Imagine being able to treat each client as if you saw them every day and had a close personal relationship with them. You would have higher retention of existing clients, and you would gain the benefits of referrals from your loyal clients.
Knowing your client and allowing them to feel like you understand their needs and expectations can be difficult. How do you keep track of all the nuanced conversations and personalized information about a prospect or client? How do you ensure each member of your organization has access to all of the current client information?
Implementing a CRM software into your financial planning process
Customer relationship management (CRM) software makes all of this possible, and it is becoming a major solution for businesses today. CRM software gives companies organized information storage, in-depth sales tracking, and a consistent workflow through the entire organization. All of these benefits can set a foundation to provide an elite client experience. Continue reading to learn about four major ways a CRM software can set a solid foundation for your financial planning success.
Efficient work productivity
A well-implemented CRM system can replace manual processes that create significant financial planning inefficiencies. You can access client information such as demographics, personal account information, and even different types of insurance policies. This allows advisors to save time on data entry and manual processes, which in turn frees up valuable time to grow and maintain clients.
Your book of business could grow to new heights with the efficiencies created with a CRM software. Financial planning is the core element of an advisor’s practice and the ability to eliminate data entry will allow for more accuracy and efficiency in your financial planning offerings.
Consistent workflow
Multiple people often work one the same clients or accounts. This makes it essential to have a central location for all the key information about each account. For example, accounts often get transitioned during the sales process and have multiple people reaching out from the organization.
This centralized spot simplifies the discovery process by making it easier to identify what type of opportunity it is. A repeatable financial planning process will play a large role in the unity of your practice and those within your organization. A well-implemented CRM software helps employees across the organization better understand their responsibilities throughout the client journey.
With every change in the life of a client, the financial plan must be updated alongside the changes. Ensuring your workflow is optimized will simplify this difficult process. CRM software may even help with the loss of a client, by helping you audit where and why things went wrong.
Better upselling opportunities
It is well known that in order to better help your clients, you need to sell products that best serve their needs. A CRM software allows for simpler and better upselling opportunities because firms can track every interaction with a client such as emails, client meetings, and notes from the entire client relationship since its inception.
With this rich integration, advisors can provide a holistic financial plan that deepens client relationships which will result in more business for you in the long run. If and advisor truly understands the needs of each client, they will be able to recommend additional products that can help each client achieve their goals.
Better customer service
Client retention has proven to be more cost-effective than seeking out new business. Differentiation from the competition is often won with the amount of experience provided. With ample industry experience, clients now expect a seamless customer experience. A CRM software aids in this customer experience by providing advisors important client information in seconds to enable the building of a stronger client-advisor relationship.
The advisor will have more insight into the relationship and what the client wants, creating a more tailored approach to financial planning. The client will then be more satisfied with the advice and experience because it is customized for them. With all of this data, a CRM software gives advisors the capability to treat clients as if they were the only client the advisor has.
Additionally, by accurately segmenting your client base with the CRM software reporting features, the advisor can identify all of the clients that may need certain advice such as reaching retirement, planning for college expenses, or funding a wedding. This gives the advisor a chance to be proactive in the relationship and give the client piece of mind that the advisor is thinking ahead.
Having a documentation system that tracks all of the client’s past worries and expectations helps the advisor better prepare for what the client expects in future interactions. Relationships in the financial planning process are dynamic and may be difficult to maintain. A CRM software empowers the advisor to handle these relationships with ease no matter what each client’s life may bring.