Case Study: Salesforce Financial Services Cloud Implementation

The Backstory

A leading financial advisory firm managing billions in client assets faced significant challenges as it grew. While Salesforce supported sales operations and HubSpot captured client engagement, client information was scattered across multiple systems, spreadsheets, and email threads. Advisors spent more time searching for data than advising clients, and compliance tracking was inefficient, leading to delays in audit preparation.

Client communications were inconsistent, and personalization was limited as insights were spread across different platforms. As the business scaled, the lack of integration became a critical issue. The firm knew it needed a unified solution: a platform that could centralize client data, automate KYC and onboarding, improve compliance controls, and give advisors a comprehensive 360° view of every client. Salesforce Financial Services Cloud (FSC) was identified as the solution, and One Metric was chosen as the implementation partner.

Challenges Before the Integration

Disconnected Sales-to-Finance Workflow

The firm had multiple legacy systems, each housing essential client data like financial accounts, documents, and interactions. This fragmentation caused inefficiencies in how data was shared across departments, particularly between marketing, sales, and compliance. Advisors were unable to access a complete, real-time view of client interactions, leading to missed opportunities and poor client engagement.

Additionally, because of this lack of integration, regulatory teams struggled with compliance reporting and maintaining audit trails. Compliance checks were often manual, inconsistent, and delayed due to the fragmented data and systems.

Ineffective or Partial Integrations Tried Earlier

Previous integrations failed to provide a robust, centralized client view. The firm attempted partial solutions using email threads, spreadsheets, and ad-hoc integrations, but these did not streamline data sharing or communication.

As a result, client data, including goals, financial accounts, and compliance documents, were often duplicated or incorrectly mapped, leading to confusion and errors. Incomplete data led to inefficiencies in meeting client needs and making timely, accurate decisions.

Data Model and Structural Misalignment

The firm’s client, household, and account data were stored across multiple systems. This created challenges in aligning key fields, such as contact details, relationships, and account structures. Without a unified data model, it was impossible to track the complete client lifecycle across systems.

The data structure also created barriers to automating core functions such as KYC, client onboarding, and transaction tracking. Legacy systems were not built to handle the interconnectivity required by the firm’s growing client base.

Inconsistent Reporting and Forecasting

With disparate systems storing client data, the firm faced difficulties in reporting on pipeline performance, compliance status, and financial metrics. Marketing, sales, and compliance teams all had their own versions of the truth, and there was no way to unify this data for accurate forecasting or reporting.

This misalignment created inefficiencies when preparing for audits, forecasting revenue, and tracking KPIs. Reports were manually compiled, often incomplete, and were not trusted by leadership due to inconsistencies between systems.

How We Implemented the Solution

1. Mapped the Complete Revenue / Operational Lifecycle

We initiated the project with a series of workshops across Sales, Finance, RevOps, and Compliance teams to document how client data flowed through the organization. This process identified the key challenges with their data model and lifecycle management.

We defined the future-state operating model by aligning lifecycle stages for clients and accounts. This included building out the key relationships between households, accounts, clients, dependents, and other related entities within Salesforce Financial Services Cloud.

2. Selected the Right Integration or Platform

Salesforce Financial Services Cloud was selected due to its strong capabilities in wealth management, client lifecycle tracking, and its seamless integration with existing CRM tools. Previous tools were insufficient to manage the complexity of financial relationships, and they lacked the customization required for KYC, compliance, and financial goal management.

FSC met the client’s need for a unified solution, supporting both the back-office data needs (financial accounts, transactions) and front-office advisor needs (client interactions, goals).

3. Standardized and Rebuilt the Data Model Across Systems

To achieve a seamless integration, we restructured the data model within Salesforce.

This included:

• Mapping clients, households, and accounts to a standardized structure.
  

• Aligning the product catalog for financial products and services.

• Standardizing contact and account data to eliminate duplicates.
  

• Rebuilding relationships within Salesforce to represent the real-world connections between clients, households, and accounts.
  
  

These changes established Salesforce as the single source of truth, ensuring that every department had access to reliable, up-to-date client data.

4. Automated the End-to-End Workflow

Automation was key to improving efficiency and accuracy. We automated KYC processes, account opening, and compliance checks through Salesforce workflows. Key steps such as document collection, approval flows, and regulatory reporting were automated to ensure compliance with minimal manual effort.

For example, once a new client was onboarded, their account details and compliance documentation were automatically captured in Salesforce, and the data was used to trigger the next steps in the onboarding process, such as document verification and risk assessment.

5. Created Real-Time Sync Loops

We implemented real-time synchronization across Salesforce and other legacy systems. This ensured that updates in financial accounts, client information, and transaction statuses were instantly reflected across all departments, improving operational efficiency and data accuracy.

With real-time syncing, advisors could view updated client data, while compliance teams had access to the most recent KYC documentation and audit trails.

6. Established Bi-Directional Data Governance

A robust data governance framework was implemented to ensure data accuracy and consistency across Salesforce and integrated systems. Clear rules were established for data entry, updates, and deletion, ensuring that both financial data and client records were managed according to compliance standards.

This governance model helped ensure long-term data integrity, preventing version drift and ensuring that each team worked from the same dataset.

7. Delivered Unified Reporting and Dashboards

We built real-time dashboards and reporting tools that integrated financial, client, and compliance data. Leadership could now access a complete view of client data, pipeline performance, revenue attribution, and compliance status in one place.

This unified reporting system eliminated the need for manual reconciliation, saved time, and provided leadership with accurate, actionable insights at their fingertips.

Outcomes Delivered

The implementation of Salesforce Financial Services Cloud brought measurable improvements across the advisory firm's operations:

• 40% reduction in manual data entry and back-office processes

• 15% increase in client retention over the first year, due to improved client engagement

• Near-100% adherence to internal compliance workflows, simplifying audits
  

• 20% uplift in revenue attributed to improved service and process efficiency
  

• Real-time access to critical data for advisors, improving client service and productivity
  

• Full compliance with KYC and regulatory standards, reducing audit preparation time
  

• 360° client profiles that provided advisors with a full view of client relationships and goals

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