HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- Trent Witthoeft, director at Pershing Advisors Solutions, greeted the attendees at the "Creating Growth Through Customer Relationship Management" session at the INSITE conference here by saying “When I stated out, CRM was a bunch of business cards.” 

Witthoeft noted how the industry has come so far from those days and they introduced Spenser Segal, chairman and chief executive officer of ActiFi, Inc. to help advisors better understand this mission-critical piece of technology.

“Adoption of CRM has been good,” said Segal, but he pointed out the need for advisors to take it to the next level, telling the crowd that 48% of advisors said they need help in at least seven of the eight areas of CRM.  In case anyone was confused, he also said, “Outlook isn’t a CRM."

CRM can help in many ways

Segal questioned, “How do you get from where you are to where you want to be?”  He pointed out benefits of CRM that included increased revenue, scale growth, improved service, increased practice value, effective delegation, increased efficiency and building relationships.

Segal challenged the crowd saying, “You want to be able to go on vacation and not worry things will fall through the cracks.”  Advisors see these benefits, but the problem has been that CRM has been more technologically driven than business driven.

The basics

“Contact management is the foundation of CRM,” said Segal.  “If you don’t have a foundation, then you can’t get anything else right.”  He gave an example of an advisor noting a client’s grand kid’s name in his CRM and then tracking his baseball results on Google Alerts.  This gave the advisor the ability to send a nice note to the client when the 15-year old has a good game.

Segal doesn’t think CRM stops with clients though.  He said, “Advisors should use it as a prospect relationship management tool too.” 

It is important to get the data right, or Segal says, “It is garbage in garbage out.”  He recommended having customized fields to track unique information, but to also have accountability for entering the information.  “You need a mechanism to keep your act together,” said Segal.

By tracking the right things, advisors are using history more effectively, which can help with categories like risk management and compliance.  Things like the last discussions, emails, etc. should be captured.  Segal’s mantra is… “If it is not in the CRM it never happened.”

Is using CRM extra work?

Yes, it is more work to do the task and record it, compared to just doing it.  As a result, Segal often hears advisors say, ‘I don’t have time.’  However, Segal pointed out, “You don’t personally have to do the work, you can hire someone.  You do have to attain the accountability though.”  He recommends making CRM a key part of incentive structures.

Segal advises, “Determine the power users [within a firm to learn how they are using it.]”  He then thinks advisors should integrate CRM with email and calendaring, where possible.  “Automate it or get it down to one step,” added Segal.

He stressed the importance to creating a plan to get everyone to the level of the power user.  To do this you cannot just tell someone they have to do it.  Instead show them how it drives a business outcome.  Segal said, “Provide a compelling case study.  It is not just because I told you so.  Say something like, ‘I look like an idiot if I don’t know what is going on with the customer.'"

Segal recommends using CRM templates.  He believes they can deliver many benefits, including:  business growth, consistent service levels, delegation of tasks to others, assurance that best practices are followed, and they are a great mechanism to train staff. 

Examples of templates are:  Client meeting agendas, follow-ups, meeting preparation, onboarding, thank you letters, discovery packages, internal meeting agendas and more.  “Make them so that they can be used,” said Segal.  “Also, reward and recognize the people that institutionalize the knowledge in your CRM, like giving a $10 gift card each time one is created.”