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Financial services customer relationship management (CRM) software helps businesses in the finance industry manage their points of contact with leads at each step of their sales pipeline. Finance-focused firms use financial CRM tools to bring all their customer data into one application and consistently and methodically contact them for best engagement. 

What is a financial services CRM? 

Financial services CRM software functions much like a multipurpose customer relationship management (CRM) solution. It helps businesses build and manage relationships through automated workflows, contact and account databases, and organizational tools. It provides a centralized base from where all customer-focused activities are performed.

Financial services CRM specifically caters to financial businesses in its capabilities like billing and invoice management. Many financial services CRM solutions also integrate with other financial services software, making it easier for firms to consolidate their digital operations.

What purpose does it serve and for whom? 

Typically, financial services CRM solutions either are designed for financial institutions or are standard CRM tools that closely integrate with financial tools. Financial institutions vary, from traditional and investment banks to hedge funds and insurance agencies. Financial CRM software helps them create, build, and strengthen customer relationships with their specific clientele.  

Financial CRM software follows customers from first contact through ongoing account maintenance, ensuring that client needs are managed for improved customer satisfaction. A financial services CRM solution aims to maximize customer satisfaction and revenue, ensure compliance with stringent industry restrictions and regulations, and bring multiple customer business tools into a centralized system. For example, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act sets data protection requirements for businesses, like opt-out functions for customers. The Investment Advisers Act, which is set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), imposes conflicts of interest disclosure on financial services companies.

What are its key features?

Systems vary between vendors in terms of pricing, deployment options, and scale. However, it is important to look for the following features in your financial services CRM:

    • Contact databases: Store all lead contact information, such as phone numbers and job title, so the CRM can draw from that data whenever necessary
    • Sales pipeline: Clearly visualizes each step of the sales pipeline and allows sales teams to see how each lead and potential deal progresses 
    • Lead and opportunity management: Help businesses nurture leads and determine which are highly qualified
    • Workflow customization: Allows sales and marketing teams to design the series of events that occur based on an initial triggering event (for example, if a lead clicks a link in an email)
    • Customer price quoting: Helps teams to customize and generate quotes
    • Integrated billing: Provides templates for invoices and stores payment records
    • Calendars and scheduling: Suggest or place meetings on sales employees’ calendars based on their availability and leads’ availability 
    • Automated alerts and notifications: Send emails, desktop alerts, or mobile notifications to sales and marketing teams based on predefined controls and events
    • Relationship modeling (also known as CRM modeling): Frames each stage of the customer relationship journey through a set of steps a business plans to take while developing a relationship with leads 
    • Financial account management: Provides digital oversight for accounts like loans and investments
  • Regulatory compliance support: Tracks financial firms’ progress on compliance tasks for regulations like the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

Benefits of financial services CRM

Financial services CRM benefits businesses in a number of ways:

Lead nurturing and quick conversion

A good financial services CRM tool offers visibility of every stage of the sales journey. It reminds users when they should contact customers, tracks and nurtures leads, and facilitates collaboration with colleagues.

Automation of common financial processes

Using a financial services CRM solution allows businesses to automate previously time-consuming tasks. For example, some CRM tools provide customizable templates for financial forms, like invoices, so companies can quickly generate consistent documentation for financial records. 

Improved remote work flexibility

Financial services CRM solutions provide customer management for sales and marketing teams that are both in-office and remote. Web- or desktop-application-based CRM software that’s designed for mobile devices adds another layer of flexibility, allowing sales reps to easily answer emails or take notes on a phone. 

What integrations do financial services CRM software have? 

Financial services CRM solutions often support integrations for the following software categories:

  • Calendar and scheduling 
  • Communication and collaboration
  • Document and file storage
  • Email 
  • Marketing
  • Custodial management  

These tools add more functionality to existing CRM features within the financial CRM software.

Financial services CRM platforms also integrate with other tools for financial firms, like investment portfolio management software and accounting programs. These finance-specific tools extend the reach of businesses’ CRM capabilities.

Financial services CRM vendors

The following CRM providers offer financial services to organizations:

Sugar CRM 

Sugar CRM is designed for banking, investing, and insurance firms. Sugar’s personalized prospecting solution helps sales employees to plan their days, providing reminders to contact customers about balances. AI-powered data analytics predict lead journeys and conversions. 

Sugar CRM has four pricing options:

  • Sell, starting at $49/user/month
  • Serve, starting at $80/user/month
  • Enterprise, starting at $85/user/month for on-premises deployments
  • Market, starting at $1,000/month for organizations with over 10,000 contacts 

Salesforce 

Salesforce is a CRM solution designed for organizations of all sizes, although larger financial institutions will especially benefit from its high levels of customization. Salesforce isn’t specifically tailored to financial institutions, but its wealth of CRM features makes it suitable for most industries. Salesforce allows businesses to build banking applications atop their platform, including apps for retail, commercial, corporate and investment, and mortgage and lending banking. Insurance task prioritization helps agents tackle cases based on urgency.

Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing plans include:

  • Essentials, $25/user/month
  • Professional, $75/user/month
  • Enterprise, $150/user/month
  • Unlimited, $300/user/month

Wealthbox

Wealthbox is a web-based CRM designed for financial advisors. It offers features such as business opportunity tracking, file storage, and a mobile application. Wealthbox also has security features, including 256-bit encryption over SSL, two-factor authentication, and customizable session time-out durations. 

Wealthbox pricing plans include: 

  • Basic, $35/user/month
  • Pro, $49/user/month
  • Premier, $65/user/month
  • Enterprise, available by contacting vendor

Read next: Best Financial Services CRM Software

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