Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
The client relationship management (CRM) platform has become the beating heart we can’t live without.
As Michelle Feinstein, vice president of wealth and asset management industry solutions and strategy at Salesforce noted on a recent “CRM Unlocked” podcast, CRM “represents the heartbeat of the technology stack. This is not just a tool where you're going to load your leads and contacts, and only use it to capture information in that way. So many firms are looking at it as a solution to enable their digital transformation efforts. So, I look at it as a foundational technology that really helps speed the business process.”
I have long held the central belief that CRM tools would one day become indispensable to the advisory profession and occupy an essential space in the broader financial services technology ecosystem. That day has come – CRM is the ideal hub for an organization’s data. It should function as the foundation of the advisor’s technology ecosystem.
This evolution has occurred because CRM provides advisors efficiency at scale, particularly when it is utilized to its fullest potential. Just like the human heart powers the entire body with blood and oxygen, the CRM must be integrated deeply into the entire organization to deliver on its full potential to maintain healthy data analytics and workflows.
When CRM is embedded this way, the substantial benefit is the creation of trustworthy data. People no longer need to rely on multiple Excel spreadsheets – rife with possibility for human error – instead, they have a centrally available database that can be updated quickly and efficiently across the firm’s operations.
CRMs enable the elegant synchronicity of all components of an advisor’s tech stack, delivering data analytics and capabilities that we only dreamed possible 20 years ago. Advisors can share information more easily than ever before with workflows built in to ensure all processes are handled across every function of their firm.
Advisors have longed for a place that centralizes everything that they need, as have their clients. The evolution of CRM technology has also highlighted why open pathways for bidirectional integrations have become critical across fintech providers. If an advisor must navigate multiple systems during the client onboarding process, it leads to a poor experience for them and increases the likelihood of errors. If one of your organs didn’t have access to blood and oxygen that would be a problem; similarly, the flow of data through the CRM can’t be cut off from part of an advisors’ tech stack.
The bi-directional capability of CRM is already becoming the norm, and more and more advisors are positioning their CRM as the single source of truth for their organization’s data.
Advisors who are taking a holistic approach to implementing and maintaining this technology and fintech providers who are focusing on opportunities to increase bidirectional connectivity are opening the door to the future. We need to take care of the CRM system; monitoring its health, making sure oxygen is flowing to every organ, and investing time in its maintenance regularly.
Marc Butler is president and chief operating officer of Skience, a leading financial services solution and consulting provider.
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
