7 Factors to Evaluate CRM for Financial Services

Before making a decision on which CRM program to choose, you should consider a few factors:

1. 360 degree view of the customer
2. Track buying behavior
3. Smart Marketing/Cross Selling Campaigns
4. Automatic alerts and reminders
5. Collaboration Capabilities
6. Size and scope of your business
7. Integration with other systems

360 degree view of the customer

One of the first factors to consider is what type of information the CRM software can collect and display for each customer and whether it is easily accessible 24 hours a day. Can the CRM solution show a holistic view of your customer to all stakeholders, allowing for quick response in critical situations? When you work in the financial industry, you may need to collect a great deal of information about each customer for compliance and also to better serve them. This information must be updated regularly and contain details of your most recent transactions. All CRM systems allow you to keep track of basic personal information such as customer name, phone number and address, but you also need to keep track of other vital information and analytics if you want to provide the best service. For example, in the financial services industry, you may need to track the conversations you have about specific investments, risk appetite, and goals. Storing this information in your CRM software allows you to easily reference it before offering advice and also helps in cross-selling.

Purchasing behavior tracking

Another feature you may want to look for in a CRM solution for the financial industry is the ability to track customer decisions and activities. For example, if you sell investment products to your clients, you need to be able to track which products each client prefers and buys. By tracking this information, you can develop a profile of each client and find out what types of investments they like. This way, when a new product becomes available, you can easily print a list of customers who may be interested in it. Tracking your customers’ past decisions will give you an idea of ​​how they might be willing to invest in the future and the most appropriate product to offer.

Smart marketing/cross-selling campaigns

Many CRM platforms allow you to tailor marketing messages to your customers based on the information collected. For example, if your company is promoting a particular mutual fund, you can easily scan all of your clients who are interested in bonds and mutual funds. You can also see which clients are looking for more investment opportunities, based on conversations you’ve had in the past. At that point, the CRM system can send personalized emails to each customer with the relevant marketing messages using custom templates. Monthly newsletters related to the investment scenario and other key trends can also be sent to a specific mailing list using a mass mailing.

After sending marketing messages, it can also be beneficial to be able to track recipients’ responses to the message and have clarity regarding those that weren’t delivered. Some CRM programs allow you to easily track this information using delivery reports and generating alerts based on specific filter conditions. By studying this information, you can measure how much interest the customer has in the product you offered in the marketing message and create follow-up tasks. Text message campaigns for offers with time limits can be created to instantly generate new leads and capture their details through the CRM solution to ensure effective follow-up and optimal conversions.

Automatic alerts and reminders

When choosing a CRM solution for your financial services business, you should also find one that generates reminders based on configurable settings. One of the most important factors in being successful in the financial services industry is developing relationships with your customers. CRM today incorporates impressive social networking features to make it easy to view profile information, comments, and mutual friends. They will also remind you of important dates in the client’s life, such as birthdays and anniversaries, which can go a long way toward growing your relationships. Most CRM programs even integrate with automated mail services to send birthday cards or other greetings to prospects and customers. Customers like to be remembered and enjoy the personalized touch.

Receiving reminders from your CRM program can also be beneficial when it comes to selling new products and services to your customers. In some cases, you can approach a customer about a particular product you want to sell and he’ll tell you to check back in a month. At that time, you can enter this information into your CRM program and set a reminder for the appropriate day and time. An alert can be set up a few hours before the scheduled discussion to ensure that all related open activities are completed and that you are equipped with up-to-date information to increase your chances of winning an opportunity. Most clients will be impressed that you remembered and are well informed, so they will be more receptive to your proposals.

Collaboration between all stakeholders

Depending on the size of your business, you may also need to be able to collaborate with multiple departments, partners, and even customers. If the financial CRM solution offers the ability to allow multiple users to access and enter information, this will increase synergy in the business and help serve customers in the most efficient and effective manner.

For example, when someone from your company talks to a customer, you can take notes about the conversation and enter that information into your CRM program. Then, when someone else contacts the same person, they will be able to see the content of the last conversation with that customer. Seeing this, the employee does not have to repeat old information that the client has already been subjected to in the past. This will please the customer and save time for the company as a whole.

Ideal business size

The size of your business also influences the type of financial services CRM solution you should implement. The requirements of large organizations in terms of scalability, integration, processes are more complex and demanding than those of a small or medium-sized company. These depend on the number of users, products offered, geographical dispersion of the teams, etc. You should evaluate both cloud CRM (SaaS CRM) and on-premises CRM with an option to switch when necessary based on an organization’s needs.

Integration with other systems

Before choosing a financial services CRM solution for your financial services, you may also want to find out if it integrates with other programs you currently use to store important customer and product related information. For example, if the CRM system allows you to integrate with MS Excel, MS Access, real-time trading systems, etc. this can increase efficiency. If users have to use completely different programs and re-enter data, adoption will be low, so the CRM program may not be worth buying.

The ultimate goal of using a financial services CRM solution is to increase customer loyalty and prevent churn in a crowded and competitive business environment. This software has the potential to improve the user experience by making the marketing and sales processes easier and more efficient. Because of this, you have the potential to keep your customers coming back for more. With most companies, customers can get the same products that a competitor offers. The reason they come back to you is because of the service you provide: accurate updates, market insights and timely advice.

Regardless of the financial services CRM solution you choose, make sure the solution provider has good domain knowledge and previous experience implementing it in an organization similar to your size and business. You should always check the references and the tangible benefits that the implementation provided.