tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9139191744337994512.post1914577428501692985..comments2023-10-09T02:36:16.771-07:00Comments on The Financial Advisor Netzone: Pt 2: Questions to Ask When Looking for a Good CRMTDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03368416068466754070noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9139191744337994512.post-4574608554733515842007-07-03T20:19:00.000-07:002007-07-03T20:19:00.000-07:00Tammy,I couldn't agree more that in order to stay ...Tammy,<BR/><BR/>I couldn't agree more that in order to stay on top in financial services, you need to use some sort of technology so that you have access to meaningful data from which you can do analysis and, hopefully, improve your business...<BR/><BR/>Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, used data and data analysis (aka, Six Sigma) so that he could push his employees to continuously improve and that improvement made GE one of the most successful companies in America.<BR/><BR/>However, my experience with most people in financial services is that they lack the desire to use technology to the fullest... Sad, but true...<BR/><BR/>As the folks at ParetoSystems say, "80% of an entrepreneur’s revenues are generated by about 20% of their clients", but if you don't have the data to figure out where you are achieving success (and, more importantly, where you are not), you will never be able to continuously improve...<BR/><BR/>I wonder if there are any statistics on how many independent reps use technology, to what extent, and to what outcome...<BR/><BR/>As for my office, I'm almost 100% paperless... I have a central database that stores everything about my clients (including all of my client interaction) so that I can use other technology to make client service/new business a snap... <BR/><BR/>I can't remember the last time I filled out a new business app by hand (typing or writing)... I simply select the thing I want to do, press a button, and the technology takes over... Once docs are signed, they are scanned into the database so that I can access everything about my client from anywhere in the world (that has internet access)...<BR/><BR/>One last comment... Anyone that is 100% reliant on a web based application for their CRM is just asking for trouble... You need to have a way to continue to be highly productive even if you don't have access to the Internet... Using me as an example... I use daily data backups to a variety of sources (including backing up to a laptop that I take home with me) to make sure that I still have access to client info even if the Internet is down... Food for thought...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com