Recently, I came across a Dow Jones Wealth Management publication entitled “.” The e-book emphasizes how most high net worth (HNW) clients want to hear more from their financial advisor, as they usually think: “Call me, tell me what’s happening, tell me what I should – or should not – do in response to news and events.” To echo that sentiment, the Dow Jones publication cites research from the “Voices of Wealth: Affluent Investor Report,” which was produced by the Opinion Research Corporation. I have charted out the findings of that survey below. As you can see, over a six month stretch, nine percent did not hear anything and forty-nine percent were only contacted between one and four times by their advisor. That amounts to nearly sixty percent of these highly affluent households being contacted less than once per month by their advisor. Evidently, it is no myth that HNW clients desire more frequent contact and their financial advisors have room for improvement.
The premise of the Dow Jones report is that financial advisors should better utilize CRM strategy and technology, such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, to provide more timely and proactive client service. Providing exemplary service can be demanding and time-consuming for an advisor. The rewards for doing so, though, are limitless. With the help of the flexible and scalable Microsoft Dynamics CRM system, which offers tight integration with other practice management tools, advisors will be more organized, focused, and professional. They no longer will have to frantically search through files looking for a missing critical client instruction document or investor policy statement. Since CRM can serve as the central data repository, advisors will have a running chronological log of current and outstanding client documentation, past client meetings and outcomes, account inquiries and resolutions, and integrated portfolio transaction history. As advisors can retain, reference, and retrieve data and documents much faster now, they will come across as more credible and prepared. Rather than saying they will have to call a client back to track something down, advisors can provide prompt and informative replies, thereby boosting their credibility.
Additionally, the client profile in CRM can capture valuable background on client financial planning goals, retirement and succession timelines, community affiliations, personal hobbies and interests, and family relationships. Since all of this rich information is centralized and immediately accessible, the advisor and his support team will become more efficient. The ensuing increase in the advisory firm’s productivity and preparedness leads to more time spent on advising, adding value, and cultivating relationships as opposed to performing administrative and transactional tasks. The CRM system not only becomes the core data hub, but also the primary productivity enhancer and true growth engine of the advisory practice. Now furnished with actionable client insights that are easily retrievable, the financial advisor can respond more quickly and effectively to his demanding sophisticated HNW clientele and have more meaningful discussions and discovery sessions to gather more assets.
To learn more about the industry leading Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Customer Effective: Wealth Management solution, please visit: . Our wealth management CRM templates and accelerators will help you increase productivity, improve decision support, and renew client focus to differentiate your practice and give demanding HNW clients the attention they covet and deserve.
Post by: Kevin Wessels, Customer Effective
