Planning Ahead: As social, political and economic changes continue to grab headlines around the world, a new study has found business leaders and financial strategists now seem less anxious about investing in securing their place with customers.
Financial leaders apparently aren’t being impacted by dramatic shifts around the world.
A new study has found Canadian financial executives are far less concerned about unanticipated economic, social, political and environmental events than they were a year ago, despite a cascade of dramatic global occurrences over the last year.
It’s possible that the last 12 months’ worth of headlines – the workings of a new U.S. administration, Brexit debates in Europe and trade disputes – have left finance executives somewhat desensitized to unexpected events.
According to the 2018 Global Business & Spending Outlook commissioned by American Express in partnership with Institutional Investor Thought Leadership Studio, concern among senior finance executives about unexpected events has declined 55 per cent (39 per cent were concerned in 2018 compared to 94 per cent in 2017).
Financial executives are accordingly less cautious and more bullish about economic expansion this year. Only 34 per cent of financial executives in North America say that foreign economic and political uncertainty is making their company more cautious about spending and investing overseas – a significant decline from 69 per cent in 2017.
“Uncertainty has become the new normal for many large organizations,” said Paul Roman, Vice President and General Manager, Global Commercial Services, American Express Canada. “Instead of fearing the unknown, what we’re hearing from financial executives is that they’re focused on making strategic investments that will drive growth for their organization and enable them to remain competitive by future-proofing their business. Ultimately, improving customer experiences is at the heart of achieving these goals.”
It’s critical to be where your customers are, and sometimes ahead of them, in order to sustain growth.” – Paul Roman, Vice President and General Manager, Global Commercial Services, American Express Canada.
Globally, 78 per cent of financial executives identified “better meeting customer needs” as a top investment priority in 2018. In the United States and Canada, that number is even higher, with 84 per cent identifying improved customer experience as a key priority – an impressive shift compared to just 50 per cent of respondents in 2017.
In order to achieve that goal, according to Mr. Roman, technology will play a critical role. “Executives will focus investments on mobile technology, in particular,” he explained. “That is a direct result of customer demands: it’s critical to be where your customers are, and sometimes ahead of them, in order to sustain growth.”
According to the new study, businesses are also investing to win customers by financing the development of new products and services, a priority for 40 per cent of financial executives globally. Other high-priority spending categories include investing in services that ensure sustainable, ethical, and transparent business practices (33 per cent) and travel and entertainment (30 per cent).
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