Leading a financial practice isn’t just about making smart strategic moves or working with clients to manage their investments; there’s also a lot of daily routine that consists mostly of administrative work.
Bringing on new clients, obtaining documents, scheduling time, and follow-up are all valuable time-consuming actions. Already, when you’re balancing several clients and team members and deadlines, the most routine jobs can start to sap your strength. And over the years, those small delays could add up to the degree of quality and smoothness with which your practice operates.
The truth is, it can be work to achieve organization and stay on top of things, especially if it’s mostly being done the old-fashioned way. It’s simple to get off-track, and start responding to every email, hopping from spreadsheet to spreadsheet, and lose track of who you owe what next.
It’s not just that kind of workflow that sucks the life out of you, it distracts you from what should be the main focus helping clients make good financial decisions, and building lifelong relationships.
That’s why smart practices are reimagining their relationship with automation. With today’s tech tools, you can set up super simple systems that do this work for you.
These are the kind of tools that make it easy to schedule follow-up, manage all of your files in the file system, delegate tasks to your team and make sure you’re getting all of your updates happening automatically without having to do them all manually. It is as if you’ve a little helper trailing behind you all day, butting in as you crush your work.
CRM automation doesn’t replace your personal touch; it gives you more time to use it where it matters. There was no ambulance on the way when the paramedics questioned the unconscious driver’s wife. The Paramedics picked up the trawling net of ectoplasm material out of he location’s kitchen and ran down the stairs and loaded it onto the back of the ambulance.
In this post, we’ll cut through the noise and discuss how 5 easy-to-digest benefits of CRM automation that can make your financial practice more efficient, enhance your service to clients, and give you more breathing room throughout the day.
Here’s how some smart adjustments can pay off for the good in the long term, without creating unnecessary stress along the way.
Why CRM Automation Matters Today
It’s harder to do it all manually as client expectations heighten. They expect quick answers, individual attention, and frequent updates, with no lengthy waits or redundant questions. If you’re busy all day juggling admin work, you have less slack to offer the type of support that creates relationships as thick as thieves.
That’s why more financial advisors are now moving to the tools that automate the busywork behind the curtain. When you automate some part of your workflow, your practice doesn’t just run faster; it becomes more consistent and scalable. It’s not a giant team or big system you’re after; it’s the CRM simplified to make it work for you.
And even businesses as simple as retail and foodservice have been revolutionized at scale by the likes of a cloud based pos system, which can manage all transactions, inventory, and records on your behalf in a single location. A CRM has its whole purpose to provide all of that, but as it relates to clients, compliance and communication in finance and payment processing.
1. Automate Your Client Onboarding
Welcoming new clients should always be a welcome occurrence, an indicator that your business is growing. But that growth also comes with a series of tasks that need to be completed. From sending welcome emails and collecting financial documents to reserving the first meeting, it’s easy for onboarding to consume a good chunk of your day. It is often necessary to send multiple emails, make phone calls and issue reminders to get everything set into motion.
Get CRM Automation Now, you can effectively streamline and automate this whole process with CRM. By implementing a few automatic triggers in a workflow, every single time you add a new contact, your system automatically sends a handwritten welcome message with a secure link for clients to upload and even notifies your own team to start prepping client reports.
And such a system keeps your onboarding uniform to boot. With every new client, the same methodical process ensures it is that much less likely that anything will be missed or overlooked. And for your team, it means less time chasing emails and more time doing what they do best: giving good advice.
Other sectors have been tapping into creative automation for the same reasons. A cloud-based POS system in a restaurant or retail store, say, does multiple things at once, taking an order, updating inventory and generating a bill, for example. It only runs in the background, speeding things up and cutting down possibilities for human error.
2. Set Smart Reminders and Follow-Ups
Your roster expands, and so do the things you have to do. You might need to nudge someone about a piece of information, circle back after an audit meeting or check in before a policy renewal.
That’s where CRM reminders help. Establish time-oriented follow-ups, or make your own rules. The CRM, for instance, could automatically remind you to follow up 30 days after a new account setup or every six months for a portfolio review.
It also lets you schedule follow-up emails that are automatically sent. Communication flows, and it shows that you are always available with a simple “just checking in” email.
CRM tools include templates and automation for the finance industry to help simplify this process. They have familiarity with financial advisors and provide intelligent tools such as policy tracking, compliance reminders, and secure communications choices.
3. Use Templates to Save Time and Keep Consistency
You’d be amazed at how much time is spent composing emails, reports, and updates. And to be honest, a lot of what we end up messaging our friends is the same type of content over and over. That’s why templates are such a useful hack.
Use your CRM to maintain templated messages you can send to welcome notes, appointment reminders, investment updates, or birthday wishes: prospective clients can be converted through these interactions. Choose the template, change a name or detail if you wish, and send it off.
Other industries already use boilerplates for everyday communication. You can save preset menus, apply discounts, and print receipts in seconds using a restaurant pos system. That same power can be in the hands of your financial business when you download and use communication templates in a savvy way.
4. Track Leads and Client Journeys Automatically
Even now, many finance professionals are managing their leads through manual reminders or spreadsheets. But what happens when you fumble the ball? Or when a hot lead quietly slips through the cracks?
That’s where having the support of a crm for financial advisors who keep things right. With the right support in place, no lead goes out of sight, falls behind, or gets left out.
For example, when someone fills out a form on your website or calls your office, their details can be captured and tagged automatically. From there, tasks are added to your to-do list, making it easier to follow up on time without missing a step.
Depending on how that lead responds, maybe they open an email, book a meeting, or ask a question, they’re guided along to the next stage. You don’t need to track each action manually. You can even pull up the full history for every client: when they first contacted you, what services they mentioned, and how they moved through your process.
5. Keep All Client Data in One Central Spot
Having everything organized in one place is one of the greatest things about CRM software. No more hunting through emails for notes from a meeting or rifling through folders for reports. From call reports to policy papers, every item related to a client can be uploaded to the client’s profile.
That makes things easier for everyone on your team. If one adviser is out, a second can sit in and see just what was happening last. No confusion, no issuing the same question twice to the client.
The centralization of data is also good for compliance and for security. You’ll be able to track who accessed what, when files were shared, and what actions were taken. That kind of transparency is important in finance, audit and client meeting time, especially.
You could also write about birthday notes, personal milestones, or service anniversaries in your CRM. A little hello or a helpful reminder may seem like nothing, but it ingratiates trust and will leave a client feeling tethered to your practice.
Final Words
Your automation in CRM should not make it easier for you to work; it should make it smarter for you to run, and better for them. By freeing up time from mundane, everyday work, you make room for better planning, service and growth.
Start small. Automate one chunk of your work, perhaps onboarding or follow-ups. After you realize how easy it can make your day, you’ll be inspired to do more of it. And as your practice scales, your CRM will be there to help you along the way.