What’s More Important—the Software, or the Configuration?
Anyone out there new to Microsoft Excel? Even after 30 years as an avid user, I still remember my first-time using Excel—and it was love at first sight! I was in high school and wanted to create something that makes it easier for the football coaches to keep track of each player’s game stats. I remember asking the sales guy at CompUSA what kind of program would work best for this. He shared with me the pros and cons of database vs. spreadsheet—but who the heck knows?! After basically a coin-flip, I decided to go the spreadsheet route, not knowing what the heck Excel even was. But once I saw that screen, a beautiful landscape full of blank cells, and started typing values and entering formulas, everything made sense and it was like magic. To this day I tell my kids, want to get ahead in your careers? I don’t care what industry you’re in, learn the heck out of Excel and you’ll go far.
And that experience reminds me so much of what I call the software paradigm. Is it better to seek out basic software with built-in workflows? Or should you opt for highly customizable software that’s basically an empty canvas, but gives you ample opportunity to build your own process.
In 2018, after 23 years at an enterprise lender where I contributed as an executive to the design and development of our own software, I joined a small auto lender in San Diego called Crediauto. They were in a bind, after having originated a bunch of auto loans that were severely underperforming. The good news is, they were self-aware of their lack of experience when it came to proper risk management. And about 1 year earlier, given that lack of experience, they decided to license a market-leading LOS solution for its advanced customization features. Crediauto’s CEO truly thought by having the right software, all his troubles would work themselves out. A fatal mistake.
Unfortunately, during the onboarding process, that market-leading software company gave Crediauto the equivalent of a big, blank, Excel spreadsheet with only some very basic formulas. Sure, if you know what you’re doing, you can build a masterful configuration with all the bells and whistles that will keep risk management in mostly perfect harmony. But left to their own inexperience, Crediauto walked away with a limited configuration, which I quickly assessed was utilizing only 10% of what was needed. And so I spent the next several months pushing that software to its limits, and still I could only configure about 70% of what I wanted due to its limitations. But all that effort was for naught as there was no saving that portfolio from the underperforming damage that was already done.
As my mom would say, “shame on that software company…” for only providing the software, and not also the full configuration. Crediauto was a small lender without the big budget to hire experienced risk management professionals. And so they put all their faith in a software that they hoped would fill that gap. Crediauto didn’t survive that fatal mistake, and I vowed to build a software company that provides the total software, plus the total configuration (included free)—to set each of our lenders on the very best footing for future profitability. At Lendisoft, we even staff a risk management department for ongoing analysis and recommendations for improved ROI month after month. It’s all turnkey and it’s like nothing you’ve ever seen.
And so to answer the question in this article’s title—the very best solution is a highly customizable software that comes with a highly customized configuration. Throw in ongoing risk analysis and monitoring, and you have the total package.
If you are a small to medium-sized lender that is self-aware of your limited knowledge when it comes to risk management in your lending operation, I urge you to investigate Lendisoft. I started Lendisoft to solve this problem, in the most perfect, complete way. Lendisoft LMS can accommodate all of an enterprise lender’s configuration needs, in a completely no-code solution. This means your business executives that make day-to-day decisions can also fly the ship. There’s not much to learn because our process-driven software largely runs itself. Agents make fewer mistakes because the software holds their hand each and every day. Managers are focused on the right day-to-day decisions because our software presents things right under their noses, and even suggests outcomes based on statistical probabilities.
If you’re a mid-sized lender that has your own risk management staff, but who is struggling to make risk initiatives work because your software doesn’t accommodate them at its core, this is for you. Implementing efficiencies is difficult to impossible when custom processes are managed outside of your software. Lendisoft LMS is the total risk-based solution you need—it is indeed the software I always wished I had.
And if you are a large, enterprise lender, utilizing an antiquated loan management software and longing for a more modern solution, but not finding anything suitable for your needs in a SaaS solution. Look again, look at Lendisoft. Our design is enterprise level and very customizable.
For more information, see a demo today!