It’s 2023, and the world of investment banking is more complex than ever. You need the right technology to stay ahead of the competition and maximize efficiency.
Cutting-edge CRM has your back, whether you’re a small boutique or a large multinational firm.
I’ve spent over ten years in the investment banking industry, so I’ve seen first-hand the difference great CRM software can have for investment banking firms.
So, the SBB team and I have created a list of the best five investment banking CRM on the market. How did we rate this investment banking CRM software?
- A decade of industry expertise
- Side-by-side features comparison
- Collection of user reviews
- Pricing-to-value ratio
What is an Investment Banking CRM?
An investment banking CRM is a customer relationship management platform that caters to the needs of investment banks.
It helps them streamline processes and automate repetitive tasks, enabling them to focus their efforts on more critical activities.
The main features of an investment banking CRM include portfolio analysis, client segmentation, financial modeling tools, workflow management, and customer data analytics. It also provides a unified platform to manage relationships with clients, investors, and business partners.
Now that you know what an investment banking CRM is, let’s dive into how to choose a CRM for investment banking.
How to Choose a CRM for Investment Banking
Talk to Your Investment Team
Before selecting a CRM for investment banking, talking to your team is essential. Discuss their needs and preferences so that you can narrow down your list of choices.
For example, if you’re looking for a CRM with financial modeling tools, that’s something you need to look into when choosing an investment banking CRM.
Your team also needs to consider the pricing model and customer support services, so you can find a CRM that best fits your budget.
Once you’ve narrowed your list of potential CRMs, it’s time to compare their features side-by-side, which we will discuss further below.
Lay Out Your Current SOPs
The next step is to lay out your current SOPs, so you can make sure that the CRM fits in with your existing processes. Write down all tasks and activities you want your CRM to help manage.
This will make comparing features and finding a CRM that meets your needs much more accessible.
You should also consider the scalability of your CRM. It is designed for large investment banks or can be customized to fit smaller firms.
Your CRM should be able to grow with you as your business expands, so make sure to check out its flexibility.
Review the Features Below
Once you know what your team is looking for and have laid out your SOPs, it’s time to review the features below before choosing a banking CRM software:
- Portfolio Analysis: Can you track the performance of individual investments?
- Client Segmentation: Can you easily segment client data?
- Financial Modeling Tools: Does the CRM have financial modeling tools?
- Workflow Management: Can you manage tasks and activities flexibly?
- Customer Data Analytics: Does it offer detailed customer insights?
- Pricing to Value Ratio: Is the pricing reasonable for what is offered?
- User Reviews: What are customers saying about the CRM?
These are just a few features to consider when choosing an investment banking CRM. Do thorough research and read reviews before signing up for any CRM software.
Investment banking is highly competitive, so having an advanced CRM can help you stay ahead.
Test Drive the CRM
Before investing in a CRM, taking it for a test drive is essential. Most CRMs offer free trials, so you can understand how the system works and if it meets your needs.
Test out all the features and ensure they support your current processes. If something isn’t working as expected, you should be able to contact customer support for assistance.
Once you are satisfied with the features and functionality of the CRM, you can go ahead and make an informed decision.
Choosing a CRM for investment banking is not a decision to take lightly. With so many options available, taking your time and thoroughly researching before signing up for any CRM software is essential.
Why Use an Investment Banking CRM?
One Single Database
With an investment banking CRM, you can store all your customer data in one database. This makes analyzing and tracking customer trends and creating personalized experiences quick.
Integrations with Other Software You’re Using
Most investment banking CRMs integrate with other software, such as financial modeling tools and portfolio analysis platforms. This makes it easy to keep track of your investments and create custom client reports.
Streamline Departments
An investment banking CRM can help streamline all your firm’s departments. You can improve efficiency and productivity throughout the organization by connecting the dots between sales, accounting, compliance, and other teams.
Increase Collaboration
An investment banking CRM can also help increase collaboration between departments. Creating a unified platform makes it much easier to communicate and share data across teams.
Marketing Automation
Next, an investment banking CRM can help automate your marketing efforts. This allows you to target customers more effectively and reach potential clients promptly.
Follow Up Reminders
An investment banking CRM can also help with follow-up reminders. This enables you to stay in touch with customers and ensure that their needs are being met.
By investing in a high-quality CRM, you can improve your overall customer experience, increase efficiency across departments, and gain valuable insights into the performance of your investments.
Workforce Management
Finally, an investment banking CRM can also help with workforce management. With the ability to track employee performance, managing and allocating resources is much easier.
Investment banking is competitive, so having the right CRM is essential for success.
Best CRMs for Investment Banking
When comparing the good and bad of different CRM software, the challenge is the constant change that software will have from year-to-year.
That’s why we’re constantly updating this list with the latest software changes to pricing, features, and software comparison.
Here is our list for 2023:
- HubSpot
- Monday.com
- Salesforce
- Zoho
- Pipeline
Why We Picked It
HubSpot is one of the best CRM for investment banking due to its ease of use, automation capabilities, and integration with other business software.
The platform has many features: task management, marketing automation, sales pipeline tracking, lead scoring, and reporting.
With HubSpot’s free version, you can access all the features and start using the CRM immediately. However, if you’re looking for more advanced features like marketing automation or custom reporting, you should upgrade to a paid plan.
Overall, HubSpot offers an all-in-one platform that can help streamline your workflow, increase collaboration between teams, and improve customer experience. It’s an excellent CRM for investment banking, even if you’re starting in investment banking.
Key Features
- Partitioning
- Custom Reporting
- Hierarchical Teams
- Campaign Reporting
- Marketing Automation
Pricing
HubSpot has several pricing plans and free tools such as conversational bots, live chat, and team email.
These are some of the pricing plans HubSpot offers to users:
- Starter Plan: This plan is $50 monthly for two paid users and includes email and in-app chat support, simple automation, and meeting scheduled.
- Professional Plan: This plan is $890 a month, but you receive five paid users, standard CRM integration, forecasting, and advanced phone support.
- Enterprise Plan: This plan costs $3,600 monthly and includes 10,000 marketing contacts and more advanced features.
Pros
- All-in-one platform
- Ease of use is simpler than many crm solutions
- Free CRM tools
Cons
- Only have annual contracts
- Plans get expensive very quickly
- Need to pay more additional technical support
Why We Picked It
Monday is another excellent choice for an investment banking CRM due to its powerful automation and collaboration features.
The platform also has a wide range of customization options, allowing you to create custom workflows, views, and reports tailored to your needs.
The best part about Monday is that it’s highly user-friendly, meaning you don’t need technical skills or coding knowledge. It’s also very flexible and easily integrates with other business software.
Overall, Monday.com is an excellent choice for investment banking because it allows you to quickly organize and manage customer data, automate tasks and processes, collaborate with teams in real time, and gain valuable insights into customer interactions.
Key Features
- Webinar
- 24/7 Support
- Template Center
- App Development
- Builder Certifications
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, Monday is one of the more affordable CRM software on the market.
These are the pricing plans Monday offers users:
- Individual: This free plan includes up to two seats, complete Android apps, unlimited docs, and up to 3 boards.
- Basic: This plan costs $8 a month per seat and has everything the individual plan has, including unlimited project viewers, unlimited plans, 5 GB file storage, and prioritized customer support.
- Standard: This plan costs $10 a month per seat and includes everything in Basic, plus calendar view, guest access, 250 integrations, and automation per month.
- Pro: This plan costs $16 a month per seat and includes everything in Standard, plus chart view, time tracking, formula column, and dependency column.
- Enterprise: This plan includes custom pricing for users who want a more personalized experience and access to more advanced features.
Pros
- 200+ templates available
- Free plan forever available
- Very customizable design
Cons
- Basic plan doesn't have integration
- Time tracking only available on most expensive plans
- Minimum team size
Why We Picked It
Salesforce has features that can help streamline your customer service processes, automate tasks and workflows, and give you valuable insights into customer behavior.
Its comprehensive suite of products is what sets Salesforce apart from other CRMs.
From Sales Cloud to Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud, it covers every aspect of customer relationship management, making it easy to start. Plus, it offers powerful customization options to maneuver the platform to your needs.
Overall, Salesforce is one of the best CRMs for investment banking because it’s highly scalable and feature-rich, making it ideal for large investment banking firms or smaller boutique firms. Its user-friendly interface and wide range of integrations make it easy to use and manage.
Key Features
- Mobile App
- Email Integration
- File Sync & Share
- Lead Management
- Sales Collaboration
- Contact Management
Pricing
Salesforce has a free trial, including online training, live onboarding webinars, and sales tools.
However, its pricing plans vary depending on your needs. Contact the Salesforce team to receive customized pricing for a more personalized experience.
Pros
- Helps deepen relationships by corporate development professionals
- Salesforce kit for marketing campaigns
- Features specializing in corporate and investment banking
Cons
- More expensive than other investment banking software
- CRM system allows less control of upgrades than other crm platforms
- Connection is sometimes unstable
Why We Picked It
Zoho CRM is an affordable, feature-rich platform designed explicitly for investment banking. Its cloud-based infrastructure allows for easy access and collaboration from any device, making it an excellent choice for teams who need to be able to work remotely or on the go.
The platform also has powerful automation capabilities to help streamline your customer service processes and customizable dashboards that give you real-time insights into customer interactions.
Plus, its integration with other business software makes it easy to keep track of essential tasks and collaborate with teams in real-time.
Key Features
- Macros
- Basic Modules
- Email Insights
- Advanced Filters
- Sales Forecasting
- Data Entry Wizards
Pricing
Zoho CRM has a free plan and several different affordable pricing plans.
These plans include the following:
- Free Plan: This plan is available for three users and comes with standard reports and task-only reminders.
- Standard Plan: This plan is $14 a month for each user and comes with 100 custom reports, ten custom dashboards, and 20 schedulers per user.
- Professional Plan: This plan is $23 a month for each user and comes with standard reports, unlimited custom reports, charts, and KPIs.
- Enterprise Plan: This plan is $40 a month for each user and comes with unlimited custom dashboards and ten trends for the anomaly detector.
- Ultimate Plan: This plan is $52 a month for each user and includes the same features as the previous plans and more advanced features.
Pros
- AI helps with relationship intelligence
- Helps with task and lead management
- Key features focused on helping sales team
Cons
- AI key features only available for higher pricing plans
- Limited custom fields
- Advanced features not aimed for investment bankers
Why We Picked It
Pipeline is a powerful CRM solution designed explicitly for investment banking firms. Its features help streamline your customer service process, automate tasks and workflows, and give you valuable insights into customer interactions.
The platform also offers custom dashboards to help you track progress and integration with other business software, such as Microsoft dynamics, so you can keep track of essential tasks and share information quickly.
Its user-friendly interface and ability to scale make it great excellent for large or small firms.
Key Features
- Email Sync
- Mobile CRM
- Integrations
- Automations
- Onboarding Services
- Account Customization
Pricing
Pipeline has several different pricing plans available at your disposal and also comes with a 14-day free trial.
These are the plans Pipeline offers users:
- Start Plan: This plan is priced at $25 a month per user when billed annually. With this plan, you receive one sales pipeline, unlimited file storage, and 25 custom fields.
- Develop Plan: This plan is priced at $33 a month per user when billed annually. This plan includes two sales pipelines, 2500 deals per account, unlimited exports per user a month, and locked and required fields.
- Grow Plan: This plan is priced at $49 a month per user when billed annually. This plan includes five sales pipelines, email templates and campaigns, and Deal Intelligence Fields.
Pros
- Free trial available
- CRM enables detailed manual data entry
- Great for business development
Cons
- No free plan available
- Not the most user friendly platform
- Marketing automation can be difficult
Now You Decide
No matter which CRM you use for your investment banking firm, ensure it meets all your needs and is user-friendly.
Remember that Zoho CRM is an affordable yet feature-rich platform explicitly designed for an investment banking firm.
Its cloud-based infrastructure allows for remote and on-the-go access, while its automation abilities and customizable dashboards give you insights into customer interactions.
On the other hand, Pipeline boasts an excellent user-friendly interface, advanced features aimed toward banking firms, and scalability for large and small businesses. It offers a 14-day free trial to help you decide if it’s an excellent CRM solution.
So what do you think about our list? Did we miss any excellent investment banking software that you swear by? Let us know your experience and what you want in the comments below!
Frequently Asked Questions
CRM stands for customer relationship management. It is a system used by investment banking firms to help manage customer relationships, track sales and lead generation, and automate marketing processes.
It provides valuable insights into customer interactions and helps streamline the customer service process.
Many banks use Zoho CRM, which is an affordable yet feature-rich platform designed specifically for investment banking firms.
It offers a cloud-based infrastructure for remote and on-the-go access, automation abilities and customizable dashboards.
Investment bankers use a variety of software, such as Zoho CRM, Pipeline, Microsoft Dynamics and more. These platforms provide features that help streamline the customer service process, automate tasks and workflows, and give you valuable insights into customer interactions.
The highest rated CRM is Zoho CRM, which is an affordable, yet feature-rich platform designed specifically for investment banking firms.
The three types of CRM are operational, analytical, and collaborative.
Operational CRM is used to track customer interactions with the business.
Analytical CRM enables data-driven marketing, insights into customer behavior and helps to create targeted campaigns.
Collaborative CRM is used to develop relationships with customers through personalized communications.