There are really only three basic ways an advisor can increase profits: become more efficient, get more business from existing clients, and/or get more clients. An automated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can help in all three of these areas. It can improve efficiency by consolidating information about clients in one easily accessible location. In addition, it allows for easy and inexpensive target marketing to clients and potential clients.
You may not know it, but you already have a CRM system in your office. It may exist in one of the following forms, but can be easily transformed into a fully functioning CRM system:
- Level One: It’s made up of pieces of paper in file folders stored in file cabinets and information in computer files stored on various computers. Each of these files generally contains information relating to a narrow set of functions like billing and customer service, and only one person at a time can use a file. In addition, some of the data may be out of date.
- Level Two: Outlook, Word, Excel, electronic cardfiles
- Level Three: A real database
An automated CRM system, like Salesforce, supports “front office” business processes like sales, marketing and customer service. Every interaction with a lead, prospect, customer, vendor, or any other contact is added to the system. In addition, copies of computer files and scanned copies of documents can be added. This allows everybody within the organization to have complete and up-to-date information.
An advisor has three options in building a CRM system: build, buy, or borrow (or rent). For example:
- Build – Your own sytem
- Buy – Act, Saleslogix, Siebel, Oracle, SQL, Northstar, Finaplex, etc.
- Borrow - Salesforce
With a hosted CRM system, you have access to your information anywhere you have access to the internet. There is nothing to buy, and the service provider takes care of all the updates and maintenance.
A CRM system can also be integrated with other software. Integrating with Outlook, for example, allows email to be included in the CRM database. It also allows calendars and contacts to be synchronized. Accounting systems can synchronize with the CRM system so that up-to-date contact and billing information is available to both systems. Content management applications can be added so that you can store and manage business documents giving everybody access to the same version of marketing and disclosure documents. Robust wealth management, proposal, portfolio management, record keeping, and reporting applications can also be integrated with a CRM system.
Another feature of a CRM system is the ease with which a marketing campaign can be developed, deployed, managed and evaluated. Marketing materials can be sent out with responses being automatically recorded. Leads can be identified and tracked within the CRM system. Newsletters and other informational messages can be deployed and managed just as easily.
So, how does all this make an advisor more profitable?
- Integrating the CRM system with other products provides everybody in the organization who needs it with immediate access to a customer’s entire history. This enables them to provide better customer service and grow revenues by creating more sales and losing fewer customers.
- By having all the information about a customer or prospect, everyone who interacts with them knows what products and services that individual uses and/or is interested in, and can structure the interaction for maximum value.
- By using a single contact database, information only has to be entered once, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing errors.
- Using the content management feature of a CRM system enhances compliance. Everyone uses the same resource to access the most current version of compliance documents.
- Newsletters and marketing materials can be efficiently targeted to the most appropriate people.
Better customer service, more opportunities to up-sell and cross-sell, increased efficiency, better compliance, more effective marketing, and access from anywhere. All of these benefits and more can result from using a hosted CRM system.
Richard Fowler is the Director of Finance & Operations of The McHenry Group. Mr. Fowler can be reached by email at
rick.fowler@mchenrygroup.com or by phone at 800-638-8121 ext. 117.
