Lessons Learned on the Journey of Loving Our CRM System

By Liz Miller

In this post-pandemic environment, advisors must meet client demands in new ways. While some interactions are live, more and more are virtual. And although we have all adapted to meet our client’s range of desires, their expectations keep growing too. Today, advisors must deliver personalized interactions that are authentic, tailored, and flawless. It is nearly impossible for advisors to deliver such client-centered service without a fully integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system.

CRM systems have evolved significantly so that today the right system, properly integrated into your firm, becomes invaluable. It defines your approach to organization, centralizes communications, systematizes services, and helps achieve measurable efficiency as you grow. When I launched Summit Place Financial Advisors 15 years ago, I looked to implement cutting-edge systems that could serve us well for years to come. That included one of the first CRM systems designed specifically for financial services. I could see that a well-integrated CRM system would allow me to scale my service model for growth and ensure that every employee and client had the same experience.

We are now using our third CRM system, and each has been increasingly valuable in its own way. Each new system has added more nuanced functionality and moved increasingly to the center of our growing practice. Today, our system is the hub of our client-focused practice, sharing client information, service practices, and task organization across our team. Though a CRM system can be great, in my experience, success has depended more on how you deploy it in your business than on the software itself. Here are four important lessons I have learned in maximizing the critical impact of a CRM system.

1. Your CRM Has to Fit Your Key Support People
Even as our first CRM system continued to evolve, we decided to change systems. After several years of working to learn the complex system, I realized one day that my key administrator still kept a yellow pad of paper on her desk for a to-do list. She was copying tasks into and out of the system and often forgetting the “copying into” part. In asking her about the yellow pad list, I discovered that her own approach to organization was at odds with the system. She was constantly struggling to use our CRM for our benefit and then using her own organizational style offline. That is when I realized that even if I love a system, it must fit the way my key support people think.

We explored other options that had become available and made sure that my lead support person was a part of the demos and had a strong voice in the next choice. The transition took a few months for everyone to get up to speed, but it was not difficult because the new CRM system imported the old database. The new system continued to provide us all with client data. We had to rewrite workflows, but the new system was easier, and it was an opportunity to update existing processes. The new system’s task management was easier for everyone to use, and our key support person took ownership of the system and happily helped manage the transition and implementation for everyone.

2. Workflows Must Fit the Firm First and Then the CRM
Task workflows have also come of age, and many firms use them extensively. I have heard from some firms, though, that workflows sound like a great idea but are too complicated to create or too cumbersome to integrate into practice. We have found that well-crafted workflows ensure we deliver the same client service experience to everyone.

Before a workflow can be useful and effective, the underlying process has to work for the firm. We review our processes and workflows regularly and update them to reflect changes in our practices—such as originally having steps to send physical paperwork to clients to currently having steps to launch DocuSign.

We find that our regular internal process reviews accomplish two things. First, they ensure that our procedures are up to date and that they are not too complex but are still complete. It is often difficult to objectively review internal processes, but once they exist in a workflow, we have a regular chance to rethink the process. What needs to be accomplished? What is no longer necessary, and what works best in our office flow? Second, we have found that the teams that review our processes appreciate the chance to confirm their own practices and play an integral role in defining our best business practices.

Any CRM system can include workflows, but each integrates them differently. Since it has taken some evolution for CRMs to increase the ease of using workflows, some firms keep these processes in separate workflow systems (see “Move beyond a CRM with process control software” in the August 2022 NAPFA Advisor). We have found that keeping our workflows integrated into our CRM is critical for success. Workflow steps are not very different from any other task that might be assigned in our firm. One of our earlier CRMs had one section for managing our to-dos and another section for workflows. Our team found the separation disappointing, and workflow steps were sometimes delayed because a team member didn’t easily see it was their turn to address a step in the flow.

A fully integrated system can show the next workflow step as an assigned task like any other for the day. When the step is complete, the next step becomes a task on someone else’s list. Our system integrates all tasks onto our calendars as well. We can choose to follow only our own tasks and appointments, or we can see those of our colleagues with whom we want to easily interact. In our experience, workflows are central to our training and our service execution. Spending the time to manage them in our CRM has been well worth it.

3. Integration Amplifies a CRM’s Value, and Then It Becomes Essential
Our first system integrated with our custodian and our email system, allowing us to easily see a history of communications and see a client’s full financial picture. Our second system integrated with our custodian and our financial planning software; neither CRM system integrated with our portfolio management system. However, with our second system, easier integration across users and features increased the use of the system. It was constantly open on everyone’s desktop as the central source of personal client information. In one place, all of us could see the status of client tasks and workflows. We could easily drill down into the details of clients and their history. We also had a shared calendar that incorporated everyone’s client tasks, firm tasks, and appointments. Our client advisors lived in this system; our portfolio team had it open but still primarily lived in our portfolio management system.

Two years ago, we embarked on a project to review our portfolio management system and our client portal. In researching our choices, the team became increasingly intrigued with the portfolio systems that integrated both the CRM and portfolio systems into one platform. After talking to some users of these systems, we went with a new portfolio management system that fully integrated the functionality of the CRM. This time it took us a little longer than we liked to get everything set up, even with an import of our previous database. Again, we had to reenter our workflows, but, at our firm, this was still seen as a chance to review and update processes.

Today, the system is open on every team member’s desktop at the start of each day. The team loves that everyone lives in the same system. Our calendars, tasks, and portfolio updates are integrated. No matter what someone’s role at the firm is, they are at the center of all activities relevant to a client. Our email is also integrated, and we can send client emails directly from inside the CRM to all clients or subsets we have tagged within the system. Our Microsoft Outlook calendars are also integrated, and when I am traveling, I can easily see internal tasks and meetings as well as my travel plans on my calendar. Finally, this system also integrates with our financial planning system, delivering all the client’s financial information straight into the financial planning software. Information is only entered once into our CRM system and is available across all these integrations to clients and team members alike. Our team reports they can’t imagine going back to separating the CRM and portfolio management systems.

4. With a CRM, It’s “All for One and One for All”
In the end, a CRM system is only as good as its users. I have spoken with plenty of firms over the years that report they have tried to put in a system but not everyone uses it. We now have a CRM system that fits us like a glove in almost every aspect. My team can’t imagine fulfilling their role without it. When a CRM is fully integrated in a firm, it allows all users to share information more easily with each other and more efficiently to accomplish collaborative tasks. In my experience as a leader, it also delivers confidence that internal recurring tasks will get taken care of without ongoing reminders or my involvement.

All of this is wonderful as long as everyone is engaged. Using our CRM is a part of every employee’s onboarding training. After a short time with the firm, we also have a few tasks we ask them to show us to ensure that they can navigate and use the most important features. Our most powerful way of achieving effective CRM utilization grew from starting a “Share the cool things you figured out” meeting a few years back. We get together twice a year, and team members share with each other their favorite shortcuts, features, and reports that they are using. This meeting gets rave reviews, and I can see its impact on my team members. They leave the meeting with a deeper knowledge of the system and an increased set of skills, helping them to use our CRM even more effectively. No matter how much energy you put into choosing and implementing your CRM, it is only as powerful as your least technical team member who opens it every day.

Learn from Others to Use Your CRM System Effectively!

CRM systems have made themselves potentially indispensable! We are excited by the enhanced functionality and features that we are using in our newest CRM system. However, we’ve learned through experience that the features and integration can be overwhelming. If the system is not implemented successfully and embraced by all, you will miss out on incredible growth and efficiency opportunities for your firm. With so many firms now using CRM systems, many of us can share our experiences and lessons learned to help spread success.

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Liz Miller, CFP^®, CFA, is the founder and president of Summit Place Financial Advisors in Summit, NJ. She currently serves as a board member for CFP Board and on the editorial advisory board of Trusts & Estates magazine.

image credit: istock.com/mbortolino