Last update: 3/24/2026
Transcription
| TRANSCRIPTION GUIDELINES | ||
| A huge part of the day-to-day tasks of the team is transcribing notes. This is the task of typing the dictations of the wholesaler to create a meeting note. Also included in this task are capturing details on Follow-up Notes, Opportunities, and other information the wholesaler wants included. | ||
| Note Type | Default: Meeting > Meeting – Select if the wholesaler explicitly dictated meeting (new/existing in SF). > Call Log – Select if the wholesaler explicitly dictated phone call (new/existing in SF), except for Conference Call. – Select this also for interactions through emails. > CRM Mod – Select if the wholesaler requested to update a firm/contact profile. > Opportunity – Select if the wholesaler requested to create an opportunity. > Surveys – Select if the wholesaler requested to create SMAC Surveys. > Follow Up – Select if there are 2 or more follow ups in one meeting activity. > Campaign – Select for HTBBTB Tracking request. > Greeting Cards – Select if the wholesaler requested to create greeting cards. |
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| Task Description | For single note with one advisor:
[Advisor Name] – [Firm] For audios with more than one note or with two or more FA/s: [First Advisor Name] & Other FA/s |
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| Date | If not specified, default: Date Received
– If recording date is on a weekend or a holiday, default to previous business day. e.g. Date and Time Received: February 8, 2024, 6:45 AM (The WS did not provide the meeting date.) |
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| Time | Time Entry Requirements: > If the wholesaler provides a specific time, that time will be logged in DANA. > If the wholesaler does not provide a time, the time field will remain blank, except for time assumptions. > If no time was given but provided duration, default start time is 9 AM. Time Assumptions (Follow and indicate the time as provided. No need to base the time zone of the wholesaler): |
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| Time Zone Handling: > Change the time according to the time zone of the wholesaler in Salesforce. |
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| Adjustments in Salesforce: > All time adjustments, if needed, will be made directly in Salesforce according to the account’s reporting requirements provided by our POCs. > This ensures consistency with the wholesaler’s designated time zone and reporting purposes. |
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| Advisors | > Place correct spelling of the name. Make corrections if not spelled right. > If either the Last Name or First Name is unintelligible, put [Unintelligible] in the respective fields. |
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| > Put [None Provided] if no advisor name was specified. | ||
| > Limit to 20 FA’s per note in DANA. Create another note for additional ones, and in the Quick Comments, indicate which part it is. | ||
| REMINDER: Make sure to split notes before transcribing. | ||
| Broker/Dealer | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| City and State | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| Location | If the full address was provided by the WS, it should be included in the Notes field in the last paragraph. Same goes for phone number and email address. | |
| Meeting Type | Meeting Type: (Following the new guidance/rules on how activity should be logged provided by Dan Knoth last February 1, 2024.) | |
| Meeting – Meeting/One on One – For meeting notes with one to 10 advisors. (Default) Meeting – Meeting/Group Meeting – For meeting notes with more than 10 advisors. If there are two to 10 advisors, go for the default but make sure to tick the Group box. Call Log – Phone Call/Follow-up – For call notes with one advisor. Meeting – Meeting/Conference Call – For call notes with two or more advisors. Meeting – eMeeting/Live Meeting – For web meetings. (Sample hint words: Zoom, web meeting, Teams call) Call Log – Email/Follow-up – For interactions done through emails. |
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| Group Box | > Tick the Group Meeting box for two or more advisors. | |
| Voicemail | As dictated. Tick the checkbox if specified. (e.g. WS: I left a voicemail to Advisor 1.) | |
| Topics/Products | As dictated (see Topics/Products tab for more details).
NOTE: For topics mentioned only by their ticker symbols, make it a habit to always check on Google to verify; the same applies to alternate topic names not mentioned here. |
Follow-up Note: If the topics mentioned are not in the products field in Salesforce, make sure to send a clarification email to Randy.Lukas@nylinvestments.com and michele.oconnor@nylinvestments.com |
| If the wholesaler specified the topic but mentioned other topics in the note section, do NOT include the other topics. | ||
| Event Status | Default: Completed | |
| > Choose “Cancelled” on the Event Status for cancelled appointments. | ||
| > Choose “Scheduled” on the Event Status for future appointments. | ||
| PM/Internal Attendees | As dictated or leave it blank if not specified. | If the internal attendee is not in DANA but is in Salesforce, make sure to take note of the name and send it to the SME for it to be added. |
| Refer to PM/Internal Attendees tab if names were provided. For internal not on the list but found on Salesforce, make use of the Internal Comments. |
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| Outcome (For Merrill Lynch Advisors ONLY) | As dictated, select the outcome of the meeting for the Merrill Lynch Advisors. If not provided, pend the meeting/phone call note and send for clarification. | Note: Always check the wholesaler’s preference. |
| For Michael Breyel, outcome is based on context clues. If no outcome can be determined, send to clarif. | ||
| Note Subject | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| Note Text | > Clean verbatim. | |
| > Please check General Writing Guidelines below, starting at Row 168. | ||
| > Separate the follow-up task from the main note on a separate paragraph, preceded by “FOLLOW-UP FOR [INTERNAL’S COMPLETE NAME]”. | ||
| Competitor’s Ticker Symbols | Put competitor’s ticker symbols mentioned/provided in the note text. | |
| Special Instructions and Internal Comments | Use as Necessary | |
| GENERAL WRITING GUIDELINES | ||
| 1. Clean verbatim/Clean up sentences. | ||
| 2. OMIT: repeated words, fillers, false start, change of thought, retractions. | ||
| 3. CAPITALIZE: products, LOBs, and proper nouns (Researched; when in doubt, Do Not Capitalize.) | ||
| 4. NUMBERS – refer to APA Style Guide | ||
| > We follow the rule to write 1-9 in words and 10 above in numbers except for monetary, age, measurement, percentage, time wherein we always write them in numbers. > To be calibrated, for dictations like — 1 to 2 million, 1 to 2 months, 1 to 2 percent, 1 to 2 minutes — we always write them as — $1 million to $2 million, one month to two months, 1% to 2%, 1 minute to 2 minutes. |
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| 5. Correct use of punctuations: | ||
| – Hyphen (-) for compound words and compound modifiers and as place holder in a series – Dashes (–) to set off parenthetical elements, to show breaks in thought – Colon (:) before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself – Semi-colon (;) to help sort out a monster list; to separate closely related independent clauses. |
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| 5. Tagging | ||
| -[Unintelligible/unintelligible] – inaudible parts of dictation. -[word] – best guess. – – lost reception, unclear audio sections. – drop the audio totally. |
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| (Client specs supersede writing guidelines) | ||
| Saving Transcribed Notes | > Once transcription of the main note and the follow-up note are complete, save the notes for Entry. | |
| > For single notes, the Count Cross-check should be “1”. | ||
| > For multiple notes (including those with Follow-ups), input the total number of notes in the Count Cross-check box. | ||
| > Always make sure to tick the Transcribing Complete box before saving and the Next options. For notes that needs to be proofed, click the Proofing option; Otherwise, click the Ready option instead. | ||
| > Click either “Save” when the recording only contains one Meeting, or “Save & New” if there are still other meetings to be dictated. | ||
Transcription (Annuity)
| TRANSCRIPTION GUIDELINES | ||
| A huge part of the day-to-day tasks of the team is transcribing notes. This is the task of typing the dictations of the wholesaler to create a meeting note. Also included in this task are capturing details on Follow-up Notes, Opportunities, and other information the wholesaler wants included. | ||
| Note Type | Default: Meeting > Meeting – Select if the wholesaler explicitly dictated meeting (new/existing in SF). > Call Log – Select if the wholesaler explicitly dictated phone call (new/existing in SF), except for Conference Call. – Select this also for interactions through emails. > CRM Mod – Select if the wholesaler requested to update a firm/contact profile. > Opportunity – Select if the wholesaler requested to create an opportunity. > Follow Up – Select if there are 2 or more follow ups in one meeting activity. > Greeting Cards – Select if the wholesaler requested to create greeting cards. |
|
| Task Description | For single note with one advisor:
[Advisor Name] – [Firm] For audios with more than one note or with two or more FA/s: [First Advisor Name] & Other FA/s |
|
| Date | If not specified, default: Date Received
– If recording date is on a weekend or a holiday, default to previous business day. e.g. Date and Time Received: February 8, 2024, 6:45 AM (The WS did not provide the meeting date.) |
|
| Time | Time Entry Requirements: > If the wholesaler provides a specific time, that time will be logged in DANA. > If the wholesaler does not provide a time, the time field will remain blank, except for time assumptions. > If no time was given but provided duration, default start time is 9 AM. Time Assumptions (Follow and indicate the time as provided. No need to base the time zone of the wholesaler): |
|
| Time Zone Handling: > Change the time according to the time zone of the wholesaler in Salesforce. |
||
| Adjustments in Salesforce: > All time adjustments, if needed, will be made directly in Salesforce according to the account’s reporting requirements provided by our POCs. > This ensures consistency with the wholesaler’s designated time zone and reporting purposes. |
||
| Advisors | > Place correct spelling of the name. Make corrections if not spelled right. > If either the Last Name or First Name is unintelligible, put [Unintelligible] in the respective fields. |
|
| > Put [none provided] if no advisor name was specified. | ||
| > Limit to 20 FAs per note in DANA. Create another note for additional ones, and in the Quick Comments, indicate which part it is. | ||
| REMINDER: Make sure to split notes before transcribing. | ||
| Broker/Dealer | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| City and State | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| Location | If the full address was provided by the WS, it should be included in the Notes field in the last paragraph. Same goes for phone number and email address. | |
| Meeting Type | Default: Meeting: Meeting/One on one | |
| Meeting: Meeting/One on One, Meeting/Group Meeting, Meeting/Conference Call, eMeeting/Live Meeting Call Log: Phone Call/Follow-up, Email/Follow-up |
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| On April 08, 2022, as per Dan, please use Meeting/One on one as the default meeting type. | ||
| Purpose | > Use “Group Meeting” on the Purpose drop-down then tick the Group Meeting box for two or more advisors, unless otherwise specified. | |
| Multiple One-on-Ones | ||
| > Tick the 1 on 1 on the Advisor Information Field. | ||
| > The Meeting Purpose should be One-on-One. | ||
| Check meeting notes for context clues. (e.g. WS: Please make these individual entries all with the same notes.) | ||
| Voicemail | As dictated. Tick the checkbox if specified. (e.g. WS: I left a voicemail to Advisor 1.) | |
| Topics/Products | As dictated (see Topics/Products tab for more details). | |
| NOTE: For topics mentioned only by their ticker symbols, make it a habit to always check on Google to verify; the same applies to alternate topic names not mentioned here. | ||
| If the wholesaler mentioned the following, use the defaults in BOLD:
Variable Annuity – Premier Variable Annuity (Financial Inst.) |
||
| No topic/not in the list/too general – No Product/s Discussed – For Clarification | ||
| If the wholesaler specified the topic but mentioned other topics in the note section, do NOT include the other topics. | ||
| Event Status | Default: Completed | |
| > Choose “Cancelled” on the Event Status for cancelled appointments. | ||
| > Choose “Scheduled” on the Event Status for future appointments. | ||
| Activity Quality (Financial Institution ONLY) | As dictated, select the rank of the meeting. If not provided, select “None – for clarification”. | |
| Note Subject | Leave blank if not specified. | |
| Note Text | > Clean verbatim. | |
| > Please check General Writing Guidelines below, starting at Row 178. | ||
| > Separate the follow-up task from the main note on a separate paragraph, preceded by “FOLLOW-UP FOR [INTERNAL’S COMPLETE NAME]”. | ||
| Special Instructions | Use as Necessary | |
| Internal Comments | Use as Necessary | |
| GENERAL WRITING GUIDELINES | ||
| 1. Clean verbatim/Clean up sentences. | ||
| 2. OMIT: repeated words, fillers, false start, change of thought, retractions. | ||
| 3. CAPITALIZE: products, LOBs, and proper nouns (Researched; when in doubt, Do Not Capitalize.) | ||
| 4. NUMBERS – refer to APA Style Guide | ||
| > We follow the rule to write 1-9 in words and 10 above in numbers except for monetary, age, measurement, percentage, time wherein we always write them in numbers. > To be calibrated, for dictations like — 1 to 2 million, 1 to 2 months, 1 to 2 percent, 1 to 2 minutes — we always write them as — $1 million to $2 million, one month to two months, 1% to 2%, 1 minute to 2 minutes. |
||
| 5. Correct use of punctuations: | ||
| – Hyphen (-) for compound words and compound modifiers and as place holder in a series – Dashes (–) to set off parenthetical elements, to show breaks in thought – Colon (:) before a list or an explanation that is preceded by a clause that can stand by itself – Semi-colon (;) to help sort out a monster list; to separate closely related independent clauses. |
||
| 5. Tagging | ||
| – [Unintelligible/unintelligible] – inaudible parts of dictation. – [word] – best guess. – — lost reception, unclear audio sections. — drop the audio totally. |
||
| (Client specs supersede writing guidelines) | ||
| Saving Transcribed Notes | > Once transcription of the main note and the follow-up note are complete, save the notes for Entry. | |
| > For single notes, the Count Cross-check should be “1”. | ||
| > For multiple notes (including those with Follow-ups), input the total number of notes in the Count Cross-check box. | ||
| > Always make sure to tick the Transcribing Complete box before saving and the Next options. For notes that needs to be proofed, click the Proofing option; Otherwise, click the Ready option instead. | ||
| > Click either “Save” when the recording only contains one Meeting, or “Save & New” if there are still other meetings to be dictated. | ||
Exercise Files