CRM is a bit of a catch-all term these days. Originally, meant as a way of centralizing all of your relationship interactions with your client. As technology and the industry advanced so did the buzzwords and trends. Add the evolution of vertical industry-specific CRM and you have an umbrella of terms and features that obscures what a CRM, let alone a CRM built for Wealth Management is. So, what exactly makes a Wealth Management focused CRM?
Fundamentally, CRM’s made for Wealth management attempt to streamline their workflow and increase engagement through logical processes and features. As a leader in our field for technological advancements, we can tell that these processes and features need to be rooted in four common elements to make it truly a Wealth Management CRM and not a bunch of bundled buzzwords.
Acquisition
Acquiring the right information is key for a CRM in that it not only helps to make insightful decisions but that it also eliminates needless busywork. Can your CRM seamlessly acquire the info you need and present it to you without you tabbing in and out of endless windows and apps? Does your CRM have relevant integration frameworks and a synchronization engine to make sure you’re receiving all of the client data you need on time, or are you waiting for that next application integration? A CRM worth its weight will have the technology behind it to integrate the information you as an advisor needs in a flexible manner that meets your firm’s policies and not just a generic Rolodex.
Analytics
Another key element to the fundamental of an Advisor focused CRM is the relevant analysis it provides. Does the CRM provide easy-to-access insights that are relevant to the user, or are insights hidden away in large, complicated forms? Does your CRM have the capability of providing analysis for enhanced client engagement or Householding functionalities? What it boils down to is that your CRM either gives you the insights to make the right decision or it doesn’t.
Notifications
Relevant analysis only goes so far, but if you don’t have timely delivery of them then you really can’t act upon those insights, so what does it matter? If relevant information is hidden away in obscure processes or takes a user an excessive amount of time, then what’s the value in it? Are you truly getting a comprehensive customer view at your fingertips, or are you struggling with known data? Increasing timely delivery of relevant actions so that your advisors can upsell and increase client satisfaction is integral to identifying the value of its CRM itself.
Storage
Archiving all your interactions with a client should be the defacto, whatever channel it may be on. Rooting around your mailbox to find a client’s birthday or notes from a phone call months ago takes time away from the advisor’s doing what they do best. Having a system that archives and finds those relevant insights are integral to not only saving your time, but also helps with upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Instead of using systems with disparate data, the data that matters should be right in front of your face.
Interested in learning more about how we’ve taken Wealth Management CRM beyond the fundamentals and to the next level? Click below to learn more about why we’re the leaders of the technological pack in Celent’s CRM Platform’s North America Wealth Management Edition.
