Before:
- In addition to their high net worth clients, the firm approached us to develop a well-defined way to deliver services to the mass affluent.
- They had very few documented planning processes in place which translated into many of their services being delivered more reactively instead of proactively.
- The firm’s CRM was one of their biggest challenges. It has robust capabilities, but there had been no consistent process developed for using it, especially for onboarding and data gathering.
- They also wanted to figure out how they could offer advice in other planning areas and engaged us to assist them with the design, systems, materials and delivery process.
- Most of the financial planning deliverables and processes were not documented or standardized.
- They had not created well-defined service tiers and deliverables for the various categories of clients they are serving which range from simple to very complex. This includes a mass affluent segment where advice is solely provided over the telephone.
- They needed to create a streamlined methodology for delivering their advice through technology for efficiency that would be easy for both their firm and clients to use.
After:
- We implemented a service team model, which in addition to creating more efficiencies for providing advice, now dually serves as a way to train newer planners in more advanced planning areas.
- Clearly defined service tiers and deliverables for each one.
- Implemented an automated data-gathering process.
- Resulted in customized workflows, associated procedures, checklists and visual aid templates for firm efficiency and delivering a great client experience.
- The firm now had customized templates that augment their financial planning software, so this information no longer needs to be created from scratch for each client.
- The firm was able to take their customized workflows and have them documented in specially designed flowcharts, which included linking to associated checklists and other documents. This prepared the firm for transferring these processes into the workflow templates within their custom CRM. The onboarding process and certain client meeting processes are now much more automated.
- There is now a documented and robust system in place for training their future new advisors who will assist with serving their clients.
- The system and documented processes we helped put in place for the firm positioned the financial planning division to be able to easily scale and grow as the number of referrals it is receiving continues to increase.