How to Select a CRM for Your Advisor Practice

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For some crazy reason I fought CRMs for the first 20 years of my career. It may have been the biggest business mistake I have made.

Here’s what I thought. “I’m tech savvy, was the first person at Merrill Lynch to bring a personal computer to work, and I already pay for Microsoft Office. So, if I can keep all my client contact info on a customized Excel spreadsheet for free why should I have to pay $150 monthly for Salesforce ?”

Here’s why that was dumb. It’s not free—it has cost me plenty. Why? Excel is cumbersome, hard to share, cannot easily store images, links and docs, has not materially changed in 10 years, does not automatically update client information nor push data to you (birthdays, tasks, etc.), and won’t integrate with e-mail, your calendar, or most other financial programs.

You may have some other way to manage contacts and clients such as your custodian, a clunky company provided database, or index cards in the trunk of your car. You get the point. Your way, if it is not a dedicated CRM, probably suffers like mine did.

Are you reminded of client birthdays and other important events automatically? Do you have a way to permanently store client contacts, e-mails, and conversations? Does your system automatically search the internet for related client data like Linked-In profiles, websites, Twitter handles, and company info? Can you store your client’s picture in their profile, so your staff knows what they look like when they visit? Are you automatically reminded of client tasks, goals, and sales activities? Everyone with a decent CRM answered yes to each question.

What is a CRM? It stands for Customer Relationship Management . (I had to look it up.) The definition according to Salesforce is “a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.” Stop here. Forget about CRM a second. Ask yourself if you have anything that does exactly this-- manage all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers --if not, why not?

Related: Does It Matter What Kind of Investor Your Client Is?

One survey said 90% of advisors use a CRM system. However, I have always said I use a CRM too in surveys. But if it is a spreadsheet, Microsoft Word doc, Microsoft Outlook calendar, a contraption you built yourself, or your fabulous memory, it is not a CRM.

How to select a CRM?

  • Do a LOT of research— Salesforce may be right for American Express, Comcast and other massive enterprises, but not necessarily for you—keep looking
  • Find out how many of the financial planning programs you use integrate with the CRM
  • Ask if they offer special discounts for your broker/dealer or custodial platform
  • Make sure it has a mobile app that works with your phone
  • Use it for a free-trial period—verify it is intuitive for you
  • Test their customer service—if they do not have chat or e-mail that they respond to quickly—move on
  • Finally, clear your choice with compliance

    • I use Wealthbox for my retail business and HubSpot for my institutional business. They are perfect for me—but this does not mean they are perfect for you—again you must test them to make sure.

    Here are some recent CRM side by side comparisons from RIA in a Box , Software Advice , and Capterra . Take your time, ask a lot of questions, try at least three. Start now. I am afraid if you don’t, without a CRM, you’ll have no way to remember to do this!