How to Use Salesforce at a Financial Advisor Firm

Savvy advisors understand the importance of building a robust tech stack featuring a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) system. But which one should you choose? If you’re interested in a cloud-based, AI-powered tool you can use to attract new prospects, drive engagement and manage client data more efficiently, Salesforce is one option you might want to consider. And those are just some of the benefits of using Salesforce for financial advisors.

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What Is Salesforce?

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software that’s been around since 1999. The Salesforce Financial Services Cloud was voted the No. 1 financial services product for 2026 on G2, a leading online platform for software reviews. It’s also a leading AI-powered CRM, based on the IDC 2025 H1 Revenue Market Share Worldwide report. ¹

At a glance, Salesforce equips businesses with the tools necessary to:

• Connect with new prospects
• Close more sales
• Engage with current clients
• Create strategic marketing campaigns
• Automate tasks for increased efficiency
• Analyze data to glean helpful insights for scaling

Businesses from a range of industries rely on Salesforce for their CRM needs. In the financial services space, Salesforce is a popular choice among financial advisors, broker-dealers, wealth managers and bankers.

Benefits of Salesforce for Financial Advisors

What makes Salesforce a good CRM for advisors? Here are some of the reasons financial advisors and wealth managers choose Salesforce over competitors like Redtail and Wealthbox.

• Salesforce enables you to develop multi-layered client profiles, enhancing your ability to offer timely, personalized and actionable advice.
• Advisors can build targeted contact lists to better prioritize engagement and strengthen relationships with prospects and clients.
• Built-in productivity tools allow you to increase productivity and efficiency while offering a seamless digital experience for your clients.
• New clients can enjoy a seamless digital onboarding experience driven by preconfigured templates, while built-in discovery tools facilitate compliance with Know Your Client (KYC) rules.
• Mobile functionality means you can access client information from anywhere and respond to client inquiries promptly.
• Salesforce allows for collaboration and information-sharing across all members of your team. When paired with automated workflows, this can save time while minimizing room for error.
• Personalized portals empower clients to seek (and find) answers when they need them.
• Visualizer tools offer a snapshot of client finances, making it easier to develop actionable goals that support their financial plans.
• Salesforce is built with compliance in mind, helping to ensure that you’re consistent in meeting federal and state regulatory guidelines.

Additionally, Salesforce offers a number of related products that are designed to support and enhance the features included in the Financial Services Cloud. For example, Agentforce allows you to handle customer support needs through autonomous AI agents, while the Sales Cloud can help you engage clients more effectively and close deals faster.

Whether Salesforce is the best CRM for you can depend on your firm’s needs and what problems you’re attempting to solve as you scale. You might find it helpful to compare Salesforce to other CRMs for financial advisors to see how they measure up in terms of the features, benefits and cost.

Using Salesforce to Grow Your Advisory Business

When evaluating a CRM for your advisory firm, it’s important to consider what the software brings to the table. Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of solutions that can help advisors run and grow their businesses through the Financial Services Cloud.

The Financial Services Cloud features extensive AI capabilities spanning every stage of the client relationship.

Here are some of the ways you can use Salesforce to grow your advisory business:

Simplify Client Onboarding

A smooth client onboarding experience can set the tone for a solid relationship going forward. Salesforce streamlines onboarding by integrating data analysis and AI, allowing you to:

• Collect client data using pre-configured templates
• Share disclosures, consent forms and other onboarding documentation digitally
• Verify client information following Know Your Client (KYC) rules
• Establish secure client portals to amplify the customer experience
• Develop workflows that allow everyone on your team to monitor the client’s progress through the onboarding process

All of these features help make it easier to add new clients to the books without tying up hours of their time (or yours).

Build Trust and Boost Revenues

Trust is critical for converting prospects to clients, as well as retaining clients you already have. Salesforce provides a comprehensive view of client data and built-in communication tools designed to help you build trust and close more sales.

Here are some of the things you can do with Salesforce to fuel growth:

• Filter contact lists to identify high-net-worth or highest-priority prospects and clients
• Deploy real-time analytics to better understand a prospect or client’s current and future needs
• View client data in one place to pinpoint areas of opportunity and develop actionable plans for meeting those needs
• Create financial plans that are tailored to individual client goals, complete with action checklists
• Refine your client list segmentation

You can also use Salesforce to improve customer service and satisfaction using AI-powered add-on services that coordinate with the Financial Services Cloud. Salesforce leverages predictive, generative AI and agentic AI to help advisors better serve their clients and grow their businesses. Agentforce, for example, can help you develop marketing content to share with your audience in less time.

Increase Engagement

Engaged clients are more likely to remain your clients for the long term. Driving engagement is all about getting to know your clients and tailoring your approach to meet their individual needs.

You can use Salesforce to stay engaged by:

• Creating unified financial profiles of your clients’ assets and liabilities
• Reviewing profiles to gain a deeper understanding of a client’s cash flow and net worth
• Leveraging those insights to develop actionable financial plans

The Salesforce Data 360Cloud pulls it all together for you, giving you a real-time view of a client’s financial data. The Data 360 Cloud enables you to segment your prospect and client lists, and mold engagement to fit where they are in their financial journeys and where they’d like to go next. This feature can allow you to scale more efficiently and grow wallet share by targeting assets held away.

Salesforce Pricing

Salesforce pricing varies based on the service plan you choose. There are three core plans for the Financial Services Cloud:

• Financial Services Cloud for Sales: $325 per user, per month
• Financial Services Cloud for Service: $325 per user, per month
• Financial Services Cloud for Sales and Service: $350 per user, per month

All prices listed are starting prices. The cost can increase as you add on supporting products. Add-on pricing per product ranges from $15 to $1,250.

If you would like to incorporate Agentforce AI into your package, the price rises to $750 per user, per month for all plans. Salesforce also offers plans for insurance agents, which may be appealing if you plan to get an insurance license to expand your services.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

Salesforce can offer significant value to financial advisors who are interested in harnessing the power of AI through a CRM solution. Exploring the range of possibilities Salesforce offers financial advisors can help you decide if it makes sense for your business. And if you’re interested in learning more, consider signing up for a free trial of the Financial Services Cloud.

Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business

• An effective marketing plan can help you attract new clients and increase sales, but developing one can be a time-consuming effort. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• As your business grows, it’s possible that your CRM needs may shift. You may consider switching to a new CRM if you need more integration capabilities or a broader range of integration tools, or if you’re dissatisfied with the value you’re getting in exchange for what you’re paying. If you’re shopping around for a new CRM, look for platforms that allow you to schedule a demo or free trial so you can test the features before committing.

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