The structure and functionality of a customer relationship management (CRM) system is critical to the effective implementation any sales strategy. For mutual fund and ETF marketing, a CRM system tailored to mirror the structure of financial advisor firms significantly boosts fundraising. The most successful sales approach is to address prospects directly in a way that recognizes who they are, where they are, who they work with and what their history of sales activity is. A CRM system that tracks and reports on all these data points is one that equips sales to reach out most effectively.
Financial advisors at many of the largest and most important firms for investment fund sales exist within a complex ecosystem. While a firm’s headquarters address is widely published, the particular office address of a target advisor within the firm is less well known, difficult to source and difficult to track as advisors often move. The advisor team, or buying unit, to which that advisor is assigned and his/her position within it is an added complication – critical to know but even harder to source and track. The value of that advisor in terms of activity and sales volumes is yet another essential piece of information, which even if available, is a challenge to coordinate with all the others.
A CRM system that brings all this information together, updated and accurate in a trackable and reportable database with graphic visibility is an application that organizes workflow for sales teams and focuses their day-to-day efforts on meaningful contact with the most promising sources of new sales. Such an application has many practical advantages.
Targeted Communication: By reflecting the unique hierarchy and relationship dynamics of financial advisor firms, the CRM enables more effective and personalized communication strategies.
Enhanced Relationship Management: It allows for the maintenance of detailed relationship maps, crucial for understanding the influence and decision-making processes within advisor firms.
Streamlined Sales Processes: A specialized CRM aligns with the sales processes of advisor firms, enabling mutual fund companies to engage more effectively at each stage of the sales cycle.
Data-Driven Insights: A tailored CRM system analyzes data specific to advisor firms. Alerts identify top performers, non-performers, first sales, sales over certain thresholds and track the activity of key advisors – providing insights that can inform and optimize fundraising strategies.
Improved Investor Profiling: With advisor-level sales tracking, mutual fund companies can better understand the advisor-client relationship and tailor their products and marketing efforts to meet the changing needs of end-investors.
Efficient Resource Allocation: A specialized CRM system identifies key decision-makers and influencers within financial advisor firms, allowing for more targeted and efficient use of marketing and sales resources.
Smart sales strategy is fitted to the contours of the prospect market. A CRM system that is designed to reflect those contours positions a sales team for success. By mirroring the organizational structure of advisor firms, profiling advisors by their location and team assignments and tracking the relevant sales activity of each advisor, the CRM primes sales for meaningful and effective outreach. A CRM that fitted to purpose is the most valuable sales and marketing tool in a mutual fund company’s tool kit.
