How Lendsqr reclaimed 50% of its time and boosted productivity with Wholistic

About Lendsqr

Only 6% of Nigerian adults have access to formal credit, despite 45% of the population being banked. And the reason for this is not far-fetched.

With many individuals being chronic loan defaulters and lenders lacking reliable data and technology to make lending decisions, it’s no surprise that this gap is closing at a snail’s pace.

That was the eureka moment for Adedeji Olowe, Lendsqr’s CEO, who saw an opportunity to help lenders make strategic lending decisions with data and technology. This led to the birth of Lendsqr.

With Lendsqr, African lenders now have the technology to make strategic lending decisions. These include getting the necessary data for KYC checks to ascertain borrowers’ identity and creditworthiness, payment processing, and repayment tracking.

From healthcare to MSMEs, Lendsqr makes it possible for lenders across various sectors to cater to the financial needs of their target audience, gradually closing the credit access gap.

Solving a pain point of this magnitude requires lots of project management with moving parts like project tracking, reporting, approvals, etc., to provide lenders with key services to grow their lending businesses. However, this became a big issue, even for a team solving a long-standing problem of financial access and inclusion.

Lendsqr’s experience

Like most teams that manage projects with Gantt charts and Google Docs, the Lendsqr team was in the same boat. The process was supposed to be simple – work on a project, send regular updates, and submit a report. Simple, right? Not quite so.

The problems started with the constant back and forth when reviewing reports due to not following the standardised formats in which they came. With multiple revisions, the chances of making mistakes increased.

Then came the issue of getting manual updates on work since there was no system to notify team members about project progress and status. This made project tracking and monitoring difficult. What was supposed to be a simple way of working became a nightmare.

That was when the team realised the gap in their work process. However, despite the myriad of project management tools existing, there wasn’t one that seemed to solve the challenge the team was facing until Wholistic.

Solution - Use of Wholistic

Before Wholistic, the team hadn't tried any tool, as there was no unique solution to the problem. So, when Wholistic was introduced, it was a dream come true.

In the words of Grace Effiom, Head of Enterprise, Lendsqr,

It felt like, finally, someone is feeling this pain.

When asked about the features of Wholistic that made the most impact on their workflow, she stated:

1. Report Templates: With Wholistic’s report templates, the Lendsqr team now creates detailed, professional, and customised reports that align with expectations. This has improved consistency and clarity and reduced the time wasted on multiple corrections and back-and-forths.
2. Project Tracking: Wholistic’s centralised and single-platform approach has also enabled efficient monitoring of project statuses, milestones, and deliverables for the Lendsqr team, ensuring a seamless workflow. It’s now easy to get real-time alerts on project status, enabling the team to manage expectations and deadlines effectively.
3. Approval Workflow: The collaborative environment provided by Wholistic, which allows internal and external stakeholders to be added to a project dashboard, has also been helpful. This has facilitated the approval process, whereby clients can easily review work done and give feedback, all within Wholistic. No more multiple tools for one project.
4. Scheduling: The Lendsqr team particularly loved the scheduling feature as it helped them schedule report submissions. Once reports were reviewed and approved, reports could be created and a time set for when it’s to be sent, helping them focus on other tasks to be done.

Results and metrics

The integration of Wholistic in their workflow led to a whopping 50% reduction in time spent reviewing reports, which brought a huge boost in productivity and output. Now, instead of spending hours on endless report revisions while switching between multiple platforms, Wholistic provides a centralised dashboard and standard templates to use, putting everyone on the same page.

The issue of verbal updates on work progress was also eliminated, as Wholistic provides a dashboard to showcase the progress made so far on projects. This made communication more effective and improved project health tracking.

The customisation of the reports to suit the brand’s colours was another icing on the cake that sealed the deal for Lendsqr. It was a match made in heaven from that moment on.

In Grace Effiom's words,

An entire company can spend a year and not meet up to 50% of its target. So, imagine if a product gives you 50% of your time back in communication – it’s a whole lot and very impactful for us.

Next step for you

Wholistic is an AI-powered project delivery tool that integrates the monitoring and management of multiple projects in one platform. It’s your ultimate partner, helping you manage the chaos that is typical of projects and a broken workflow.

From enabling client collaboration to project tracking and report templates, it helps you save time that could have been wasted on mundane project reviews, helping you focus on the core of your work. Its AI capabilities and integration with other tools make it easily adaptable for any client, regardless of their workspace preference.

See how Wholistic can help your team save hours weekly. Sign up today