If you’ve been paying attention to the proverbial “winds of change” in wealth management software, you’ve likely heard the term “client personalization.” Personalization includes the processes, platforms and people interactions of curating client experiences that are relevant, valuable and timely. Ideally, this hyper-customization occurs throughout the client’s entire experience, which can result in lucrative long-term investment relationships.
Not surprisingly, expectations on both the client and RIA end are evolving in line with these pre-existing trends. Some reports claim that 73% of customers increasingly expect companies to cater to their individual needs, with another 76% becoming frustrated when they don’t have personalized experiences. Artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities integrated into software solutions only heighten both the ability and requirement firms have to provide personalized interactions.
Here are three ways RIAs can leverage AI to create more personalized client experiences.
1) Offering On-Demand Financial Service
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Wealth management clients are tearing a page from a Sorkin script, expecting answers to their questions and concerns, and they expect those answers ASAP. AI allows RIAs to fulfill what could be, without the technology, a nearly impossible requirement. One way firms can provide this on-demand, 24/7 service is by adopting chatbots.
Programming chat software with frequently asked questions, escalation rules and machine-learning capabilities allows wealth management tools to offer self-service options for customers contacting them off-hours. Chatbots also enable shorter wait times, particularly for large firms that receive lots of incoming calls.
Similarly, clients can get more visibility into their investments and financial accounts via online platforms and integrations with other software tools. Especially for Millennial and Gen-Z clients used to social media and shopping apps that perform real-time updates and instant purchases, wealth management firms should provide account portals with visibility into portfolios. AI allows for more specific and relevant insights into each client’s situation.
Other benefits of an AI-enabled online wealth management portal include:
- Access to market data and stock news.
- Alerts for new, lucrative opportunities and market fluctuations.
- Proactive updates and recommendations from advisors with more visibility into each client’s unique situation.
- Educational resources for training clients on financial management and investing.
Even the most basic personalized services can differentiate both large and small firms from the competition. Emphasizing convenience and efficiency through the adoption of AI tools enables a firm’s human staff to focus on what they do best: delivering exceptional experiences and achieving real results through informed investment decisions.
2) Orchestrating End-to-End AI Personalization
A significant part of personalization involves crafting strategic, end-to-end customer experiences that encourage specific actions and key milestones in their investment journey. Often called omnichannel marketing, this approach emphasizes creating seamless, cohesive touchpoints across all channels throughout the buying process, which is a process made easier with AI.
Viewing customer and RIA interaction as a continuum of connected experiences enables firms to better understand their clients’ mindsets. Integrating behavioral data, customer relationship management tools and automated back-office processes can create an AI-enabled powerhouse that offers a truly end-to-end solution; or, at the very least, the closest thing most wealth management firms will realistically be able to get to one. Thinking less like a traditional financial institution and more like a tech start-up can help wealth management firms adopt the agility and willingness to take technological risks that pay off in the long run.
To curate the best personalized experience, firms should use AI to create audience personas that naturally lend themselves to targeted segmentation. In this way, RIAs and firms can send customized emails, text messages, articles and promotions to customers that fall into a predetermined set of categories. Creating newsletters themed around different financial topics is a significant first step in growing readership numbers through subscriptions and speaking directly to clients with particular needs.
Generative AI tools can also serve as one-stop content creation shops for enterprising RIAs. Crafting personalized emails to target audience segments, designing engaging ads in the firm’s branding style, and researching consumer trends and market patterns become much easier with generative AI and its requisite plugins. Mastering this technology frees up RIA time to focus on strategies that attract new customers and keep existing ones satisfied.
3) Providing the Best of AI and Human Financial Service
Personalized customer experiences are only possible with accurate and relevant data. With the help of AI, wealth management software can identify trends, aggregate information, and present insights in readable, automated reports. By having a direct line of vision into customer behavior and being better able to pick out patterns, RIAs and wealth management firms can capitalize on opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to see.
Ultimately, AI generates an array of new opportunities for hyper-personalization. Turn AI-powered personalization into real operational efficiency. Our vision for AI is a transformation from what could be to what is. Click here to learn more.
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