Consumers used to doing business digitally, like shopping and banking online, expect a similar experience when working with their financial professional. If you’re not taking advantage of technology to meet client expectations, you may be jeopardizing their loyalty and also missing out on advances that could help you efficiently grow and run your practice.

Keeping pace

Advances in technology have given Americans more options than ever for accessing financial advice and investment management services. 

Is your practice keeping pace?

Today’s best financial practice tools help you automate day-to-day processes including prospecting for new clients, developing and implementing investment strategies and keeping up with compliance responsibilities.

The technological tools featured here could help you grow your business faster while simultaneously leaving you more time to give your clients one-on-one attention. Ignore technology, and you may risk losing business to forward-thinking competitors.

At a high level, these technologies fall into three broad categories: communication, investment management and data security and compliance.

Communication tools

It is difficult to manage a growing financial practice efficiently without relying on client relationship management (CRM) software. If you are familiar with Microsoft Outlook, the widely used personal information manager that includes an email application, calendar and other simple tools, you can think of CRM software as something like that—but on steroids.

CRM programs function as a central repository of contact information about your clients. They let you track all office interactions with clients, alert you to calendar appointments, and help you track your sales pipeline, or potential new business opportunities. 

They also allow you to segment and report on your clients and their activities by any number of characteristics, so you can accurately target communications and services to them. The best CRM programs integrate easily with other popular applications to eliminate redundant data entry and include advanced features such as workflows, which guide you through and, in some cases, automate common tasks. According to a 2023 survey of more than 3,300 financial professionals, 96.46% use some form of CRM software. Among the most popular programs are Redtail and Wealthbox, and AdvisorEngine, which are all specifically designed for financial professionals and the wealth management industry.¹

The COVID-19 pandemic popularized virtual meetings. Videoconferencing programs, such as Zoom, Skype, Webex and Microsoft Teams, provide a good way for financial professionals to connect with clients or to reach out to multiple clients simultaneously.

A range of other communication tools may also be useful. Email capture programs like OptinMonster and Sumo can collect emails from opt-in forms completed by visitors to your website. This can be helpful in building out your email list and reaching a broader swath of prospective clients. 

If you are using emails to prospect—or to stay in touch with clients—you might also want to take advantage of email marketing automation software, which can send a predetermined sequence of emails to every subscriber on your email list on a schedule you establish. These programs also let you set up rules to adapt the sequence of emails to individual clients or prospects based on actions they take, such as scheduling appointments or failing to respond to an inquiry. It is important to make sure that these systems also retain copies of emails and keep track of subscribe and unsubscribe requests. Popular email marketing programs include Mailchimp, Hubspot Marketing Hub, Drip and Constant Contact. 

In a similar vein, social media automation tools like Hootsuite and Buffer allow you to load social media posts in advance, send them out at predetermined times and approve and retain posts for compliance purposes. You also might want to consider using an online scheduler like Calendly or Acuity Scheduling, which will let you include a link to an online calendar on your website or in your emails. Clients and prospects can then use it to schedule appointments without the time-consuming back and forth of phone calls and emails.