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SRM Perspectives on Key Industry Trends

Patrick Goodwin, President

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Timing Matters in Contract Negotiations

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Jan 17, 2023 11:36:00 AM

Contract-negotiation

 

We recently released “Rising to the Challenge: SRM’s Seven Rules for Optimizing Vendor Contracts,” a report outlining ways banks and credit unions can ensure they receive services at fair prices and terms from third-party providers. As we enter 2023, these vendor relationships will receive even greater focus as FIs aim to defend their bottom lines and sharpen their internal processes amid an uncertain economic environment.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management

Relationship Dos and Don’ts for Contract Negotiation

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Dec 13, 2022 11:02:00 AM

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In SRM’s 30 years of experience representing our clients in vendor contract negotiations, we’ve developed deep insights into the best way for financial institutions to approach this process. We recently boiled down several best practices into a timely white paper titled “Rising to the Challenge – SRM’s Seven Rules for Optimizing Vendor Contracts.”

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Topics: Fintech, Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Expenses

Hope for the Best, Plan for the Rest | Three Scenarios for Operational Excellence

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Apr 25, 2021 9:00:00 AM

OpExcellence-Blog

With vaccinations ramping up and most businesses reopening this spring, it’s getting easier to envision a return to normalcy later in 2021. Even so, neither Main Street entrepreneurs nor bankers are quite ready to heave a sigh of relief.

As has been seen...and experienced, some need more assistance than others, and some have proven adaptable to new conditions, whatever comes next.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Operational Excellence, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management, Bank Consulting, Credit Union Consulting, strategies for credit unions, Consulting For Banking Operations, Consulting For Credit Unions

Show Me the Budget | Five COVID-19 Savings and Revenue Strategies

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Dec 20, 2020 9:00:00 AM

BudgetBlog_1-01

The annual budget process is usually an exercise in planning for uncertainty. Add to that, it’s challenging, time consuming, and complicated. Then, when finalized, all you know for sure, is that it is at best a pro forma. That’s because financial institutions (along with everyone else) operate in an environment with multiple variables they do not control…and that has become even more evident in 2020.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Negotiation, Bank Vendor Management, Credit Union Vendor Management

8 Rules of Engagement for Vendor Negotiation Strategy

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Feb 5, 2020 9:00:00 AM

8 Rules of Engagement for Effective Vendor Negotiation Strategy

Disruptive tech providers, new banking regulations, obscure deadlines and thresholds – these are challenges we face with clients every day. What many others still fail to see though, is that in an age of accelerating change, having a clear vendor negotiation strategy - and executing it well - is becoming more critical to bank and credit union executives than ever before.

To help spare others from costly lessons learned, here is a list of our best and most often given advice for preparing for a negotiation - or renegotiation. With our experts’ combined experience in the field, and $3.6 billion proof points behind us, these are SRM’s eight rules of engagement for effective vendor management.

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Topics: Vendor Contract Management, Vendor Negotiation, Vendor Negotiation Strategy

Budgeting & Vendor Management Amid Election Year Chaos

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Oct 16, 2019 12:30:00 PM

Budgeting & Vendor Management Amid Election Year Chaos

Buckle up: we’re in for a ride. Regardless of your political persuasion, all signs point to an extended stretch of market volatility as we head into the 2020 election cycle, which by many measures is already hitting its stride. The 2020 budget season is playing out against this backdrop, with budget-setters up against even greater uncertainty than usual. The question looms, as the political barrage reaches new heights in 2020how can banks and credit unions remain flexible to the economic variables? 

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Topics: Vendor Contract Management, Vendor management, AI, Artificial Intelligence

The ABCs of RFPs for Financial Institutions

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Dec 17, 2018 9:00:00 AM

Why You Should Bid Out Every Vendor Contract

As more financial institutions get serious about modernizing their core systems and revisiting opportunities surrounding contactless cards, our firm has noticed an uptick in the volume of requests for proposals (RFPs) issued as part of the vendor management process. SRM sees this as a positive development. In fact, we generally recommend that financial institutions regularly subject all their supplier relationships to an RFP process. 

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Topics: Vendors & Contracts

How to Make Benchmarks Less Tricky in Vendor Contract Negotiations

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Oct 17, 2018 10:00:00 AM

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Every institution wants its various processes and practices to be best of breed. Most, at minimum, want to know how they stack up against the best in their business. Typically, peer groups are established for this purpose, usually based on a bank or credit union’s asset base.

However, there are countless reasons why the performance of two financial institutions of identical size may not warrant side-by-side comparison. For example, one institution using a service bureau for core processing will have a lower efficiency ratio than one of its peers that does not use one. The retail/corporate mix within loan portfolios will also give rise to operational differences.

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Topics: Vendors & Contracts

How Would You Use a Few Hundred Thousand Dollars of Found Money?

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Jun 19, 2018 9:00:00 AM

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Ever had the experience of money coming into your life that you had not counted on from a source you did not anticipate? Some call it “found money” and others might describe it as a windfall. Whatever word is used to describe it, there is one question that always arises after such good fortune happens to someone: What should be done with the money? A shopping spree? Deposit it to savings? Maybe give it to a less fortunate person or a charity that is active in the community?

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Topics: Business Performance

Always Vigilant: The Potential Cost of Not Auditing Vendor Invoices

Posted by Patrick Goodwin, President on Jan 11, 2018 12:00:00 PM

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Vendor contract management is something that every financial institution (FI) undertakes as part of the cost of doing business. The average number of contracts a bank or credit union may have varies, but it is not unusual to see the number fall in a range of between 100 to 500 contracts on average. 

While every FI is looking for ways to trim costs, many treat vendor contract management as a responsibility that can be simply added to the list of duties held by an employee that probably already has a full plate. The ever-increasing complexity of contracts and the growing number of vendors can make this approach very expensive for an institution. 

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Topics: Vendors & Contracts

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