As their digital transformation journeys continue into 2020, many financial institutions are sustaining momentum by building on early successes and learning from setbacks.

Senior Vice President and General Manager of Financial Services at Salesforce Rohit Mahna and his colleague Geoff Green, Head of Mortgage and Lending, assessed the industry in light of ongoing digital transformations. Listen to the entire podcast to hear Mahna and Green discuss successful digital transformation in financial services:

While it’s necessary for these financial institutions to go through each step of the digital transformation process, the journey can prove to be painful and full of pitfalls.

"The challenge is a lot of firms have big visions,” Mahna said. “Roughly 80% of firms have some vision around transformation. We hope everyone is succeeding, but the data is telling us under five percent — three percent — of firms are successful with these big transformations.”

Green explained that the customer experience has to be the focus for firms embarking on a digital transformation, but it starts with an internal reflection on process improvement.

"The core is putting the customer at the center of what you’re doing,” Green said. “You still need to turn a system of record into a system of engagement but also break down the human capital silos. From the C-Suite all the way down to the developer level, getting buy-in across the entire organization to collaborate on creating cross-functional processes will facilitate a greater understanding of the customer.”

So as a new year begins, how will firms be successful as they continue down this path?

Customers’ willingness to continue sharing data will also be a key element for success. Accenture found 80% of customers are willing to share their data in return for personalized and convenient services. “Now that they share more data, does trust continue? Does it heighten? Does it lessen?” Mahna said. “That’s going to be an interesting trend to follow.”

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