What if you could reduce friction at your business? Here are a few ways how.

One bad experience. That’s all it takes for 84% of consumers to say they would not return to a brand, according to one survey. Think about it from your own perspective. If you’re at a store and the line to check out is eight customers long, how likely are you to return? If you’re trying to stream a movie and the streaming service keeps lagging, how likely are you to keep trying? 

You’re a CFO. You’re a CHRO. You’re a small business owner. What does friction look like in your roles?

The cause of the bad experience could be any number of things, but you could use one term to describe it: friction. Friction “refers to points in the brand experience that can have a long-term impact on customers’ relationships with a business.” These pain points — both seen and unseen — can be felt. 

But what if it didn’t have to be this way?

What does frictionless look like? We break it down for a few audiences. 

Chief financial officer (CFO)

CFOs are focused primarily on three things: 

• Revenue coming in the door.
• Expenses incurred running the business.
• Cash flow and ensuring there’s enough working capital.

Smooth, seamless payment processing is make-or-break for CFOs. They need to know that funds will move from Point A to Point B when they’re supposed to, which is often as quickly as possible. And transparency into how money is flowing will help them better manage capital. 

Chief human resources officer (CHRO)

Complexity is an enemy to CHROs (also referred to as chief people officers). New-hire onboarding, employee development, relations, recruitment, employee benefits, compensation … HR professionals wear a lot of hats. Simplifying these tasks with integrated systems and easy-to-use technology is vital to their success. 

Small business owners

About half of all businesses fail in the first five years. Why? Some common reasons are financial struggles, poor management, or ownership burnout due to stress or lack of time. Streamlined payments and hands-off technology support small-business owner needs so they can focus on other parts of the business that help to bring revenue in.

What if you could reduce friction right now? 

You can start to build brand loyalty right now by reducing friction! Here are a few areas to consider: 

CFO

Imagine turning costs into opportunity. An automated accounts payable system can build revenue share and saves time by removing a lot of the hands-on, paper-based processes that exist today. Lean on virtual payments and commercial cards. 

For CFOs with fleet vehicles, fuel can represent up to 60% of operating costs in a company’s fleet budget. Providing the tools to manage and reduce these costs can be a big boost to their bottom lines. Telematics also provides valuable insight to help these CFOs improve fleet performance and reduce costs. 

CHRO

The Great Resignation still looms large for CHROs. One in five workers in a global survey said they are very likely or extremely likely to quit their jobs in 2022. Why? The top two reasons employees in another survey said they were considering leaving their jobs were pay and employee benefits. These two needs both speak to employee compensation, but trying to administer your own benefits can be time-consuming and confusing, especially when you consider the rules and regulations surrounding benefits and COBRA. 

Easy-to-use technology, behind-the-scenes automation, and knowledgeable customer service can help CHROs provide a benefits experience their employees can connect with. And they’ll save HR teams by reducing employee questions and, hopefully, increasing retention. 

Small business owners

Because small business owners wear so many hats, it can be hard to find the time to innovate and move your company forward. That’s why it’s so important for small business to find tech partners who can provide these same solutions outlined above, including virtual cards and streamlined employee benefits. But it also applies to managing company vehicle fleets, where even businesses with just a few trucks can benefit with:

• Fuel cards that save money through available rebates. 
• Enhanced controls and data.
• Information that enables least-cost fuel sourcing.

You can find solutions for these needs and more when you choose WEX to help simplify the business of running your business. Download your Who is WEX handout to learn more about what we can do for you. 

The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice, you should consult your own legal counsel, tax and investment advisers. 

WEX receives compensation from some of the merchants identified in its blog posts. By linking to these products, WEX is not endorsing these products.