We recently discussed how advisors are using powerful customer relationship management (CRM) systems to seamlessly manage employee tasks, generate leads, close sales, and maintain their client and prospect relationships. You can read the article here.
The following case study shows how one advisor puts different elements of a CRM system into action in a typical morning [tweet this].
A Tuesday morning in June
Anna is an advisor in mid-career, with a stable book of business that continues to grow. She was a life representative predominantly but is now cross-selling wealth products to many clients. Her CRM app is critical to making this happen.
In the beginning
Anna wakes up Tuesday morning. She checks the CRM app on her phone. Twenty-five new emails have arrived – and her CRM app has highlighted three that should be read relating to her appointments for today. The CRM software reads the emails out to Anna has she gets ready for her day.
When Anna arrives at her office, she launches the CRM system’s Advisor Dashboard on her tablet. The Dashboard contains several key work areas in the form of "widgets." Specifically, Anna can access the following from the Dashboard:
- Tasks – these are items that require Anna’s action. Today, she can see that she owes client Greg a phone call for his 60th birthday.
- Events and campaigns – these include her ideas for new campaigns, progress on current campaigns and upcoming events that she’s attending.
- News – the CRM system curates relevant news items for her to read and potentially share with clients.
- Leads – information on all prospective clients is entered here, with contact information, notes and follow-up reminders.
- Sales – this section shows Anna’s top transactions as they progress through the sales process.
- Clients in focus – for quick access, Anna has flagged certain clients who require more immediate work and attention.
Each of these widgets surfaces only a few items that are the most relevant – with a link to "see all" for each individual section if Anna wants to dig deeper into any given area.
Adding a lead
Anna has some time before her 10 am meeting, so she opens up her Leads widget. There’s a call to action to add a contact – a woman named Julia that Anna met at an event the previous night. She has Julia’s business card.
Anna taps on "Capture" with her mobile phone and snaps a picture of the card. Optical character recognition grabs all the relevant details. Artificial intelligence matching then pulls in Julia’s likely social network linkages (Twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn).
Anna then enriches Julia’s entry by adding a few notes from her conversation with her – and assigns a strength rating for the prospect for prioritization.
A message pops up confirming that Julia has been added. Another message indicates that Julia likes jazz based on a recent tweet. Anna adds a note that Julia would be a great candidate to invite to the jazz festival being held later that month.
10am meeting with Melissa
Anna has 15 minutes to prepare for her video conference with one of her life and wealth clients, Melissa. In addition to basic contact information, the CRM system shows Melissa’s total assets, as well as a projected view based on her automatic contributions. It also shows Melissa’s recent tweets, providing insights into what topics are top of mind.
The birth of Melissa’s baby two months ago is one of them. Anna had seen the news of the pregnancy on social media and had sent Melissa congratulations when the baby was born. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to review Melissa’s planning and raise the topic of RESPs.
When the meeting starts, Anna shares the plan with Melissa on the screen while taking notes of the call in another panel. These notes are automatically recorded in the CRM system, as is the video, which is automatically recorded.
Melissa sees that her plan is still on track – but wants to get started on building her child’s RESP right away. With the CRM system, the entire application process – forms sent, electronic signatures collected, forms returned and automatic contributions authorized – takes place during the video call. When the call ends one hour later, Melissa has the RESP set up and contributions have begun. And Anna has expanded her wealth management footprint without leaving the office.
The RESP campaign
Anna’s final task for the morning is the launch of a broader RESP email campaign through the CRM system. Anna sets the parameters – clients with children and $100,000 in assets, but no RESP – and the system generates 33 client names that fit the profile.
The CRM system generates a draft note to these clients that Anna edits to emphasize the benefits of the money available through the government matching contribution. She adds a couple of other clients to the contact list who may be interested and pushes “send.” The CRM system takes care of the rest.
Maximize the benefits of CRM technology
This case study provides just a glimpse of how a CRM system can benefit your business. This powerful technology can help you seamlessly manage tasks for you and your employees, generate leads, close sales, and maintain your client and prospect relationships [tweet this]. It’s a significant competitive advantage that can ultimately improve your profitability.