Your processes are in the most dangerous place they can be – your head.
Although you’ve done a process over and over, and you know how to do it, it doesn’t mean your team knows. Does your team know what to do if you go on vacation? What if the process person leaves abruptly?
Repeatable processes are internal and external tasks that require the same assembly each and every time. Don’t be left in the ditches. Dedicate time to build your processes in your CRM so you can delegate, develop, and continuously improve operations.
Why Build Repeatable CRM Processes
There are three main reasons why you and your team should build repeatable CRM processes. The first is to help your team communicate effectively with your clients. Second is to delegate to the team and third is to measure servicing performance for clients.
1. Aid Communication with your Team and Clients
In a single event, like a client onboarding, there are many moving parts. Sometimes a team member has to wait on another team member before they can get to their to-do. Workflows address bottlenecks in the front end, so in the moment, you’re successful! The result is a better client experience and better teamwork.
2. Delegate
Delegation can be a difficult task for business owners, however it is a critical skill to increase your clientele and assets under management. This way, as the business owner, you have time to focus on revenue generating activities.
3. Measure Servicing Performance for Clients
Understanding how your clients are serviced can provide you an idea of how optimized your business model is. Building repeatable processes can help you measure your progress by building reports to determine if you are achieving the business metrics you are aiming to achieve. Having streamlined Workflows and Activity templates will mean your metrics can be tracked and acted upon.
The Best Repeatable CRM Processes
A few of the most common repeatable processes for a Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms include:
- Annual ADV / Privacy Policy Sent to Clients
- Change of Address/Contact Information Update
- Beneficiary Changes
- New Account Paperwork
- Transfer of Assets (ACATs, non-ACATs)
- Rebalancing
- Move Money Transactions (Journal, ACH, Wire, Check)
- Required Minimum Distributions
Build Out Templates
Redtail CRM offers opportunities to customize your CRM, both at the individual and the database level. These CRM tips are important because they allow you to set your database preferences and lists in ways that work the best for both you as an individual as well as for your office. Taken together, these customization options will help drive user adoption and, ultimately, help you streamline your processes while at the same time personalize and improve the client experience your firm provides. Sometimes you can talk until you’re blue in the face about a process and get pushback, but we can help your team and suddenly everyone is onboard.
Build Out Categories
When you’re trying to get work done, it can be helpful to batch Activities.
Type is the medium of the Activity.
-Is it a phone call, an email, a face-to-face meeting, a webinar?
But once you have that Type, a Category comes in and defines the gist of that Activity.
-What kind of phone call, a relationship building call?
-What kind of meeting, an insurance meeting?
-What kind of task, a trade request or money movement?
It can help you determine where a bulk of your time is spent. This is helpful when you determine year-end metrics. You can run Reports based on these Categories to determine how many you completed in the year.
Build Out Automations or Triggers
Redtail CRM Automations complete work for you. They take static tasks sitting on your desk and put them into action based on an “If, Then” statement. Zapier is an extended version that’s widely used by Registered Investment Advisory firms looking to build out Automations not currently in Redtail. It’ll majorly impact your day-to-day life and save time. It’s also a great internal and external experience! Automations decrease human error and get the ball rolling based on triggers.
Building Repeatable CRM Processes
The best way to approach repeatable processes is to document and build templates. Workflow templates are a living, breathing process that can be adjusted with industry changes and team changes. Activity, Note, and Automation templates save clicking and typing and add consistency. Setup can be time-consuming and require self-teaching. Fortunately, we take initiative and build customized processes for you. Applying many best practices we’ve gathered in working with offices.
Whether your goal is to add 100 clients or add 4 new team members, we do CRM build and process setup. Contact us for more information.
