Cutting Onboarding Time by 30% with AI-Powered Data Extraction
Executive Summary
Harrington Legacy Advisors, a thriving wealth management firm, struggled with a time-consuming client onboarding process heavily reliant on manual data entry. By implementing Golden Door Asset's recommended AI-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system, Harrington Legacy Advisors automated the extraction of crucial data from client documents. This resulted in a 30% reduction in onboarding time, freeing up staff to dedicate more resources to client relationship management and strategic growth initiatives, ultimately improving client satisfaction and profitability.
The Challenge
Harrington Legacy Advisors manages over $500 million in assets for high-net-worth individuals and families. Their commitment to personalized service required a thorough onboarding process, including gathering detailed financial information from various sources: brokerage statements, tax documents, insurance policies, and personal identification. Before implementing an AI-powered solution, this process was painfully manual.
New clients would provide physical or digital copies of these documents, often in varying formats and quality. A dedicated team of three onboarding specialists spent an average of 12 hours per new client manually entering data into the firm's CRM and portfolio management systems. This included details like account numbers, asset allocations, cost basis, and beneficiary information.
The manual process was prone to errors, requiring time-consuming reconciliation and validation. A single incorrect entry could lead to miscalculated portfolio values, inaccurate reporting, and compliance issues. Moreover, the sheer volume of paperwork slowed down the entire onboarding pipeline, creating a bottleneck that impacted the firm's ability to rapidly scale its client base.
Specifically, Harrington Legacy Advisors estimated that the manual data entry process cost the firm approximately $75,000 annually in employee wages alone, not to mention the opportunity cost of having these employees tied up in administrative tasks rather than revenue-generating activities. The average onboarding cycle took 10 business days, which often led to frustrated clients eager to begin managing their investments. Further complicating matters, the increasing complexity of financial regulations demanded meticulous documentation, placing even greater strain on the existing manual processes. The firm estimated that data entry errors accounted for nearly 5% of all client reports and had to be manually corrected.
The Approach
Golden Door Asset recognized that Harrington Legacy Advisors' challenge stemmed from the inefficient manual data entry process. Our strategic approach focused on leveraging AI-powered OCR technology to automate data extraction and streamline the onboarding workflow.
Our recommended solution involved integrating an AI-powered OCR platform into Harrington Legacy Advisors' existing technology stack, specifically their document management system and CRM. We conducted a thorough evaluation of leading OCR solutions, considering factors such as accuracy, speed, security, and integration capabilities. After a comparative analysis, we selected Rossum's AI-powered OCR platform as the optimal choice due to its superior accuracy rates in extracting data from complex financial documents and its seamless integration with Harrington Legacy Advisors' existing systems.
The implementation process began with a pilot project involving a small group of new clients. This allowed us to fine-tune the system and train the AI models to accurately recognize the specific types of documents commonly used by Harrington Legacy Advisors' clients. We worked closely with Harrington Legacy Advisors' IT team to ensure a secure and compliant data transfer process.
Beyond the technology itself, we provided comprehensive training to Harrington Legacy Advisors' onboarding specialists on how to use the new system effectively. This training included guidance on how to review and validate the data extracted by the AI, as well as how to handle any exceptions or errors that may arise. The strategy prioritized a human-in-the-loop approach, leveraging AI for speed and efficiency while maintaining human oversight for accuracy and quality control. This also included the creation of standardized data validation checklists based on regulatory requirements.
Technical Implementation
The technical implementation involved several key steps:
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Platform Integration: We integrated Rossum's AI-powered OCR platform with Harrington Legacy Advisors' existing document management system (DMS), which utilized a cloud-based solution for secure document storage. This integration was achieved via API connectivity, allowing for seamless data transfer between the two systems. Rossum's API supports secure data transmission using TLS 1.2 or higher encryption.
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AI Model Training: Rossum's platform uses machine learning to continuously improve its data extraction accuracy. We trained the AI models using a sample set of 500 previously onboarded client documents, covering various document types, including brokerage statements from major custodians (e.g., Schwab, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade), tax forms (e.g., 1099s, K-1s), and insurance policies. This training process improved the AI's ability to accurately identify and extract key data fields.
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CRM Integration: We configured Rossum to automatically populate relevant fields in Harrington Legacy Advisors' CRM (Salesforce Financial Services Cloud) with the extracted data. This included fields such as account numbers, asset types, cost basis, beneficiary information, and contact details. The data mapping process ensured that the extracted data was accurately transferred to the corresponding CRM fields. We used custom Apex classes to ensure proper data format and validation within Salesforce.
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Data Validation Workflow: We implemented a data validation workflow that required Harrington Legacy Advisors' onboarding specialists to review and validate the extracted data before it was committed to the CRM. This workflow included a series of checks to ensure data accuracy and completeness. Any discrepancies were flagged for manual correction.
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Security & Compliance: We implemented robust security measures to protect client data, including encryption at rest and in transit, access controls, and regular security audits. The system was designed to comply with relevant regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. Data retention policies were implemented to ensure that client data was securely stored and disposed of in accordance with regulatory requirements. We employed tokenization for sensitive data fields to minimize the risk of data breaches.
The entire implementation process took approximately 8 weeks, including training and testing. The total cost of the implementation, including software licenses and professional services, was approximately $25,000.
Results & ROI
The implementation of the AI-powered OCR system yielded significant improvements in Harrington Legacy Advisors' onboarding process:
- Reduced Onboarding Time: The average onboarding cycle was reduced from 10 business days to 7 business days, a 30% improvement. This allowed Harrington Legacy Advisors to onboard new clients more quickly and efficiently.
- Increased Staff Productivity: The onboarding specialists were able to process 50% more new client applications per month, freeing up their time to focus on higher-value tasks such as client relationship management and business development. Instead of 12 hours per client, they spent approximately 6 hours on the onboarding process, primarily focused on data validation and exception handling.
- Reduced Data Entry Errors: The number of data entry errors was reduced by 80%, significantly improving data quality and reducing the need for reconciliation and validation. The number of client reports requiring manual correction decreased from 5% to less than 1%.
- Cost Savings: Harrington Legacy Advisors realized annual cost savings of approximately $45,000 in employee wages due to increased staff productivity and reduced data entry errors.
- Improved Client Satisfaction: Clients reported a higher level of satisfaction with the onboarding process, citing its speed and efficiency. The faster onboarding process also contributed to improved client retention rates. Specifically, client attrition decreased by 2% in the first year after implementing the system.
- Increased Revenue Potential: By streamlining the onboarding process, Harrington Legacy Advisors was able to onboard 20% more clients in the first year after implementation. This translated to an estimated increase in revenue of $100,000.
The ROI on the investment in the AI-powered OCR system was significant. Harrington Legacy Advisors recouped the initial investment within six months and is projected to realize substantial cost savings and revenue gains in the years to come.
Key Takeaways
- Prioritize Automation: Identify and automate repetitive, manual tasks such as data entry to improve efficiency and free up staff to focus on higher-value activities.
- Embrace AI Technology: AI-powered OCR technology can significantly streamline financial processes, reduce errors, and improve data quality.
- Integrate Systems: Ensure seamless integration between your OCR platform, document management system, and CRM to maximize the benefits of automation.
- Train Your Team: Provide comprehensive training to your staff on how to use the new system effectively and ensure they understand the importance of data validation.
- Measure Your Results: Track key metrics such as onboarding time, data entry errors, and staff productivity to quantify the ROI of your automation initiatives.
About Golden Door Asset
Golden Door Asset builds AI-powered intelligence tools for RIAs. Our platform helps advisors automate manual tasks, improve efficiency, and deliver a better client experience. Visit our tools to see how we can help your practice.