Technology is constantly evolving, even in the financial services industry. Here are a few pieces of technology you should have in your practice.
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I spent a few years working with tech startups and helping them market their products to the financial service industry. What was new and exciting to me was all the technologies that these companies took advantage of. Today I wanted to go over a few pieces of new technology that I would have in my practice if I was building it from scratch.
The first thing I would invest in is a good client relationship management software, or a CRM. It amazes me how many reps across the industry still work from paper files or notecards. It’s clearly time in 2016 for you to have a CRM. It’s less important that it works with your existing broker than it is that the CRM works for you. Look for features like meeting trackers, calendar integration, and email integration. The newer CRMs will even track your phone calls and prompt you to take notes when a client calls. You want the CRM to follow your specific steps along the way when it comes to getting new clients. A good CRM will allow you to customize the process.
The next thing I would get is financial planning software. You need to have a comprehensive planning approach in order to deal with the Department of Labor. You might even want to invest in two different systems. You can use one for your good economic potential clients that goes into greater detail, and you can use the other as more of a lightweight option that you can move quickly on. The key is to make sure you integrate one of those two with your CRM so they can talk back and forth. We also want your software to integrate with the third piece of the puzzle.All of these pieces work together.The third piece I am talking about is an online form application that you can complete a lot of your paperwork on. You can populate insurance company forms, compliance forms, etc., so your CRM can send data to your online forms application.
Finally, I would take the steps to implement a document storage solution. It is much easier to be able to send these forms and store them on the cloud in a compliant fashion so you don’t have file cabinets upon file cabinets in your office.
If you invest in these different technologies, you will truly have a modern practice in 2016 no matter what industry you are in. If you have any questions for us or would like to have a conversation about how to modernize your practice, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.