This summer was hot with business achievements in the wealth technology industry. The market has changed in the direction of digitalization, which made some institutions thrive but created challenges for others. “Be in the room where it happens,” was the motto of the last AdviceTech.LIVE showcase this year. Advisors and wealth technology representatives met online to discuss what is going on today in their industry, and I couldn’t miss the chance to be present there.
One of the greatest moments of the showcase was the CRM roundtable. In this session, industry veteran and CEO of Enso Wealth Toussaint Bailey helped speakers address the differences between CRM solutions today and the critical features and functionality that these powerful tools must have in the near future. Among the speakers, we met reps of four leading industry companies in CRM technology for wealth management: Redtail, Wealthbox, Junxure, and Practifi. Below you can read about the most memorable thoughts I heard from these amazing speakers.
Brian McLaughlin, CEO of Redtail Technology: Workflow automation is the best feature CRMs provide.
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Make sure you didn’t miss a step in your client service delivery model, Brian insisted. This will enable you to automate your workflow and ensure consistent customer experience across all stages. Brian is sure that business processes should be concise and universal for any customer to ensure the same level of service is delivered every time.
To choose the best CRM for your business, it is crucial to understand the workflow of your business first, according to Brian. In the process of workflow elicitation, you’ll get enough prompts to shorten the list of possible solutions. Also, he recommends looking at what tools for other processes automation your firm is already using or is going to use and check whether the CRM of your choice integrates with them. Integration is an important factor for success in wealth management and Fintech, so Redtail is currently focused on providing integrations with every tool its clients want to use in portfolio management, financial planning, and so on.
During the roundtable, Brian shared that Redtail redesigned its mobile application over the past eight months and continues to deliver updates to it almost weekly. It was not redesigned solely on UI but was more of a concept update. According to Brian, in the near future, Redtail is going to continue setting the bar for the CRM market by implementing new features and integrations. For example, it is considering how to apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to make the user experience simpler.
Steve Carroll, Head of Product & Operations, Wealthbox CRM: CRM is the operating system of a business.
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Wealthbox launched its CRM product in 2014 with a consumerized user-experience. Making software simple to use is the focus that made Wealthbox one of the leaders in the industry today, says Steve. The company made a parallel between a customer relations system and a social network—yes, it’s almost as easy to use Wealthbox CRM as surfing Facebook, for example. Its application also shows the feed of activities to keep everyone in the firm posted.
“Wealthbox is built for collaboration and connection. If your CRM doesn’t help you to build relationships with a client, it’s time to look for a new CRM. Human relationships are part of the CRM solutions value proposition. What we build can be called a private social advisory network.”
Steve is proud of Wealthbox’s email-to-CRM integration solution, which is one of the best in the market. To make integrations a success, the company usually hires a team of industry experts in building integrations and migrating data with CRM systems. If you feel like the CRM solution of your choice has all the integrations with other tools you use, try it out—there should be tons of product videos or trial periods to relieve you from doubts. In the future, Steve is sure that CRM solutions will tend to choose a narrow focus and create products for specific customer segments.
Kathy Crowley, Business Development Manager, Junxure: We’re not just a vendor, we’re a partner in business.
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Companies have started to think about their client relationships, and Junxure wants to become a partner, not just a vendor. For Kathy, the best CRM system is the one that the company is actually going to use. If advisors feel like their CRM doesn’t make their practice easier, they won’t be using it.
“Be sure that the right person does the right task at the right time—that is the essence of an efficient workflow.”
Kathy says that the team at Junxure brings as much data to their CRM as possible so their clients can easily exchange information between systems. That is their primary focus for the future, Kathy says. Such a focus requires making many complex system integrations, and this fact doesn’t scare Junxure. According to Kathy, there will always be some hiccups during the integration process; the point is what happens when a hiccup occurs. The team can help you go through that.
From Kathy: Key areas to consider as you select and build out your next CRM
Adrian Johnstone, Cofounder & Chief Commercial Officer of Practifi: CRMs should be simple and intuitive.
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It’s only been two years since Adrian and other cofounders of Practifi launched their product to the market. At this event, Adrian showcased Practifi and took part in a roundtable with three other leaders in this field. Among their success factors, Adrian names their dedicated customer success team, client-led innovation, ongoing staff training, and frequent product releases (six releases per year) with improvements based on client feedback.
Choosing a CRM is about understanding your business, Adrian says. But on top of that, it has to be intuitive and simple to be used. Adrian says he wants to develop Practifi as an innovative, fully integrated platform that meets complex client needs. The company provides role-based apps that enable teams to focus on information, tasks, and reports most relevant to them. With access to 3,000+ integrated applications, firms can configure a tech stack that meets every aspect of their business.
“At Practifi, we have two classifications for integrations: AppExchange Apps and APIs. Because we’re built on the Salesforce platform, an immense benefit to our clients is access to the Salesforce AppExchange. Bringing approximately 3,000 potential integrations, this rich ecosystem covers everything a firm could need.”
Takeaways
The biggest asset that businesses have is people and relationships. Building tools that facilitate building relationships between people is crucial and requires a keen understanding of the market and client behavior, especially when it comes to financial technology. The insights that were shared by the speakers give an outlook on what makes companies successful in the CRM subindustry and what will be the most valuable in the future for their clients.
