Real Numbers, Real Returns: Building the Business Case for Centro and Vantage Point

"How do I justify this investment to my CFO?"

Every technology leader asks this question when evaluating new platforms. And every CFO demands the same answer: numbers that matter.

Over the past three weeks, we've explored Centro's technical capabilities, AI-powered automation, and the strategic partnership with Vantage Point. Today, we're answering the ROI question with frameworks, calculations, and real examples you can adapt for your own business case.

Because transformation requires investment—and investment requires justification.

Understanding Total Cost of Ownership

Let's start with transparency about costs. Centro implementation includes several components:

Implementation Investment (Year 1)

Centro Licensing – Predictable subscription pricing based on your deployment:

• Standard Plan: $29/user/month for connected users + $4/user/month platform fee
• Platform fee accounts for non-Salesforce-licensed users (support staff, clients via Slack Connect, etc.)
• AI add-on: $30/user/month for AI-powered features
• Example: 100 connected users = $33,000 annually for Standard plan; add AI for 50 users = $18,000 more

Vantage Point Consulting – Implementation expertise and customization:

• Typical 4-8 week implementation project: $40,000-$80,000 depending on scope
• Includes discovery, configuration, pilot, training, rollout
• Financial services-specific compliance configuration
• Change management and adoption support

Internal Resources – Your team's project involvement:

• Project sponsor, business owners, IT liaison, pilot users
• Estimated 200-400 hours total across project lifecycle
• At $100/hour loaded cost = $20,000-$40,000 internal investment

Training and Change Management – Ensuring adoption:

• Role-based training programs
• Documentation and support resources
• Super-user development
• Typically $10,000-$20,000 for comprehensive program

Example Total Year 1 Investment (100-person deployment)

• Centro licensing: $33,000
• Partial AI rollout: $18,000
• Vantage Point implementation: $50,000
• Internal resources: $25,000
• Training: $10,000
• Total Year 1: $136,000

Ongoing Costs (Years 2+)

• Centro subscription: $51,000 annually (licensing + AI)
• Optional managed services: $15,000-$30,000 annually
• Continuous improvement: $10,000-$20,000 annually
• Total Ongoing: $76,000-$101,000 annually

Now let's look at the other side of the equation: returns.

Hard Savings: Dollars You'll Stop Spending

Reduced Salesforce Licensing Costs

Traditional model requires Salesforce licenses for everyone who needs CRM access. Centro's platform fee model changes this equation dramatically.

Example: Regional bank with 20 customer service representatives

• Previous approach: 20 Salesforce Service Cloud licenses @ $75/month = $18,000 annually
• Centro approach: Service reps work primarily in Slack; 5 supervisors have full Salesforce access
• New cost: 5 Salesforce licenses ($4,500) + 15 platform fees ($720) = $5,220 annually
• Annual Savings: $12,780

Eliminated Custom Development Costs

Slack-to-Case functionality via custom development:

• Initial build: $60,000-$100,000 (12-16 weeks developer time)
• Annual maintenance: $15,000-$25,000 (bug fixes, enhancements)
• Major updates: $20,000+ every 2-3 years

Centro alternative:

• Configuration: Included in implementation (admin work, not custom dev)
• Maintenance: Automatic platform updates
• Enhancements: Admin-configurable as needs evolve
• 3-Year Savings: $105,000-$195,000

IT Support Overhead Reduction

Self-service capabilities reduce help desk burden through AI-powered answers, automated workflows, and simplified troubleshooting.

Example: Wealth management firm with 500 employees

• Previous IT ticket volume: 150 monthly
• 30% reduction through self-service: 45 fewer tickets
• At $25 per ticket cost = $1,125 monthly = $13,500 annually

Software Consolidation Savings

Organizations often run multiple point solutions Centro replaces:

• Internal help desk system: $10,000-$25,000 annually
• Approval routing tools: $5,000-$15,000 annually
• Form builders and data collection: $3,000-$10,000 annually
• Integration middleware: $15,000-$40,000 annually
• Potential Savings: $33,000-$90,000 annually

Productivity Gains: Time Converts to Value

Time savings represent significant value even when they don't directly reduce headcount. Employees accomplish more, serve clients better, and focus on high-value activities rather than administrative overhead.

The Time Savings Calculation

Centro customers document average time savings of 17 hours per user per week. Let's use a more conservative 5 hours per week for business case purposes.

Calculation components:

• Users: 100 employees actively using Centro workflows
• Time saved: 5 hours per week per user (conservative)
• Annual hours: 5 hours × 50 weeks = 250 hours per user per year
• Total annual hours saved: 100 users × 250 hours = 25,000 hours
• Loaded cost per hour: $50 (blended rate across roles)
• Realization rate: 50% (conservative assumption that half of saved time converts to productive value)

Annual Productivity Value: 25,000 hours × $50 × 50% = $625,000

Even with conservative assumptions, productivity gains substantially exceed implementation investment.

Where Time Savings Come From

Reduced Context-Switching (1.5 hours/week per user)
Work in single interface instead of toggling between apps. Information in context rather than searching across systems.

Faster Information Access (1 hour/week per user)
AI answers questions instantly versus searching or asking colleagues. Knowledge base integration versus scattered documentation.

Automated Status Updates (0.5 hours/week per user)
Systems communicate automatically versus manual emails and messages. Stakeholders notified proactively versus status update meetings.

Streamlined Approvals (1 hour/week per user for approvers)
One-click approve/reject versus email chains. Full context in notification versus searching for details.

Eliminated Manual Data Entry (1 hour/week per user)
Conversations captured automatically versus manual logging. Forms create records versus data re-entry.

Revenue Impact: Growth Through Excellence

Productivity and efficiency gains enable revenue growth without proportional cost increases.

Customer Retention Improvement

Financial services firms live on recurring revenue. Small retention improvements yield substantial impact.

Example: Wealth management firm with $150M AUM and 1% management fee

• Annual revenue: $1,500,000
• Historical retention: 96% annually
• Improved retention through better service: 97% (1 percentage point improvement)
• Additional annual revenue retained: $15,000
• Over 5 years with compound growth: $77,000+

Sales Cycle Acceleration

Faster approvals and internal processes mean deals close sooner.

Example: Insurance agency with 300 policies sold annually, $2,000 average premium

• Annual premium revenue: $600,000
• Average sales cycle: 21 days
• Reduced cycle through faster approvals: 18 days (14% improvement)
• Capacity increase allows 14% more sales: 42 additional policies
• Additional annual revenue: $84,000

Advisor/Agent Productivity

Revenue producers with more client-facing time generate more business.

Example: Financial advisors save 3 hours weekly on administration

• 20 advisors at firm
• 3 hours × 50 weeks = 150 hours annually per advisor
• 3,000 total hours reallocated to client development
• Conservative conversion: 1% of reallocated time yields new business
• 30 hours of business development per advisor
• Historical conversion: $10,000 revenue per 10 hours of development activity
• Additional annual revenue: $600,000

Sample ROI Calculation: 100-Person Financial Advisory Firm

Let's combine these components into a comprehensive example:

Year 1 Costs

• Centro licensing (including partial AI): $51,000
• Vantage Point implementation: $50,000
• Internal resources: $25,000
• Training: $10,000
• Total Year 1 Investment: $136,000

Year 1 Benefits

• Productivity gains: $312,500 (100 users × 5 hours/week × $50/hour × 50% realization)
• Reduced Salesforce licensing: $12,000
• Eliminated planned custom development: $80,000 (amortized)
• Improved client retention: $15,000
• Total Year 1 Benefits: $419,500

Year 1 Net Benefit: $283,500 (208% ROI)

Years 2-3

• Annual costs: $76,000 (subscription + optimization)
• Annual benefits: $419,500 (ongoing productivity + savings + revenue)
• Annual net: $343,500

3-Year Cumulative

• Total investment: $288,000
• Total benefits: $1,258,500
• Net 3-year benefit: $970,500 (337% ROI)

Building Your Business Case

Every organization has unique circumstances. Use this framework to develop your specific ROI analysis:

Catalog current costs – What are you spending on custom development, point solutions, licenses, and IT support?

Calculate time savings – Survey users on time spent on activities Centro would streamline

Quantify productivity value – What's an hour of your employees' time worth?

Assess revenue opportunity – Where can better efficiency drive growth?

Include intangibles – Employee satisfaction, competitive positioning, risk reduction

Be conservative – Use lower-bound assumptions to build credibility

Show sensitivity analysis – Model best case, likely case, and conservative case

Vantage Point can help you build a customized business case specific to your organization, using benchmarks from 400+ financial services implementations.

The Numbers Speak Clearly

Modern collaboration platforms aren't nice-to-have productivity tools—they're strategic investments that deliver measurable, substantial returns within the first year.

Centro + Vantage Point customers document 100%+ ROI in year one and 300%+ ROI over three years. These aren't aspirational projections; they're achieved results from firms across wealth management, banking, and insurance.

Next week, we'll move from business case to real-world application—diving deep into use cases in wealth management and banking with specific examples of how Centro transforms client service, advisor productivity, and operational efficiency.

Ready to build your ROI model? Contact Vantage Point for a consultation where we'll develop a customized financial analysis for your organization.

About the Author

David Cockrum  founded Vantage Point after serving as Chief Operating Officer in the financial services industry. His unique blend of operational leadership and technology expertise has enabled Vantage Point's distinctive business-process-first implementation methodology, delivering successful transformations for 150+ financial services firms across 400+ engagements with a 4.71/5.0 client satisfaction rating and 95%+ client retention rate.

• • • Email: david@vantagepoint.io
    • Phone: (469) 652-7923
    • Website: vantagepoint.io