By smart-automating key tasks like meeting prep, note-taking, CRM updates, workflow automation, and client follow-ups, financial practices can save time, deepen client relationships, improve teamwork and efficiency, stay compliant and gain valuable client insights.
As 92% of financial advisors have already integrated AI in their practices in 2024 (source: Accenture), it is clear that using AI is becoming a necessity for wealth management firms to stay competitive.
Here’s how.
AI adoption for your financial practice doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Follow this practical guide and get started one step at a time!
The first step to successfully implementing and utilizing AI for your practice is understanding your needs and identifying inefficiencies and opportunities for utilizing AI.
First, take a look at your current workflows and try to identify repetitive tasks and challenges.
Here are the most common areas and use cases where AI can level up financial advisors’ and practices’ workflows:
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Automating repetitive manual tasks
➜ Meeting preparation
➜ Meeting note-taking
➜ Processing meeting notes and follow-up tasks
➜ Client communication, including pre-meeting e-mails, follow-ups, check-ins and replies
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Keeping records up-to-date and compliant
➜ Administrating meeting notes and new client information
➜ Keeping your client records up to date and compliant
➜ Updating and tracking tasks in your CRM
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Teamwork and task delegation
➜ Sharing information with team members for visibility
➜ Syncing data from different sources, such as meeting notes, e-mails, CRM or planning systems
➜ Delegating and tracking tasks
Implementing AI in your workflow will level up your practice efficiency, but it will also be a necessity to stay competitive in the future, especially as you scale.Next to auditing your current needs, you should also assess possible future needs and challenges, with consideration for
⇮ Growth and scalability: You should also prepare for future growth of your practice. The solution should support and adapt to not only your present, but also to expected future needs and workflows.
✔ Compliance: It is important that your chosen solution prioritizes compliance, including continuous adaptation to regulatory requirements, so that you don’t have to worry about staying compliance-proof.
Assess the identified current inefficiencies and future opportunities in terms of importance and trade-offs, and make a list, prioritizing your needs so that you know exactly what you are looking for.
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Before adopting a new solution for your practice, it is important to consider internal factors, particularly capital and human resource needs and allocation.
When determining your budget for a solution, you should consider the return on investment, including both direct and indirect benefits.
☑ Time savings through task automation
☑ Reduced staffing costs
☑ Improved efficiency with fewer errors
☑ Stronger client relationships
☑ Improved client retention
☑ Scalability
☑ Reduced risk of compliance issues and regulatory penalties
Other resources - time and effort required from your team, along training and workflow adjustment needs - are also important factors to consider for successful AI adoption. Proper resource allocation and planning will make the process more efficient.
✔ Start with a Trial: Test with a small team to gather insights.
✔ Leverage Support: Ask your provider’s help for best practices and customization.
✔ Experiment and Optimize: Refine systems and workflows before onboarding your whole team.
✔ Plan Onboarding: Create a strategy to minimize disruptions and quickly maximize benefits.
Once you have successfully identified key internal factors, you can begin evaluating potential AI solutions.
Compare solution with your needs based on your previously identified and prioritized list of needs.
☑ Integration with your tech stack
☑ Compliance
☑ Data security and privacy
☑ Product features
Assess adoption challenges
☑ Check budget fit: Check out plans and how they fit into the budget determined according to the expected return on investment.
☑ Learning, customization and support: Look for a solution that can be customized and optimized for your practice and workflow. Choosing a solution that offers quick and high-quality customer support and onboarding can save you a lot of time and resources.
After you have all relevant information in your hands, it’s time to evaluate what solution best fits your practice.
Make a comparison of how well the potential solutions align with your prioritized needs and solution checklist, and make a shortlist of your preferred solutions.
Evaluate the costs of the solutions in the context of your budget and cost justification.
Select the solution that best balances your needs and financial expectations.
Once you have made your choice, it’s time to test your AI solution in practice.
Test your chosen AI solution in real workflows by participating in a demo or starting a trial. Explore its functions and assess how it can fit your practice.
Work with your provider in identifying opportunities for customization and optimization of systems and workflows to maximize value for your practice.
Prepare an onboarding and training strategy for your team. This will help you minimize disruptions and ensure you get the most out of the technology as soon as possible.
Zocks, the AI Meeting Assistant specifically designed for financial advisors, provides a comprehensive solution that supports your practice at every stage of client servicing—from meeting preparation and detailed note-taking to CRM updates, task management, and follow-ups.
With thousands of advisors using Zocks every week, we have a 9+ NPS (Net Promoter Score).
Zocks is the only AI assistant built from the ground up with the data security, privacy, and AI controls required for Financial Services.
