The Top 5 Most Common Pitfalls when Onboarding New Tech

While the finance industry has historically been slow to integrate new tech, the advances in technology (including remote work) have changed the client experience and how advisors work – forever.

Now that work forces are more distributed, advisor tech is a more essential component than ever to running an efficient business, providing top-notch service to clients and attracting prospects.

But while new technology can be a huge time-saver, the whole team must be on board with implementing it and adapting to these changes. Otherwise, your firm’s tech stack becomes more of a hurdle than a help. As a result, firms can actually become less organized and spend more time on menial tasks.

To avoid this, it’s helpful to understand the biggest pitfalls of onboarding new technology. Here’s your guide to recognizing and avoiding these common problems.

Pitfall #1: Rushing the Due Diligence Process

When it comes to integrating something new into your firm, it always pays to do your homework. So it should come as no surprise that great tech begins with a comprehensive due diligence process.

Spend time vetting your options and determining what works best for you. The most expensive software might not actually be the best fit for your firm, it all depends on your needs as a team and the functionality that works best for you.

Remember: You’ve made it this far without that shiny new software, you can make it a little longer. Don’t feel like you need to rush a decision (even if a sales person tries to tell you otherwise). Many of these products require contracts, and you don’t want to lock yourself into a multi-year commitment on a costly tool your team never uses.

Pitfall #2: Not Assigning a Project Manager Internally

Once you’ve vetted and selected new tech for your firm, it’s time to begin the onboarding process. Depending on the product, it’s likely your vendor will do a bit of hand-holding as you get settled. But don’t plan on relying on your vendor to handle the full implementation and integration of their product into your firm’s operations.

Instead, assign an internal key leader (like an operations manager or even a client service associate) to lead the charge. That person will ensure deadlines are hit, meetings are set and that the onboarding is a success.

Pitfall #3: Not Dedicating Enough Time for Training

New tech is great, but only if you know what you’re doing with it. If it sits on your computer untouched for months, it won’t do your firm any good. Build in time for you and any other key people in the firm to train, train and train some more until everyone has a good grasp on how to use it.

Different types of technology take varying amounts of time to learn and use correctly. As you start researching options, keep in mind how intuitive or complex a new product may be to integrate into your systems.

And even after your team knows their way around the new software, build in time to train your team on how you expect them to use it. As any advisor who struggles with duplicate data knows all too well, just because someone knows how to create a client record in Salesforce doesn’t necessarily mean they should.

Pitfall #4: Bad Data in Other Systems

Integration is king when it comes to optimizing your techstack. To maximize efficiency and keep firms ultra-organized, systems should work together and share data as needed. But if you aren’t confident in how clean your data is, then sharing it across systems can cause a lot of harm and confusion.

Adding new software is an ideal time to review all of your current tech and perform a firmwide data cleanup.

Pitfall #5: Not Knowing What to Prioritize

Today’s tech offerings tend to come with all the bells and whistles. For a new user, this can be pretty overwhelming. But keep in mind that you don’t have to, and often can’t, implement everything at once.

Instead, prioritize what you believe is the most necessary piece to implement first. Complete the setup process for one component from start to finish before moving on to the next agenda item. Trying to do it all at once is overwhelming and, in some cases, might take longer than if you prioritized and took it one task at a time.

Top Off Your Tech Stack with Riskalyze

As you keep an eye out on the latest and great advisor tech to incorporate into your firm, make sure to schedule your free tour of Riskalyze today. Learn how Riskalyze helps advisors create a more streamlined prospecting pipeline and tailored client experience.