The financial services CRM consulting practice of Customer Effective has been on top of the surge in compliance-related issues for years now, including going back to the inception of . Many of our past commentaries and blog contributions to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM community have stressed the importance of maintaining the data integrity of client records and preserving all client correspondence to comply with heightened regulatory scrutiny. During the first half of this year, there have been numerous stories emerging from Wall Street in which independent broker/dealers have received large multi-million dollar fines from FINRA for failure to adequately capture client email communication and produce required client documentation to regulators. Thus, I wanted to take some time to demonstrate how CRM can help B/Ds improve the tracking and retention of client e-mail and document delivery to tighten their internal controls and facilitate greater compliance.
As seen below, a running historical log in Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be kept on the client profile for all related completed activities, including any client-facing appointments, phone calls, follow-up tasks, or e-mails. Time-stamped notes can be captured and all activities can be prioritized, filtered by timeframe, and sorted chronologically. Moreover, CRM allows financial advisory sales and service teams to track upcoming scheduled activities with clients and prospects. Whether the activity is open or closed, producers and client service associates can click on the record to pull up the specifics of the interaction.
For instance, being that the focal point of the recent uptick in regulatory fines has revolved around e-mail tracking, I have highlighted in orange all of the e-mails that have been sent to or received from this particular client.
To take it one step further, I have opened up the e-mail flagged with the green arrow that I, as the FA for this client relationship, sent to my client last month. In the case of this e-mail, I was reminding my client of a recent SELL recommendation I gave to him concerning one of his equity holdings based on a recent disappointing quarterly earnings announcement.
As you can see, the original context of the e-mail is immediately available. Plus, any attachments, if applicable, such as research reports, Form ADVs, statements, financial planning hypos, economic commentaries, and client newsletters, would be visible as well. The tracked e-mail covers myself from a compliance standpoint and helps jog my memory on past conversations with the client so I can provide more exemplary service and be more prepared to handle any potential objections to my investment advice.
Over the past decade, Customer Effective has delivered scalable and comprehensive Microsoft Dynamics CRM solutions to B/Ds and RIAs. Our Customer Effective: Wealth Management platform is embedded within Outlook and tailored specifically to the needs of financial advisors. It will allow executive management and advisors to sleep easier at night being that their practice is now more compliant, better prepared for regulatory audits, and extra protected from client complaints and potential lawsuits. To hear more about how our wealth management accelerators can help grow your practice, while reducing your compliance costs and e-mail tracking headaches, please .
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