A UK-based financial advisory firm specializing in financial planning, investment, and pension management wanted to enhance operational efficiency by integrating Pipedrive into their workflows. This integration linked multiple third-party tools, including Calendly, Google Drive, CashCalc, Voyant, Xplan, and Zapier, using readily available off-the-shelf components. The approach avoided custom scripting, deployment, or real-time data pipelines, justifying a simpler implementation example of a Pipedrive Booster. The primary objectives were to improve client management, automate task scheduling, streamline communication, and coordinate tasks.
Key challenges: workflow bottlenecks, financial planning inefficiencies, disconnected tools
As we began investigating our client’s processes and workflows in Pipedrive, we immediately discovered several bottlenecks and inefficiencies that hindered scaling and jeopardized customer trust. These issues needed to be automated immediately. Here’s what we found.
Chaotic Customer Onboarding
Our client’s onboarding for financial planning services relied heavily on manually entering and updating essential information like names, birth dates, and addresses. This manual process was time-consuming, error-prone, and delayed the entire onboarding cycle, negatively impacting customer satisfaction and onboarding momentum.
Inefficient Scheduling
Activities such as scheduling financial planning meetings for the customers were handled through Calendly without integration with their CRM, Pipedrive. This disconnect required staff to manually verify and update schedules, wasting valuable time and increasing the risk of scheduling conflicts. Such inefficiencies delayed financial planning for customers and worsened their experience.
Disconnected Financial Planning Tools
The financial planning workflow suffered due to the use of several uncoordinated tools. Staff had to enter data repeatedly across platforms like CashCalc, Voyant, and Xplan, increasing the risk of mistakes. This lack of integration led to significant delays in producing and delivering financial plans, further contributing to lowered customer morale and slowed momentum.
Key solutions: tool integration, multiple automation, single customer view
With our help, our client took major steps to upgrade their key workflows—client onboarding, data gathering, and financial planning—by bringing in Pipedrive, aiming to cut down on inefficiencies and boost productivity. Here’s a clear rundown of the solutions we put in place to meet client needs.
Automated Deal Creation and Scheduling
We used Pipedrive’s integration with Calendly to automate the first point of client contact. Now, when a client books a meeting via Calendly, Pipedrive automatically creates a deal with all the necessary client details. This eliminates manual data entry, ensures no client interactions are overlooked, and sets the stage for efficient follow-up.
Variety of Operational Automations
We set up multiple automations to streamline small tasks prone to falling through the cracks. For example, to speed up and streamline communication with their customers, we set up automated emails in Pipedrive. We use customized templates for various stages of the financial planning process. Once a financial plan is ready, Pipedrive automatically sends it to the client. This quickens the approval process, increasing customer satisfaction and engagement. If a customer hasn’t sent in the necessary forms or documents within 7 days, Pipedrive sends out a reminder email. This ensures tasks are completed promptly, reducing the need for the client’s staff to manually track and follow up, and keeps customer engagement moving smoothly.
Central Customer-Centered Document Repository using Integration with Google Drive
Linking Google Drive with Pipedrive allowed the client to centralize all client-related documents within their specific deal files in Pipedrive. Now, any document uploaded by the client is automatically sorted and linked to the right client file, securing data and improving access and teamwork across members.
Tool Integration and Coordination
After gathering data, we configured Pipedrive to start creating financial plans using Voyant automatically. These plans are directly linked back to the client’s deal file in Pipedrive, ensuring all information is current and accessible. This speeds up the financial review process and keeps clients’ planning accurate and up-to-date.
Wrapping up: ready for scaling!
With these practical improvements deployed as part of our Pipedrive Booster implementation, we’ve crafted a solution that not only simplifies day-to-day operations but also boosts the client’s ability to provide top-notch customer service. Our forward-thinking use of Pipedrive ensures our client remains competitive in the financial advisory market and is ready to scale operations!
Photo attribution
As usual, the featured image of the article is a photograph that corresponds with the article’s topic. This time, the shoutout goes to Clark Van Der Beken via Unsplash.
