Time-saving AI notetaking tools to transform client meetings

By Antoinette Tuscano

AI notetaking tools can transform financial advisors’ productivity and engagement in client meetings, which likely is only the beginning as these tools become more comprehensive and mainstream.

How AI notetaking tools are used

Financial advisors can use AI notetaking tools to record client meetings, attach the notes in their CRM, create post-meeting tasks for the team, draft a post-meeting recap email to the client and write an agenda for the next meeting with the client.

What took four-year MDRT member Andy Makal an hour now takes minutes by using Plaud Note. Through Plaud, Makal records client meetings. The AI software then creates a PDF that goes into his CRM. He’s also created a meeting summary template in ChatGPT, which is used to generate to-do lists for both him and the client.

Plaud Note is an AI voice recorder that connects to his phone through an app. Plaud, which supports more than 100 languages, also can be snapped to a cell phone with a MagSafe case to record phone calls. When recording confidential meetings, though, it’s crucial to ensure that you haven’t opted to allow Plaud to use the information to train its AI models.

Other available tools

There are several different AI notetaking solutions to consider, such as Fathom and Fireflies, which can transcribe and summarize Zoom, Google Meet and Teams meetings.

Jump, Filenote.ai and Zocks are specifically for financial advisors, offering better integration with the specific tech stack financial advisors may be using, as well as providing more data security and compliance controls. Filenote.ai also includes features such as sending request forms to paraplanners and creating client mind maps.

What to be aware of

Eight-year MDRT member Elke Rubach, LL.M., CLU, records meetings using Otter.ai. Rubach cautions, though, “You must ask for the client’s permission to do this. It’s also important when you start recording that you give the dates and names of people in the meeting,” she said.

Furthermore, while the AI notetaking tools can save time and improve accuracy, how well they integrate into your specific office technology and CRM as well as data privacy should always be considered. There are also generally monthly fees for AI notetaking tools that offer more advanced functions, such as integrating with CRMs.

It’s critical to always check for accuracy, as mistakes can happen with AI. Financial advisors are responsible for what they send to clients. So, review and personalize meeting summaries before you email them to clients to remove errors and ensure they sound like you and not a bot. Clients appreciate a personal touch and knowing their financial advisor cares about them and what they send to them. It’s the ability to care about clients that AI and technology can’t replace.

Don’t become obsolete: 3 things to know about connecting with younger clients 

By Troy Harrison 

If your prospects or clients are more than 10 years younger than you, there could be a communication disconnect. 

Society underwent significant cultural and technological changes between the tail end of Generation X (born 1965 to 1980, per Pew Research Center) and the leading edge of the millennials (born 1981 to 1996). Those changes greatly impact what millennials want and expect as clients. Generation Z (born 1997 to 2012), coming behind the millennials, have the same tendencies — just amplified. In this case, “younger clients” means primarily millennials and Gen Zers. 

This doesn’t mean you have to age-match. Millennials and Gen Zers will engage with more seasoned financial advisors. What it does mean is that you have to style-match. In other words, you need to communicate with them in a way that works for them. 

Here are three things that you must know about style-matching to work with younger buyers: 

1. Younger clients flip the relationship-building script. The conventional way to build a relationship with a client was simple. You’d walk into the office, look around for photos, college diplomas or other clues about the client’s personal life, and then you’d start a conversation based upon those interests. But you can come across now as disingenuous if you’re starting conversations about personal issues. Younger buyers are business-first.

You’ll get more appointments by telling younger prospects how you can help them reach their financial goals or financially protect their businesses or families. Get to the point with great business-focused questions and show them you can help. If you’re able to address their needs or concerns, then they are open to lunch, drinks, golf or personal conversations. This is a significant but very important shift — but it’s one that you must make to succeed. 

2. Younger clients demand versatility in communication. Get good at texting. Learn how to send a persuasive, grammatically correct (yes, that’s important) message in 240 characters or less. 

You can use apps like ChatGPT to distill longer communications down to their essence while retaining persuasive ability. You just have to be able to write good AI prompts and edit when necessary. With any of the free AI tools, though, remember not to put in personal information, as that could become public. 

Texting isn’t the complete solution, however. Younger clients have a variety of preferred platforms, and what works well for one might not work well for another. Younger clients respect adaptability, especially when it’s coupled with experience and expertise. 

3. Younger clients are social media savvy. You should be too. Clients today will research you online, and social media is one of their primary tools. Prospects will look you up on LinkedIn before they think about calling you back. And if you don’t look legitimate on LinkedIn, you’re not going to get that call (or email or text). If you aren’t using LinkedIn as a professional tool, you won’t be taken seriously.

LinkedIn isn’t enough though. You also need to be aware of other ways people can research you. Do you know what your company’s Google reviews say? Your younger prospect probably will — and you’d better have explanations for recent bad reviews.

Here’s the exception to the “younger clients” rule: Many older clients are learning from, and copying, habits of younger clients. That means you can’t stereotype by age. Be versatile, smart and adaptable to clients’ needs, no matter what age they are. 

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