Advisors need to up their game in a post-crisis environment in which clients have grown more risk-averse and seek more control over their investments, compared to pre-crisis years. To avoid losing clients, advisors must enhance the level of service they provide while ensuring their service model is profitable. Advisors need customer relationship management (CRM) technology more than ever to help them manage the increased number of client activities in the efficient and strategic way.
Those are the findings of a new report released Tuesday by Boston-based Aite Group, an independent research and advisory firm focused on business, technology, and regulatory issues and their impact on the financial services industry.
Compared with CRM solutions of the 1990s and early 2000s, today’s Web-accessible and services-oriented CRM solutions enable firms of all sizes to manage and automate client service, sales, marketing and risk management processes through embedded best practices, workflow tools and integration with other wealth management applications, writes Sophie Schmitt, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of the report.
While many large and small wealth management firms are beginning to embrace these newer solutions, a significant number continue to manage client contacts and activities through Microsoft Outlook/Office and other tools.