Overcoming 4 Challenges with Client Onboarding in Financial Services
I still vividly remember the pain and anguish of inefficient, manual client onboarding processes, even though it’s been a few years since I transitioned from being a financial advisor to leading Egnyte’s wealth management and buy-side practice.
The mountains of paperwork. Ugh.
The endless back-and-forth with clients and the new business department because something was forgotten or not filled out correctly. Ugh.
The constant worry of maintaining compliance. Double ugh.
It’s enough to want to start frustration Friday on Tuesday.
The good news is there are solutions you can adopt to create streamlined, compliant onboarding processes. Let’s look at my top onboarding pains and how to solve them.
1. Manual, paper-heavy processes
Many financial services firms still rely on inefficient, outdated, manual processes for client onboarding, often involving physical paperwork. These processes are error-prone and result in delays.
Firms can eliminate these inefficiencies by adopting a document management system with built-in workflows or a digital document workflow solution. These tools improve efficiency by automating document workflow management and streamlining the collection of required client information.
2. Regulatory and compliance complexity
Strict regulatory requirements, such as SEC, FINRA, SOX financial controls, and PCI compliance requirements for financial institutions, add layers of complexity to onboarding. The trick is navigating the intricacies of financial services compliance regulations and protecting sensitive client data without getting bogged down in what can already be a sluggish process.
The right workflow and document management system can automate compliance tasks such as tracking, classification, and archiving.
3. Fragmented technology systems
Advisors often juggle disconnected CRMs, document management systems, and compliance platforms, leading to data governance issues within their financial institutions. This lack of integration creates bottlenecks and slows down onboarding but also causes data sprawl, increasing the likelihood of a data breach and risks potential financial regulatory compliance violations.
A unified platform with integrated document and workflow management systems centralizes all onboarding-related tasks, eliminating silos. Features like document portals or client portals for guided document requests and secure file sharing and eSignature ensure smooth collaboration between advisors and clients while reducing delays caused by fragmented documents.
4. Poor communication and follow-up customer experiences
Many onboarding processes require in-person engagement and lack automated workflow task alerts and reminders. This creates delays and inconveniences for clients, especially more tech-savvy generations that demand conducting business from anywhere. It’s easier than ever to move to the competition, making this a pain point you can’t afford to ignore.
As with the other pains, leveraging financial services content management systems can make onboarding seamless and remote-friendly, allowing clients to submit required documentation anytime, anywhere. This ensures consistency, increases transparency, and doesn’t just benefit clients. Staff and advisor productivity is increased with automation that reduces delays and eliminates the need for repeated manual client follow-ups.
As an advisor, I struggled with these challenges daily. It’s one of the reasons I joined Egnyte. Egnyte’s content cloud for mission-critical content allows me to help other advisors streamline onboarding with automated workflows and templated document requests, consolidate tools (including e-signature), and simplify compliance.
Want to see it in action?
Check out our webinar, Transform Document Workflows for Financial Services, to see how Egnyte is working to help prevent another generation of advisors avoid these onboarding challenges.
