Your “Smart Forms” Are Inefficient & Full of Errors: Getting Connected (Part 4)

For many large organizations, forms are a critical part of your business. But even if you’ve transitioned your forms online, chances are you are still operating from what we would call the “PDF paradigm.” So, let’s talk about why your “smart form” may not be that smart after all. If you have heard us say this before, that’s because this is Part 4 of a 5-part series. (You may read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here).

In part 4, we focus on “form errors and disconnects.” When your systems are disconnected, poor data integrity is inevitable. Whether the cause is illegible handwriting on a paper form or typos on a web form, inaccurate data creates many risks. In some industries, these data problems present real compliance issues.

Form disconnects also cost you money. When your people need to rekey information into core systems, you take on huge operational inefficiencies and open the door to more errors. And optical character recognition (OCR) solutions just don’t deliver the reliable accuracy you need.

Thankfully, next-generation forms serve to minimize errors and connect your front-end data collection with your core back-office systems, whether that’s CRM, ERP, content archiving or industry-specific system. All this adds up to reduced costs and minimized risks.

How Inefficient Are Manual Forms?

According to McKinsey, a study of one bank uncovered more than 70% of its new account applications were paper-based. Almost three out of four! And of those, 30% to 40% contained errors and required rework.

MunichRe estimated that it cost as much as $300 per application to resolve issues with errors and incomplete forms in life insurance. The costs arose from both underwriting and administrative issues.

Just imagine how manual forms mess up your operations:

• Applications can become bogged down in the data verification step for hours or days
• Processing can be tedious without integration to core systems
• Lack of IT integration leads to more manual data entry when multiple systems are involved in the workflow

Those problems just focus on the cost side of the equation. On the revenue side, customers hate it when you get their data wrong. It says you neither know or care about them. Nothing can erode customer loyalty faster than that.

How to Improve Data Collection and Connections

When you connect your next-gen digital forms with core systems of record, you realize serious value creation. You also avoid errors by cutting out manual processes and poor customer interactions. That’s because next-gen forms are not really traditional “smart forms” at all. They are adaptive interviews you have with customers that inform the data you collect which you can then share back with them during any transaction.

Consider all the areas where you can merge information you already have and which you collect during adaptive customer interviews. They include data going into and out of your:

• CRM system (e.g. Salesforce)
• Enterprise content management system (e.g. SharePoint, IBM/FileNet or Documentum)
• Business process management solutions (e.g. IBM or Pega)
• Line-of-business back-office solutions (e.g. Duck Creek, Guidewire, Symitar, etc.)
• Digital signature solutions (e.g. DocuSign, eSign Live)
• Finance, HR, or other admin systems (e.g. SAP)

As you look at next-gen forms, you quickly see how they become a system of engagement that improves customer experiences and extend your IT investments.

Low-Code Supports Business Users & Reduces IT Demand

For most organizations, your IT team is in high demand and short supply. But customers and market demand require a more agile, flexible approach to building new processes. With the Intelledox approach, after IT sets up these connectors to core systems such as those above, business users are empowered to build any new data-collection process quickly through easy-to-use, drag-and-drop capabilities. They just drop in the data fields they want. This is the essence of low-code platforms like Intelledox Infiniti.

4 More Ways Your Forms Are Killing Customer Engagement

This post on engagement and delivering a better personal experience discusses 1 of 5 key areas of forms transformation found in this new eBook we created based on our in-depth experience in helping businesses just like yours. The other areas addressed by the eBook include lessons to make your forms digital and mobile, minimize friction, eliminate disconnects and errors, and speed forms toward real-time process completion. Download your copy now!

Learn more about Intelledox Infiniti Next-Generation Forms capabilities here.