Preventing Costly Missteps

Like many banks, one eSite client (a financial institution with nearly 2,000 branches) has faced an unprecedented number of loan defaults in recent years. With no end in site, it was struggling with how to stem this tide and gain a comprehensive understanding of its commercial loan portfolio.

Looking ahead, the bank knew it would continue to face an unfortunate truth the economic downturn had brought to the forefront: the level of risk associated with a loan comes from a disparate, seemingly unrelated set of factors.

A big part of the problem, eSite believed, was that the bank’s lenders didn’t have an accurate way to measure the “market” risk associated with underwriting a loan—the economic, demographic and psychographic factors of doing business at a specific location. To get a complete picture, they would need to examine both internal business risk and external market factors.

For the first time, eSite made this possible.

We started with the bank’s portfolio and took a good, hard look at the health of markets where borrowers were conducting business. We tested thousands of factors to uncover commonalities that could be associated with increasing risks.

What did we find? In more than 50 percent of loan requests, the bank would have accurately predicted when a borrower was likely to default by relying solely on eSite’s analysis of market conditions.

Moving forward, the client would be empowered to prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in charge-offs. Using eSite’s business intelligence, lenders can now have access to an underwriting tool that eliminates the need to rely on gut instinct or rules of thumb when assessing locations.

From Months to Minutes

Competitive analysis, market share, sales volume…for years, the data came in dozens―and we mean dozens―of separate, static quarterly reports. Combing through the numbers took hours. Often days. Deciphering what it all said about consumers was a painful process that often spanned months.

Then, in 2009, eSite customized a web-based dashboard system that turned those months into minutes.

Now, all divisions of the company, from headquarters to local dealers, can get the exact info they need at any given moment. With just a few clicks, the data—now updated as soon as it’s available—can be rearranged and viewed in any number of combinations.

Identifying emerging trends, quickening time to market and even eliminating uncertainty all come easily these days.

Fact-Driven Results

Picture this: A new store opening in a small northeastern town. Population 87,157. In the first week, hundreds of customers walk through the doors. Thousands in the first quarter. Within months, business at the new franchise is thriving.

Truth be told, the parent company?a multi-retail chain of some 500 stores nationwide?didn’t believe the campaign would work. Everything they knew told them to direct marketing efforts one way; eSite’s analysis pointed an entirely different arrow. It was a crucial decision for a store that needed to perform well from the outset.

The client decided to go for it.

Even though the recommended target seemed incompatible with the brand. Even when it appeared to be a long shot. When a trusted partner of five years offers an unexpected detour, they figured, you follow the roadmap.

The result? A small-town store that consistently operates in the top 20 percent of all sites nationwide.

Turning Inquiries into Loyal Customers

Potential customers who are unpredictable can be a costly burden, particularly when your business relies on them to show up for scheduled appointments. We’re talking about thousands of dollars in costs on an ongoing basis.

For one eSite client, all that changed with a system built to forecast―with up to 90 percent certainty―the likelihood of customer follow through.

Since implementation, under-booked days have been virtually eliminated. No-shows have decreased drastically. And all because of just one change: a custom-designed system that pinpoints high-value clientele. No new marketing campaigns. No call center restructuring. Just a way to easily connect the right clients with the service provider’s most skilled salespeople, turning inquiries into loyal customers.

Overcoming Hardship

For corporate headquarters to go virtually unscathed by a natural disaster is hard to imagine. Yet when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, that’s exactly what happened for one eSite client. At a time when hundreds of businesses struggled to stay afloat, one was able to use powerful location intelligence to keep operations running smoothly.

After the company moved its call center—the lifeblood of operations—to a costly, temporary out-of-state location, employees had no way of knowing if their homes were still standing. So eSite combined visual technology and GIS data to pinpoint unscathed neighborhoods as well as hard-hit homes.

Within days, some 60 percent of staffers whose homes remained standing moved back to New Orleans, minimizing the expense of off-site housing. At the same time, valuable staffers who’d lost their homes continued to work off-site, relieved of uncertainty as they began to rebuild their lives.

Through it all, the company never missed a beat. No customer inquiries went unanswered. No sales were missed. No employees were left stranded. All because of real-time, fact-based decisions made possible by eSite’s ability to respond quickly to changing landscapes. That, and a steadfast dedication to seeing the client through every challenge.