imagine the “hungry and shopping list-less” type of failure. That was us!

To provide more insight into our failure, we literally paid a company six figures and during integration, after contracts had been signed, they said, “Oh … you don’t have a ‘normal’ core to which we can integrate.” We worked around it the best we could, but the project eventually smoldered out. Ugh! What a waste of money.

We believe it is OK to fail (and fail fast). We did. The good news is that we failed forward and kept going because we know the role technology is going to continue to play within finance. We also agreed that as we deploy technology to solve for our needs, we could also collaborate with our credit union partners to help them better serve their members through the same technology enabled solutions. Below are a few resources to help you learn from our failures and get this right.

Write Things Down

Make a list. Don’t go shopping on an empty stomach … or without anything written down! To start, you need to be clear on your strategy. Where are you going? Then, ask and answer questions like: What do you want/need? What should “it” do? How do you envision “it” functioning? How does “it” complement your strategy? Who on staff will be using “it” on a daily basis? What is the low-hanging fruit you can/should address? All levels of staff, and many of your members, can rattle off low-hanging fruit options that can yield a quick win. So, survey them and be sure to capture their responses, looking for groupings and strength in numbers (e.g. “abc” received 30 mentions – perhaps there’s merit in looking into “abc”).

In the absence of being able to clip weekend coupons to control costs, you’ll have to do your own math: What is the value of “it” (e.g. cost = X, savings = Y)? Does the math make sense? What are you willing to pay for “it”? Can I hire more people instead? Is hiring sustainable and scalable?

Not to be dismissive of the above, but it is worth mentioning that a key consideration throughout this rigorous task is to answer this critical question: How does “it” add value to the member journey?

Potential Partners and Mentors

Unless you’re building your own custom technology, you have a finite number of options to choose from. It’s like living in a tract home community. “You can have any type of flooring you want,” as long as the flooring is one of two pre-selected options.

Credit unions are known for being collaborative by nature. Reach out to your peers for advice in navigating this undertaking. Ask for advice regarding vendors, best practices in onboarding technology and anything else that is relevant.

Why the Shopping List?

We can all relate to having left a meeting feeling united as a group. Then things get forgotten, especially if the decisions made and action items from the meeting are not written down. Then time – the enemy of memory – clouds our mind, making it hard to recall what was determined with the level of clarity we need to take our next step. This initial feeling of unity is routinely a sense of false hope.

A list creates accountability and a log. Think of the list as your technology journal.

Play Calling System

Just like in sports, you need to develop your own play calling system when you’re ready to adopt technology.

Take football as an example. For a play to be executed well, each of the team’s 11 players on offense must know their specific, scripted task. Success is further contingent on the players’ tasks meshing into an effective play, one that moves the ball forward.

A complicated play is harder for players to memorize and communicate. Noise can interfere with communication, and sometimes the noise is deliberate on the part of technology naysayers on the team. But, the clock is always ticking! And the reality is your team may have other priorities that compete for their time.

Here’s a checklist of questions that helped us call the right plays:

• Who decides which play to run? Every successful implementation needs an internal champion. This person must be empowered to make ongoing, even game-time decisions!
• How will the play be communicated to your players on the field? Unlike football, you have an infinite number of time outs. The champion assigned above should get out on the field as often as needed to provide players detailed instructions, feedback and ongoing peptalks.
• When will you hike the ball? Few people like surprises. While the element of surprise may work in sports, we strongly suggest it be avoided when rolling out technology. Be sure to over-communicate your plan and the triggers/milestones that will inspire and lead your team.

Your Call to Action

Harness your inner investigative journalist. Head out and ask questions to staff, members, fellow credit unions, prospective vendors. Write down what you learn. Based on what you learn, get clear on your play calling system. But first, get some food in your system. No one likes a hangry shopper!

Anish Dhanjee is the Senior Digital Product Manager for AVANA Companies, a lending and asset management platform provider based in Peoria, Ariz.