As 2022 draws to a close, we examine the top finance tech trends of the year. These were the trends with the most significant impact on your business, your advisors, and your customers. Most importantly, these trends will continue to loom large in 2023. We previously discussed the central role the CRM plays in the tech stack. Now, we offer ways to leverage this powerful tool.
Skience Tech Trend #2: Achieve CRM Success
On January 4, 2010, a rare feat in humankind was achieved. The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, was opened for business. Towering over Dubai at 2,722 feet (over half a mile!), the skyscraper is the tallest structure in the world.
What keeps this aluminum and glass behemoth from falling over? One of the thickest foundations ever poured—a concrete slab 164 feet deep and 12 feet thick.
An advisor’s CRM has a lot in common with a well-engineered building: all the features and tools are only as strong as a solid foundation of accurate data.
Best laid plans
“When you think about any successful CRM implementation, it starts with a strong foundation of data,” says Skience Vice President of Relationship Management Jon Feinstein.
Starting with clean data helps your CRM rise to the occasion and take its place as the gleaming skyscraper of your tech stack.
“The CRM to me has always been the right spot,” Orion Advisor Technology President Brian McLaughlin asserts. “It’s the golden source of truth of your data. It’s the master record.”
The grand opening
Once your foundation is secure, that data should guide everything you do.
“Data is so important because it gives you insights that you are subconsciously aware or unaware of,” acknowledges Johnny Sandquist, Founder, Three Crowns Copywriting and Marketing LLC.
Turning those insights into action will increase efficiencies, strengthen client relationships, and grow your firm.
“You don’t have a path forward unless you just put it right in front of you.”
Remember, you’re continually adding to that data. Incoming data should follow the same parameters.
For example, “Forms aren’t necessarily paper anymore,” Patrick Meyer, Senior Manager, Solution Engineering at DocuSign asserts.
“It’s a contract or a collection of data in a structured format and delivered via a consumable file.”
Looking ahead
Inputting quality data results in actionable output—which paints a clearer picture of where your firm is headed. Sandquist stresses the importance of personalization in retaining and gaining clients.
“Personalization is about delivering high-value content relevant to an individual’s experience. How you get there is through segmentation, and how you get the segmentation is through data.”
Reaching new heights
“The integration of information or insights into CRM is absolutely pivotal [if] you want to deliver a revolutionary experience,” declares Chin Ma, Founder and President of CHRP.
Making your CRM a single source of truth with robust data is the best way to support a towering book of business.
According to Sandquist, “You don’t have a path forward unless you just put [the data] right in front of you.”
Feinstein concurs. “Data is absolutely essential. The quality of the data, the cleanliness of the data—that’s really the foundation that flows into all of the systems, CRM or otherwise.”
Next time: Avoid these common mistakes when using tech.