{"id":6780,"date":"2025-01-20T16:45:49","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/blog\/how-to-introduce-account-aggregation-to-clients\/"},"modified":"2025-01-20T16:45:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T16:45:49","slug":"how-to-introduce-account-aggregation-to-clients","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/blog\/how-to-introduce-account-aggregation-to-clients\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Introduce Account Aggregation to Clients"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4754\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/introduce_account_aggregation_easy-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"introduce_account_aggregation_easy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>It&#8217;s time to calm\u00a0your\u00a0nerves.<\/p>\n<p>Rolling out account aggregation can be <em>very<\/em> straight forward.<\/p>\n<p>The amount of work needed per client depends on the complexity of the system and that, in turn, governs how quickly you can roll out without an overwhelming amount of support requests. (Step #1 helps you avoid this.)<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately a good roll out process is about\u00a0communicating clearly with clients; what you\u2019re planning, why you\u2019re doing it and why it benefits them.<\/p>\n<p>Communicating clearly is tricky, though, so make sure you prep well and execute with purpose.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>PREP:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>1.) Choose the right system.<\/p>\n<p>This rest of this guide assumes you&#8217;ve chosen the best system &#8211; both for you <em>and<\/em>\u00a0your client. If not, you may add complexity to your service, clients will sense that, and you&#8217;ll fight an uphill battle at each stage of the roll-out. To avoid this nightmare\u00a0here&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.blueleaf.com\/15-things-to-consider-when-shopping-for-account-aggregation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">checklist with 15 Things to Look For + 9 Red Flags<\/a>\u00a0when shopping for account aggregation.<\/p>\n<p>2.)\u00a0Get out of your own way.<\/p>\n<p>This is crucial.<\/p>\n<p>You were mindful about choosing\u00a0the best aggregation platform. Now, in the roll out process, DO NOT anticipate concerns. In an effort to be thorough or save time, advisors frequently raise issues they think clients \u201cshould\u201d or \u201cprobably\u201d care about. Stop now. By doing this you are creating issues not solving them. <strong>If your clients have concerns, they will ask.<\/strong> Have answers ready, but don\u2019t force the concerns of the few on the many. It merely complicates otherwise simple issues. Next&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>3.) Eliminate friction and unnecessary client effort.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking of a process with 3 steps, make it 2. If you\u2019ve written 3 paragraphs in an email, get it down to 3-4 sentences. <strong>If you chose Blueleaf as your account aggregation platform, friction in during setup\u00a0has already been reduced for you.<\/strong>\u00a0Second, and maybe counterintuitively, DO NOT do all the setup work for your clients. For client facing technology, client involvement in setup is critical for their future engagement.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>EXECUTE:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>4.) Pick &#8220;the right&#8221; clients to start with.<\/p>\n<p>The simplest way to start is by picking a few clients to talk with. These clients should be representative of your base and be people you think will be able to give good feedback. What is \u2018good feedback\u2019?\u00a0Good feedback is clear, specific and focused on answering the question \u201cDid we solve the problem we set out to solve?\u201d and \u201cHave my changes made clients happier?\u201d That&#8217;s it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note: If a client is unwilling to take an hour to do something, they may be too busy. If a client is unwilling to take 5 minutes, then that should be a signal about the value that this client sees in what you\u2019re doing. Double down on your communication, clarify and try again.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>5.) Explain aggregation like a human.<\/p>\n<p>Good aggregation platforms can do many things. Roll out isn\u2019t the time to share a laundry list of all the features of the solution. Keep it simple. <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.blueleaf.com\/19-ways-to-describe-aggregation-without-saying-the-word\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u00a0are 19\u00a0ways to describe aggregation in friendly terms.<\/a> Make a list of 2 or 3 bullets (Not paragraphs) and tell clients \u201cThe system does A, B and C and lots more. It\u2019s fantastic and we\u2019re excited about how it will help you.\u201d That\u2019s it. Less is much much more.<\/p>\n<p>6.) Show them\u00a0what it looks like.<\/p>\n<p>Ask your account aggregation provider for demo videos made specifically for clients. This allows clients to see the system before diving in, and get excited about it&#8217;s value. <a href=\"http:\/\/hubs.ly\/y09PrK0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here&#8217;s the friendly\u00a0client video tour\u00a0we provide to Blueleaf users.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>7.) Invite them\u00a0to the platform and to sync their own accounts.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the power of account aggregation is kicked into high gear. <a href=\"http:\/\/support.blueleaf.com\/customer\/portal\/articles\/1569299\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Invite your clients<\/a>, and empower\u00a0them add their held-away accounts via their own portal. (On Blueleaf, this <a href=\"http:\/\/support.blueleaf.com\/customer\/portal\/articles\/303243\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">can be done with prospects too<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; no custodied accounts required!)<\/p>\n<p>Now they&#8217;re in.<\/p>\n<p>8.) Lastly, don\u2019t expect 100% adoption of any system, no matter how good.<\/p>\n<p>Great systems see adoption around 50%. While better can happen (and I\u2019m proud to say Blueleaf sees it often), focus on an achievable target. If you get 55% of your clients to adopt, you\u2019ve done well and improved the lives of over 1\/2 your client base.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Questions?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Post them in the comments for direct help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related: <\/strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/pages.blueleaf.com\/account-aggregation-101-resource-for-financial-advisors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Everything you need to know about Account Aggregation<\/a><\/em><br \/>\n<!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><br \/>\n<span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><br \/>\n<span id=\"hs-cta-a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb\" class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb\"><br \/>\n<!-- [if lte IE 8]>\n\n\n<div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/114468\/a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"hs-cta-img-a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" style=\"border-width: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<script src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ \nhbspt.cta.load(114468, 'a70d6216-af69-4119-94f5-2cc76488a8fb');<\/p>\n<p>\/\/ <\/script><br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n<!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sonoma.edu\/sbe\/departments-and-concentrations\/department-of-business-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Image source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time to calm\u00a0your\u00a0nerves. Rolling out account aggregation can be very straight forward. The amount of work needed per client depends on the complexity of the system and that, in turn, governs how quickly you can roll out without an overwhelming amount of support requests. (Step #1 helps you avoid this.) Ultimately a good roll&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communicating-with-clients","category-guiding-change"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blueleaf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}