Zoho One Implementation for a Boutique Financial Services Firm

17/06/25 19:34

A Boutique Financial Services Firm based in Johannesburg, South Africa, specialises in personalised wealth management for high-net-worth individuals, families, and intergenerational structures such as trusts and private entities. 

As their operations expanded, the Firm faced mounting challenges from disconnected systems, duplicated data entry, and manual workflows that strained their internal resources. Despite these limitations, the team continued to uphold exceptional client service, but recognised the need for a scalable digital foundation to streamline processes and support future growth.

With Zoho One, we helped the Firm implement a CRM-centric ecosystem that unified client data, automated routine workflows, and improved visibility across the organisation. The result was a system that not only matched their operational complexity but also preserved the personalised approach that sets their firm apart.

Problem Statement & Key Challenges

The Boutique Financial Services Firm relied on disconnected systems and manual processes to manage core operations. Teams lacked a unified view of client information, resulting in duplicated effort, inefficient workflows, and inconsistent reporting. On-site sessions confirmed the need for a system that could standardise processes and provide accurate, centralised client data.


The key challenges faced by their team included: 

  • Fragmented client data and limited visibility
  • Inefficient processes & workflow inconsistency
  • Misaligned and Inaccurate Reporting
  • Disjointed Client Engagement

    • Evaluation of the Problem

    To accurately assess the Firm's needs, we led a structured, one-month solution design phase. This included:

    • One-on-one sessions with team members across all roles to map end-to-end business processes.

    • Identifying systemic issues—such as duplicated data entry, siloed apps, and missing audit trails.

    • Analysing the use of their legacy CRM (Finworks), and its key limitations


    We let the firm's business processes guide our approach - prioritising native configurations within Zoho wherever possible, without compromising the functionality they required. Where internal process nuances demanded more flexibility, we leveraged customisation within the Zoho One ecosystem. For specialist regulatory and industry-specific needs, we integrated third-party applications to ensure compliance and continuity. Drawing on our experience with similar financial services clients, we recommended a CRM-centric architecture as the scalable foundation for their operational model and future growth.

    Proposed Solution

    We implemented a tightly integrated Zoho One environment built around Zoho CRM as the operational core. Each solution was selected and configured to address specific pain points identified during the solution design phase. Prior to commencing the configuration, Zoho DataPrep was used to clean, restructure, and validate all client data prior to migration into CRM. It:

    • Ensured data quality and consistency for every record entering the new system.

    • Reduced duplication and built user confidence in CRM from day one.


    CRM became the single source of truth across departments. In addition to core configuration, we implemented:

    • Custom modules and layouts to reflect complex client structures, including families, trusts, and companies.

    • Guided workflows to automate key processes such as client onboarding, advice preparation, portfolio transfers and task follow-ups.

    • Outlook integration to ensure centralised visibility of email communication and meeting history.

    • Future-ready integration points with Fundstream, enabling automated imports of investment data to complete the client profile.


    Zoho Writer's Mail Merge feature was integrated with the CRM Proposals module to generate:

    • Templated, structured Records of Advice documents (RoAs) that maintained consistency across the business while remaining specific to each client’s investment plan.

    • Automated document generation embedded with CRM data enhanced the accuracy and delivery speed.


    Zoho Desk provided a centralised platform for managing client service interactions:

    • Enabled a structured approach to handling client service requests and tracking them.

    • Integrated with CRM to maintain full client context and historical visibility.

    • Utilised blueprints and workflows to replicate the firm's internal service processes—particularly for handling transfers, withdrawals, and other client-initiated requests—ensuring consistency and accountability.


    Zoho Sign enabled secure digital signing of formal documents with a complete audit trail:

    • Reduced turnaround time by eliminating the need for manual signatures and physical handling.

    • Supported compliance with industry regulations by ensuring traceability and document integrity.


    Zoho Forms digitised client data collection and integrated submissions directly into CRM, which: 

    • Reduced duplication and improved accuracy during onboarding and ongoing data updates.

    • Captured detailed information for complex client structures, including entities and trusts with multiple stakeholders.

    • Integrated with CRM to generate multiple client records upon form conversion automatically, streamlining setup and reducing manual entry.


    Zoho Bookings used by Administrators to schedule meetings on behalf of Advisers through a centralised, booking interface:

    • Integrated with Outlook to reflect Adviser availability to ensure accurate scheduling, avoiding conflicts.


    Utilised Zoho Analytics to develop custom client investment dashboards that streamlined adviser preparation and enhanced the client experience during reviews:

    • Equipped advisers with pre-review dashboards that highlighted key investment metrics, reducing preparation time.

    • Delivered structured, visually intuitive views of client portfolios to support clearer conversations during meetings.

    • Pulled synced investment data from CRM to ensure dashboards reflected the most current client information at all times.


    A nCino Integration Maintained critical industry-specific functionality for FICA compliance and risk profiling through a custom integration with Zoho CRM:

    • Enabled the creation of KYC applications directly from CRM, pre-populating client data and uploading required supporting documents.

    • Automatically updated application statuses and risk ratings, with synchronized data flowing back into CRM to support the entire process from initiation through to approval—preserving a unified client view.  


    Laid the groundwork for integrating with Fundstream, a financial services data warehouse provider, to enhance investment data visibility within CRM:

    • Designed integration points to fetch key investment data such as portfolio values and latest draws

    • Enabled consolidation of this data into Zoho Analytics to generate a combined investment value per client across platforms.

    Result

    The solution delivered measurable improvements in process consistency, data integrity, and operational alignment across the Firm's operations.

    • 9 fully integrated Zoho apps delivered a unified, single view of the client in real time.

    • 17 automated workflows replaced manual effort across client servicing, onboarding, and reviews, saving significant hours previously spent on repetitive data entry and routine tasks.

    • Standardised workflows introduced reliable audit trails and improved compliance across the business.


    The Firm now operates on a secure, scalable system that supports their evolving operational demands. Advisors and Administrators work with greater confidence in their data, tools, and client-facing outputs.

    By centralising operations around Zoho One and tailoring it to the Firm's unique processes, we delivered a digital foundation built to scale, without compromising the personalised service that defines their brand.