Muhammad JahanzaibToday, the majority of investment advisor firms have indicated growth as their business priority. The advisory firms prioritizing growth intend on achieving the development primarily by adding new clients organically. Advisers interested in customer acquisition inevitably face operational challenges that can threaten their ability to serve customers. However, by implementing best-of-breed software, investment advisory organizations can grow assets while improving the quality of service they deliver to their customers.
A fully integrated customer relationship management solution is the most powerful tools these companies have at their disposal if they want to grow. However, when it comes to selecting the right CRM software tool for the advisory firm, an important question must be answered: Which CRM system will fit your investment business the best?
What Is A CRM System?
A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps manage customer data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media and facilitates team communication. Cloud-based CRM systems offer complete mobility and access to an ecosystem of bespoke apps.
Why Do You Need A CRM For Financial Services?
Today’s financial advisors act as members of the business organization where they work. They are at the core of the business as they indicate the company’s strategic direction through their suggestions. Of course, CRM isn’t the only tool that can provide the advisors with new and promising insights into client relationships. However, CRM technology can help a financial business maximize its relationship management while minimizing the operational effort required in managing client data.
Being a financial advisor is not easy. You have to deal with many complex workflows requiring extensive use of frustrating software systems. You have to deal with phone calls and emails coming in from clients every hour of every day. You are responsible for safeguarding confidential information about your clients, managing client logistics, and cutting through a thicket of complex paperwork.
A great CRM can help you get your job done. But why exactly do you need a CRM system? These are the most crucial and immediate reasons why financial advisors need CRM today.
- Generate referrals
- Increase business productivity
- Maximize and automate the use of customer relationship data
- Manage social media presence and client feedback
What CRM Systems Do Financial Advisors Use In Asia?
No matter what country or region you are in, the majority of investment advisor firms are embracing new CRM systems including:
- Hubspot
- Zoho
- Salesforce
- Insightly
Less Frustrating Software Systems
The best CRM systems standout from the rest for their power to cut your operational time in half and improve your ability to service clients. Hence, in order to improve your productivity and client retention, choosing the right CRM system is the best opportunity you will ever come across.
An Introduction To Financial Advisors
Financial advisors organize wealth and financial assets for their clients. They are expected to make financial decisions for their clients. The advisors earn a good salary and accumulate their wealth as a financial advisor. Financial advisors can work for a financial services company, bank, assurance, brokerage or trading floor. The company the financial advisor works for can be traditional or online investment firm specializing in asset management such as Oebe and the fees vary depending on the type of family office they operate.
The role requires the financial advisor to have an understanding of the investments, computation of taxes and investments in general. In addition to the skills of a financial advisor, the position also requires the financial advisor to be well versed in the design and management of wealth for clients. Also, they must be keen in reporting all the activities of the clients.
Many financial advisors work in the capacity of private wealth managers, where they act as a financial consultant for the rich. They must have an understanding of tax laws, insurance, investments and businesses. Additionally, financial advisors should have an understanding of the challenges and risks they face in governing wealth.
Financial advisors also manage the financial affairs of high net worth individuals. They advise clients on the most suitable investments and services. The financial advisors must assess the client’s needs and finances. Also, financial advisors should know how to develop investment portfolios and a capital preservation strategy.
Financial advisors also make recommendations on where to invest the money. They have to educate the clients on taxation laws such as capital gains and income tax on financial assets. They can also manage the client’s cash assets and investment portfolios.
Financial advisors must also advise the client on the control of the risk. They should advise on how to protect the assets from litigation and taxation. Therefore, a financial advisor should have an understanding of the fees they charge and also understand taxation laws when providing advice to the client.
Common Types Of Financial Advisors
There are two main kinds of financial advisors; independent financial advisor and in house financial advisor.
An Independent Financial Advisor has a freelance business model that enables them to advise clients in any investment it is common for them to manage the portfolio of the investor. They are exposed to a greater risk of failure as the pay is commission based.
An In-House Financial Advisor is usually employed by the business they work for. They are usually paid a fixed salary and they manage the portfolio of the investors they work for. They usually have less autonomy and less control over decision making processes hence they are less exposed to risk.
A securities license is usually required for a financial advisor and they are regulated by the ethics and compensation of the securities and exchange commissions commission.
Advantages Of CRM For Financial Services
A financial advisor does not need to worry when CRM solution is in charge of prospecting and sensitive task, as the CRM is in control of your process. The main purpose is to keep your customer information organized and accessible with automated workflows to fulfill your prospects.
You can develop a better client relationships since CRM can hold your records of client contact for each case. You will have a better organization of process and sales. CRM solutions do a great job of keeping track of your lead follow up.
It allows for a better coordination and synergy between sales people and support team. It allows you to have a better and more optimized time management since they automate repetitive tasks.
It improves your working process of organizing customer data since the CRM does most of the work, you only need to focus on selling. CRMs offer a centralized place for your information that is shared by all the people and panel who have the access.
Why CRM For Financial Services In Asia Is Important?
Asia is a diverse segment with many different cultural and business practices from region to region, it is important to find a solution you feel comfortable using. For instance a Chinese financial advisor may choose a solution that allows the use of the Chinese language, whereas the predominantly Islamic countries may choose a solution that allows for HJE (Hindi, Urdu, and English).
Where To Look?
It is hard for businesses to evaluate the customer relationship management system, as there are hundreds of providers and thousands of products on the market, it is simply convenient to work with a broker as they are working on behalf of the financial advisor.
The best way to evaluate CRM technology for financial services is to use the budget of your company and compare the cost of your CRM with the actual results, in order to accomplish this you should focus on the total cost of ownership, even though all of them are cheap and seem to be easy to implement the best option is to focus on the feature that are fit for your company.
Cost Of Ownership
The services provided by CRM providers on the market are similar and it is hard to differentiate between them, the main advantage when using a CRM is a reduced negative impact on your bottom line.
The main cost of CRM in the financial services industry is the implementation, but even after this a company has to sustain the cost with upgrades and maintenance.
Typical Financial Advisors Uses CRM
- Manage clients, contacts and relationships
- Monitor sales performance and productivity
- Create business development strategies
- Track opportunities
- Plan campaign routes and managers performance
- Track forecast and profitability
- Record details of deals and financial transactions
- Automatically create reports and newsletters
Typical Financial Advisors Challenges
Financial Service companies are facing a common challenge these days: extremely fragmented and densely distributed geographical territories. Managing thousands of clients spread all over Asia is a true challenge for your sales team. Brands face the following issues:
- Keeping in touch with customers
- Upselling existing custom
- Build loyalty
- Enabling one-on-one marketing
Empowering the sales team with an effective CRM system will deliver the expected results. Some of the key benefits of a CRM in financial services are:
- Let the team know who the prospect is
- Internal company data is accessible in the CRM
- Assist in sales process
- Assist in one-to-one marketing
A Powerful CRM for Financial Services can also increase the conversion of your leads, by assisting you in managing your leads and properly targeting them, it can significantly increase the conversion of a financial advisor.
It can be implemented in various ways, you can start small with a basic plan and upgrade to a more advanced system after a trial period. All of these greatly depend on your budget and the size of your team.
CRM can be used both for in-house and independent advisors, for any business that is in a direct or indirect relationship with consumers and use either the products of third parties or their own.
The financial industry is considered one of the most sensitive industries in terms of consumption, you need to deliver a good customer service otherwise they will look somewhere else. Financial services is more than just delivering advice and services to customers, you take care of their money, so they will be more involved than other customers.
CRM Solutions For Financial Services
There are several providers for customizable CRM for financial services, but it’s very hard to pick a system that is a perfect fit for your firm. It is important to evaluate your current tech stack and the tools that you are comfortable with. You need to have a deeper understanding of the matter before you start using the solution.
