happening at your bank — whether you know it or not. Embrace these efficiency gains as something you can do quickly and easily with AI. One piece of advice is to avoid singular AI “apps.” If all the AI app does is one thing, look somewhere else for an AI platform that will do many things. My second piece of advice is to avoid SaaS and do this securely inside your firewall with your own private AI. Step 2: AI to Find and Attract New Bank Clients The main reason you are not gathering new clients and assets is that they have barely heard from you and thus do not know how you can help them. How do you get your message out there to the right potential clients? Advertising is expensive, especially if it is to people who will never be your customers. Gathering new clients is difficult and often an afterthought in a busy day’s work. You can automate a lot of the process with AI, target the right audience and increase your inbound calls. • “Influence the influencers.” Use AI to figure out where your potential clients are seeking advice. Engage them. • Identify potential local customers using AI to examine social media and your existing methods. Who are the local business owners? Who owns property in your town? How do you reach first-time home buyers? • Craft targeted marketing campaigns using AI for your different business lines — mortgage lending, commercial lending and deposits. • AI chatbots and lead-generation tools on your website can capture and qualify new leads 24/7. • Personalize marketing campaigns based on digital behavior, financial needs and location. Step 3: Elevating Client Experiences Through AI The next generation of banking clients may not want to stop by your branch so often. They want to bank on their phone. This tendency is an advantage and a disadvantage for community banks, depending on how you are positioned for this shift. In order to service those clients — and more and more of them in years to come — you need a digital strategy, a mobile-first digital strategy that relies on AI. • Expand your business beyond your location — become a digital bank. • AI chatbots and virtual assistants can resolve common issues 24/7. • Sentiment analysis on customer interactions can flag frustration before it escalates. • A digital knowledge center for your human call center team can dramatically increase their accuracy and productivity. • Offer digital financial wellness tools powered by AI to deepen trust and engagement. Step 4: Start and Expand Your Wealth Management Business with AI I really like seeing the same tellers every week at the bank. Nevertheless, I don’t really mind which teller I end up with. The same is not true for my financial advisor and the wealth management business. I want a consistent experience, the same person, and I want someone who really knows what they are doing — my retirement is in their hands. With the right people, process and software, a community bank can go from nothing in wealth management to hundreds of millions of dollars in a decade. That is a game changer for a community bank. There are over 300,000 financial advisors in the U.S., and you only need a few to dramatically grow — if you use AI correctly. • Use AI to identify depositors or borrowers who are financially ready for investment conversations. Target the largest generational wealth transfer in U.S. history as baby boomers pass on their wealth. • Using AI for efficiency can potentially double the number of households that one advisor can handle: automated pre-meeting summaries, client updates, meeting transcripts, follow-ups and next best actions. 7 Colorado Banker
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