Automated distribution of data is one of the key elements in facilitating scale. That’s a universal truth in most industries in the 21st Century. Technology has made connecting with clients and distributors a more seamless process. In financial services, automation has helped firms grow beyond their historical demographic and geographic limitations.
Data distribution requires a sender, a receiver, and a mechanism to transfer the data. In our world, we use either an application programming interface (API) or daily FTP files to make this happen. Our technology team is constantly working to ensure that you have the data you need. That data is your key to better client retention and potential growth.
Practice Management Tools to Facilitate Scale
Growth can happen by accident. Scale requires the right tools and a strategy to manage clients properly. Advisory firms sometimes make the mistake of taking on new clients without the resources to handle them. Figuring all that out as you go is not an effective business strategy. RightCapital, through our partner integrations, can help you avoid that situation.
A customer relationship management (CRM) tool integrated with an interactive financial planning client portal is an essential building block for facilitating scale. We connect to several of them. A CRM allows you to see all client contact information, schedule meetings, track communications, and set up task lists so you don’t miss important milestones.
Our CRM integrations are designed to save advisors time. No one wants to manually enter data twice, so any updates in your CRM will automatically feed to RightCapital. This includes:
Client name
Address
Phone number
Email address
Contact history
The RightCapital connection gives advisors the ability to do all of this with a single sign-on. There’s no searching for login screens because everything is available on your dashboard with the click of a button. That also expands our ecosystem because our CRM partners have their own API connections to email marketing, instant messaging, and social media tools.
Populating Your RightCapital Client Portal
Clients won’t log in if there’s nothing to see. RightCapital provides their financial plan. Our integration partners feed us custodial data and performance reporting information. As a financial advisor, you want your clients to have all that data in one place. It minimizes your value in their eyes when they need to look elsewhere for information you should be providing them.
Some players in our space recognized this dilemma and built systems that are promoted as “all-in-one” solutions. That sounds appealing, but many advisors prefer specific CRMs or performance reporting tools. RightCapital offers an a la carte solution on our integrations page and connections to many of those all-in-ones, so you get the best of both worlds.
Like our CRM integrations, our custodial connections save you time. There’s no entering of ticker symbols or checking spreadsheets to verify holdings values. FTP files containing position level data are sent to us daily. This “direct feed” technology provides peace of mind to the advisor and incentive for the client to log in more frequently.
Client portals are pointless if they don’t provide value. The same principle applies to how advisors use our platform. RightCapital scores well in the Kitces Advisor Satisfaction Survey (8.6) and Ezra Wealthtech Integration Evaluation (8.0) because we offer a seamless advisor experience. That makes it easier for you to service clients.
Accurate Data for Performance and Analytics
Inaccurate performance reporting and analytics data is a compliance nightmare and an almost certain way to lose clients. Manual data entry is not a solution to that because humans make mistakes. API connections direct to the data source are more accurate. They’re also automated, so your people don’t need to burn man-hours creating spreadsheets.
RightCapital is not a performance reporting or analytics tool, but we understand the need to provide that information. Having it available in our client portal increases usage and helps advisors retain their clients. Automating it via API facilitates scale. Our team always focuses on that when we build new features and add integration partners.
Ensuring data accuracy requires data security. If your clients ask about it, and they will, point them to the security page on our website. It’s a bit technical, but it clearly shows our commitment to providing a secure platform to both advisors and clients. Take a moment to read about our network, data, and system security, along with our environmental safeguards.
Positioning Yourself as an Industry Leader
Advisors who scale with the right technology solutions position themselves as industry leaders. Other firms will try to emulate what you do. Your peers will seek you out for practice management tips and “secrets” to your success. Be as evasive or transparent as you like in these situations. Just be sure to mention RightCapital if you’re able to.
Many of the firms we do business with have used our platform and integration network to scale beyond their expectations. Some have chosen to write about that experience. See last week’s article on content marketing for a few tips on how to do that. Check out our integrations overview page to learn more about how we work with our partners.