Please note: This blog was originally written for the Journal of Financial Planning.
Many advisors are limiting their firms’ growth potential because they’re hesitant to implement automation.
The reasons for this hesitation are deep-seated and multifaceted. When I work with advisors and their teams, I hear questions like:
- Will automation take over our jobs?
- Will automation impersonalize client touchpoints and decrease authenticity?
- What if we don’t like what we implement and waste time and money?
The truth is that automation is a great way for advisors to enhance their services, streamline their business, and increase their impact – all while burning fewer resources on manually keeping the business running. In this article, we’ll be reviewing how automation can function in your business and what framework to use when building out these new processes.
A Prerequisite
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this before diving in:
If your business doesn’t have repeatable workflows in place, stop here. Do not pass go or collect $100—it’s time to implement them!
You can’t automate a process that only lives in your head. Before applying my automation framework to your business, document your workflows and processes. You can use a whiteboard technique or store everything in your project management or cloud-based document storage.
Once that’s complete, you’re ready to automate!
The 8-Step Automation Audit Framework
Automation is the key to getting more done in less time. With an automation audit, you’ll look at all of your firm’s workflows and identify which steps can (and need to be) automated to reduce the amount of:
- Repeatable manual tasks your team has to complete
- Potential mistakes that come from human error
- Brain space it takes to remember and execute each step in a workflow
- Time and resources spent to get tasks done in your organization
The 8-step framework we’ll review today can be used to review one workflow at a time, or you can block a season of business to review and automate all your workflows.
A: Assess Existing Workflows and Tech Stack
Your first step is to gather any information your firm has stored on existing workflows and your current tech stack. This could include:
- Tech. A list of tech vendors and their contact information.
- Workflows. What workflows exist for your firm? These are often documented in your CRM or an Excel spreadsheet. Note: if you still have Excel sheet tracking workflows, that’s okay! Consider moving to a system during this process to increase efficiency and automation options.
- Team. A list of team members involved in each workflow
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). These are step-by-step guides for each step in your various workflows (these may have video training attached – this is helpful!).
U: Understand Core Automation Tool
Once you’ve gathered up all of your firm’s pertinent information, you’ll move to selecting which core automation tool your firm will use for all workflows. Consider both compatibility with your current tech stack and functionality – or how the tool will enhance your existing workflows.
When automating workflows for your firm, you have two primary automation tools available:
- Direct Integrations. Some of your tech vendors may be compatible with one another, and allow you to create direct integrations and automation between two systems.
- Automate using a third-party system. Typically, we use Powerautomate (for Microsoft users) and Zapier (good for other tech vendors and CRMs).
It’s critical to choose a path that works best for you and increases efficiency. In some cases, you may require a blend of direct integrations and third-party integrations to achieve the automation you’re looking for.
T: Tech Tool Identification
Take a look at the first workflow you want to automate, and ask yourself:
Which tech tool is used for each step in this specific process?
As you review the tech map for this workflow, start by creating a list of each tool you use throughout the workflow and when they come into play. This helps you clarify the big picture of which tool is being used and when. It can also help identify where there’s room for improvement.
If you’re ever uncertain about whether or not your team is using a specific tool as part of a workflow, don’t guess – ask! It’s critical to get this step right the first time so that any automation you set up for the firm works appropriately.
O: Optimize Integration Approach
You’ve already selected whether you plan to use direct integration or third-party automation for your firm. Now it’s time to get into the weeds with how each tool works, and what systems you need to connect in order to automate. Start by asking yourself these questions:
- Is there a direct integration between my two tech systems?
- If not, does an automated tool (like Zapier or Powerautomate) offer an integration?
- Does this integration address the specific task I need to automate?
- Will the integration I set up require a 2-part automation, or is the automation a seamless connection? For example, in using Zapier to automate email follow-up to clients who haven’t responded to onboarding emails, you may need to have their data routed to a spreadsheet that tracks whether or not a response is recorded, before the automation fires off a follow-up email using your email system.
Using Zapier or Powerautomate
If you’re using a third-party integration tool, like Zapier or Powerautomate, you’ll need to identify what options you have for initiating the automation you want to set up. This typically means deciding on a “trigger” that will kick off a specific task. For example, you may want a new contact to be added to your CRM when a call is scheduled via Calendly on your website. In this case, the “trigger” would be a new call scheduled in Calendly for a specific meeting type. Remember to document all of your automation and triggers so you can easily revise them over time, or fix them if they break!
Using Direct Integrations
Similarly, if you’re using direct integrations to automate tasks in your business, you will need to identify how to initiate an automation, and what triggers the task you need to automate. In some cases, you may find that your two systems “talk to” each other via an integration, and in other cases you’ll need to set up a true automation to trigger a task.
An integration is the simple transfer of data between two or more systems. Automation, on the other hand, is a data hand off that triggers a task being performed by one (or both) of your systems.
For example, if you want a form to map to your CRM so a client’s data is updated, that might be an integration – where, with the click of a button, the data can be mapped correctly. However, if you want a form that’s completed to map to your CRM and initiate the next step in the process without manual input from your team – an email recommending they schedule their kick off meeting – that would be an automation.
Using AI
Don’t forget that AI tools, such as ChatGPT, can be a fantastic way to simplify tasks. While they may not be a true automation tool, they can help your team to synthesize data, create communication templates, and more.
M: Mapping Workflow Automation Triggers
Ready to apply the “triggers” you’ve identified to your full workflow?
It often feels easy to decide what action needs to trigger an event or task within your automation, but it’s critical to take a step back and look at the workflow in its entirety before moving forward.
Ensure you’ve appropriately mapped out the sequential order of steps for each of your workflows and that the overall process flow is still working for your firm.
You can plug in the different automation trigger points within each step. Because your workflows are typically sequential, we must ensure each automation neatly steps us through your unique processes.
The kick-off point in automation is called the “initiation step.” You can identify your initiation steps by asking the following questions:
- What had to occur previously to bring me to this step? (Example: receiving an email, a form was submitted)
- What tech tool or system is being used for that step? (Example: Gmail, Jotform)
Next, you can identify the “trigger” steps by asking these questions:
- Once the initiation step occurs, what needs to happen next? (Example: email is received with a referral, referral’s contact information is added to our CRM)
- What tech tool is used to complete that task? (Example: Gmail, Redtail)
Rinse and repeat! You need to complete this trigger mapping process for each workflow step.
A: Analyze Integration vs. Automation
Now that you’ve identified the initiation and trigger steps in your workflows, you can determine whether a direct integration between two systems or using a third-party system for automation best meets your unique goals.
You’ve already selected which tool you want to automate with or whether you feel more comfortable using direct integration. Here’s where the rubber meets the road:
- Evaluate if the tech tools identified in the mapping of workflow automation triggers can be directly integrated. (Using the example above, this would be Gmail and Redtail).
- If yes, assess how this integration can facilitate your goal. Sometimes, even though two systems can directly integrate, automation options are limited.
- If there isn’t a direct integration possible, review your core automation tool (e.g., Zapier, Power Automate) for automation solutions. Repeat this process for each workflow step.
Remember: not all tools will directly integrate, and if they do, that doesn’t mean your automation goals will be achievable through direct integration. Using a blend of direct integration and a third-party tool is okay to streamline your business!
T: Team Documentation and Briefing
Automation initiatives are often scary for team members. Sometimes, it boils down to a fear of change and of the unknown. That’s why you or your operations manager needs to serve as a change agent during this transition. After all, without buy-in from your team, the automation you’ve spent so much time mapping and implementing won’t get used.
Start by setting up several training sessions for the team members impacted by your changes. During these sessions, you can:
- Illustrate how the automation you’ve created will be used
- Why you think it will be beneficial to clients and the firm
- Identify what impact it will have on the client’s experience
- Showcase how the changes will positively affect your team members
- Take Q&A from your team – make sure they all feel confident and comfortable moving forward
A statistic from McKinsey & Company shows that 70% of all business transformations fail – yikes!
Often, employee resistance and lack of management support is why the wheels fall off of automation and streamlining projects.
When people are genuinely invested, that’s when transformation happens and sticks. Having a team that’s all on the same page and excited about new initiatives at every level of the business is critical.
E: Establish and Implement
If you aren’t a decision-maker in your firm, now is the time to get the go-ahead to implement the recommended automation and changes. If you are a decision-maker, once you have your team trained and on board with the adjustments, you’re in the clear to move forward.
To effectively implement the automation changes you’ve mapped out, follow these steps:
- Sign up for and implement the identified automation solutions based on your firm’s defined processes and documentation.
- Set up each automation in your desired systems.
- Before launching an automation, thoroughly test them in a controlled environment to make sure they work – especially if the automation will have external visibility by clients, prospects, etc.
- Develop test scenarios that cover various use cases to validate functionality.
- Address and resolve any errors or bugs.
- Review the finalized automation and select a launch date to go live.
- Once your automation is live, provide ongoing training and support to team members – you may run into more questions than you think you will!
Going Forward
Congratulations, you’ve successfully completed the 8-step automation audit framework! Once you’re through the entire process with one automation, you can implement it across all company workflows. Make sure you have a plan to monitor automation solutions you have in place once they’re live, and adjust as necessary. You can focus on tracking key metrics, such as efficiency gains, error rates, and user feedback, to determine if a solution is working for your firm.
Have questions about getting your business automated? I encourage you to join our community at FinOps Co-op™. Advisors and operators are working together with industry experts to create efficiency within their practices, and level up their automation. Come join the conversation!
