Key features your firm needs in an investment banking CRM 

What software does your investment banking firm use for deal and relationship management? If it’s Microsoft Excel or a traditional CRM system, it may be time to consider a new approach. 

The sheer volume of information that exists within any firm is immense — and grows daily as your team sources opportunities, identifies buyers, services clients, and executes deals.  

Spreadsheets and traditional one-size-fits-all CRM solutions are fine for storing information. But they’re not built to mine vast amounts of data for the actionable insights your deal teams need to drive results. Poring through rows of data, flipping between screens and systems — this is no way to operate in fast-changing markets, where every second counts. 

To gain a competitive edge, you need an investment banking CRM system that uses generative AI to proactively provide your teams with real-time insights and intelligence — when and how they need it. 

Below we’ll dive into the advantages of using an investment banking CRM software system powered by AI, and we’ll review the key features your firm should look for when evaluating your options. 

What’s the most important thing to consider when evaluating AI-powered investment banking CRM software? 

When you’re evaluating AI-powered investment banking CRM software, there are many things to consider. At the top of the list is data. Your system can have the most advanced AI capabilities around, but if it’s not powered by the right data, your teams aren’t going to get the right insights — and you’re not going to get a good return on your investment. 

To get the maximum benefit from your system, its AI algorithms need access to more than just the proprietary data within the system itself. 

For example, DealCloud’s AI algorithms leverage proprietary relationship data within the platform, along with information from emails and calendars via integration with Microsoft 365. Contact and company data are validated and enriched using Intapp Data, which includes information from publicly available sources such as LinkedIn. Firms can also take advantage of optional integrations with third-party data providers such as Preqin and S&P Global to provide their teams with richer insights. 

In addition, to ensure the best possible user experience and prevent oversharing, DealCloud provides data-filtering capabilities so that irrelevant and sensitive information never reaches users. 

1. A relationship intelligence feed 

To find new buyers and discover the highest-quality opportunities, investment bankers must continually nurture their relationships while staying informed about the latest industry news and network updates. For time-strapped professionals, this is challenging. 

Relationship intelligence feeds make relationship management easy by letting business development professionals know which contacts need attention and providing actionable, real-time insights about their networks. 

For example, Intapp Assist for DealCloud provides relationship signals that simplify relationship management by centralizing AI-driven network intelligence in a feed within the DealCloud platform. This feed supports consistent outreach by prompting users to follow up with cooling contacts and providing actionable network updates. For instance, if a team member sees that a key contact has been promoted, they can start composing an email to congratulate them with just one click.  

Relationship signals also accelerate business and network growth by providing real-time insights about M&A activity, leadership changes, and other time-sensitive updates. This helps teams discover new opportunities, identify new buyers, and establish new connections — all without lifting a finger. 

2. Automated relationship data intake

Look for a system that automates the capture of key relationship intelligence, so your deal team can focus on building relationships instead of tedious data entry. 

For example, with DealCloud, firms can automatically add existing contact books to the platform via the Microsoft 365 integration. This integration also adds shared files, emails, and scheduled meetings into DealCloud — so users always have a current, complete picture of their relationships. 

The system will even create new contact and company records automatically based on information harvested from email communications. Teams can also expand their networks by using Intapp Data or other third-party data sources to discover potential new connections — and add them to DealCloud with one simple click. 

3. Relationship scoring

Relationship scoring is a must-have feature that helps teams prioritize outreach by assigning contacts a relationship strength score based on communication frequency. It also uncovers the strongest potential paths of introduction for new contacts by identifying existing internal relationships.  

4. AI-assisted email outreach

Another key feature to look for is AI-assisted email outreach. This saves your teams time and helps them have more engaging, personalized interactions with potential buyers and other contacts by providing suggested content. 

For instance, Intapp Assist for DealCloud provides editable AI-generated email content based on prior communications, relationship intelligence, and company news. A summary with key information about the recipient is also provided with every draft email so teams can make their communications even more personalized. 

5. AI-generated summaries

AI-generated summaries improve productivity and decision-making by providing concise snapshots of key insights drawn from complex volumes of data. A recent survey revealed that 76% of professionals at partner-led firms are interested in using these summaries, and believe they will save them up to six hours of manual work each week. 

With Intapp Assist for DealCloud, summaries are automatically generated and updated for deals, contacts, companies, and other records so teams always have current information. Meeting summaries containing action items and key points parsed from transcripts are also provided to make follow-up a breeze.