Why They Buy - The ONLY Reasons Financial Firms Say Yes or No to Your Fintech

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The ONLY 4 Reasons Financial Firms Say Yes to Your Fintech

Here’s the hard truth: financial services firms don’t spend money to buy your fintech solution because it's addresses a new problem category…or because you demo features and functionality  that is a sexier version of what they already have…or because you use the words “streamline processes,” “digitize workflows,” or our favorite: “transform the client experience”.

They only buy because you help them achieve one of four real outcomes. Everything else is interesting, and maybe they’ll even engage you in a long sales process but until they see a direct correlation to one of these goals, you’re just interesting – not heading towards a contract.

These four reasons apply to basically any financial firm: banks, wirehouses, RIAs, broker-dealers, credit unions, asset managers. Their priorities have been the same since the Buttonwood Agreement and will likely be the same forever. Although they’re obvious, but most fintechs miss the mark by drowning their value prop is buzzwords and putting the obligation on the buyer to translate it into value. So if you want to land enterprise clients without a hundred follow-up meetings, get tight with these four goals:

1. Grow My Revenue

This one’s first for a reason. You know I love “Top Line” but also because Chief Revenue Officers tend to have sizable discretionary budgets and their sales-driven optimism tends to align with our energy and ambition.

“All you need to do is show me how your product grows my revenue. Hopefully, not as a ‘maybe’ or ‘in theory’ statement but with actual proof.  I need to clearly see how you help me attract new clients, keep the ones I’ve got, and increase wallet share across the board.”

2. Cut My Costs

Now we’re talking bottom line. Be clear on whether your solutions reduces net current costs or if it’s initially cost-neutral but allows for more cost-effective growth.

“Can you lower my cost to serve—all in? Please don’t tell me that your product means a generic reduction in headcount – I’m looking to understand breakeven and all in ROI. That means your ongoing fees, your implementation costs, and the cost of my people time (project manager, technology resources, compliance, training, etc.). And no, telling me it “automates tasks” isn’t enough.”

3. Keep Me Out of Jail

This title’s a little cheeky, but the mental picture holds a lot of weight. Let’s be honest, fear of sanctions and regulators enforcement actions are real motivators for all firms.

“If your solution helps me spot issues before regulators do, you’re already more valuable than half the vendors in my tech stack. Whether it’s risk flagging, audit trails, insights on processes,  documentation content, security protocols—or whatever—make it easy for me to stay ‘in bounds’. Bonus points if you surface insights or blind spots my existing setup would miss.”

4. Help Me Not Go Bankrupt

This one’s personal but personal reputation is everything. No one wants their financial institution to go under during their watch. Let’s dissect, when firms go belly-up it’s usually because of these two reasons:

• Industry shock event (think market crashes, pandemics, banking crisis, wars), or

• Internal vulnerabilities (bad actors, exposure risks, broken ops, insider manipulation).

“If you can help me see, manage, or mitigate risk before it guts my balance sheet - you’re golden. Bonus points if your dashboards and reporting tools are in business terms understandable by the C-Suite, not just a Compliance or Risk expert.”

What To Do … Now

There’s some good news, some not-so-good news - and then some really good news. The good news is that almost every fintech I know, addresses one or more of these four motivators. The bad news is they're failing to articulate it in ways that resonate with their buyers. The really good news - it's fixable. 

Here’s how:

• Create a scorecard: where do you land across these four goals?

• Show proof: what data do you already have, and what industry or client data do you need to make the ROI case?

• Offer proof-collecting incentives: give pricing breaks to clients who agree to share internal data for you to sharpen your proof points.

• Be direct: during sales calls, get prospects to agree with these four goals. Show exactly how your product supports one or more—with proof. It’s a positioning hack that buyers love.

Food for thought

“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” – Albert Einstein

Help your prospective clients see – really see your value. Don’t ask them to make inferences. That’s your job. Lead with clarity, back it up with numbers, and keep your tone grounded, real, and ROI-driven.