Posted on August 7, 2019
Building and maintaining strong client relationships should be a priority for any advisor who’s looking to grow their business, and choosing the right CRM software can be a powerful tool to keep you one step ahead of the game. CRMs are widely used in many industries, including financial services. If you’re not familiar with what this software is or what it does, CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and is technology designed to manage relationships with both current customers and prospects. Although the primary purpose of CRM is to strengthen business relationships, it aids in streamlining many business processes such as sales and onboarding (1).
Here are 6 of the most popular CRM platforms for financial advisors:
REDTAIL (follow Redtail on Linkedin: Redtail, Twitter: @RedtailCRM)
Redtail CRM is one of the most well-known CRMs in the financial services industry. Since 2003, their easy-to-use interface has been allowing financial professionals to streamline their activities without the hassle and provide a wide selection of integrations (including Advisor Websites). Which enables users to adapt their software to their personal preferences and boost productivity.
If you’re getting started implementing a CRM system or you’re looking to advance your skills, Redtail has its own university! Redtail University is pop-up training for financial professionals to learn their software and offer marketing advice. Check their schedule here to see if the next class is near you.
WEALTHBOX (follow Wealthbox on LinkedIn: Wealthbox, Twitter:@Wealthbox)
Wealthbox is another web and mobile CRM application that prides itself on requiring no training whatsoever to use, thanks to its easy-to-use platform. Advanced reporting, portfolio integrations, activity streams, and a nifty little mobile app are some of the key features Wealthbox clients enjoy. The company has experienced rapid growth over the past few years and caught the attention of influential figures like Bill Winterberg of FPPad:
Wealthbox has grown in the CRM category like no other CRM provider I’ve seen grow. They were at zero in 2014 and now they’re in the top four among all the other CRMs that are built for advisors.
-Bill Winterberg, CFP®, Fintech Publisher
EQUISOFT (follow Kronos on LinkedIn: Equisoft, Twitter: @Equisoft)
Equisoft is another CRM solution specifically designed for financial advisors. It is the only CRM that aggregates client and product data from gateways with insurance and investment platforms—giving advisors a full view of all client data at a glance. The CRM’s powerful tools are specifically designed to save advisors time, effort, and costs by streamlining their marketing, sales, service, and compliance processes. The tools enable advisors to make the most effective use of the time they save—driving revenue and profitability. Equisoft Finance also seamlessly integrates with Equisoft Plan, a stand-alone financial needs analysis tool.
Over 10,000 advisors use [our] cloud-based CRM to run their practice more efficiently so they can spend the maximum amount of time where it matters—with their clients.
- Émilie Carignan, Marketing Director
JUNXURE (follow Junxure on LinkedIn: Junxure, Twitter: @JunxureCRM)
Junxure is "A CRM that thinks like an advisor" with several awards under its belt, aiming at helping advisors reduce IT overhead, streamline workflows through automation and enrich client experience by way of proper data tracking. Junxure's key features include reporting for both parties (clients and you), easy correspondence tools, and quite a few integrations to help you get things done. In their own words, Junxure is so much more than a CRM:
Many growing and mature financial advisory firms have many people who work with clients – advisors, paraplanners, admin and other staff. . . It doesn’t matter who took the phone call or had the meeting or sent or received an email – Junxure Cloud helps advisors gather these interactions into one place – it’s the corporate memory.
- Robert DeFrancis, Director of Sales
ENVESTNET /TAMARAC (follow Tamarac on LinkedIn: Tamarac, Twitter: @TamaracInc)
Tamarac's Advisor CRM is a powerful and scalable tool built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform. Their team of consultants works with advisors to figure out what it is that they truly need to configure and implement, including dashboards, filters, workflows, and more. Tamarac says Advisor CRM was designed specifically for independent advisors, and their large selection of integrations back this claim (including integration with Salesforce).
SALESFORCE (follow Salesforce on LinkedIn: Salesforce, Twitter: @salesforce)
Last but not least, Salesforce is the behemoth of CRMs. Financial services are but one of the industries they service. Salesforce's key offering is "personalized" service, including insights, outreach, and planning. If you're the savvy type, you can also build custom apps on Salesforce relevant to your needs.
The CRM software you choose will depend on our business niche and goals; hopefully, this article has provided some guidance in distinguishing some of the features each CRM offers and the benefits of using these technologies to your advantage. We’re always eager to help you with your marketing efforts, of which CRMs and websites are a big part. To see how we can help you grow business, book a time to chat with us here.
1. Salesforce. (2019, August 6). What is CRM? Retrieved from Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/eu/learning-centre/crm/what-is-crm/