As the world of financial practitioners becomes more dependent on technology, manufacturers are stepping up to the plate to provide new and innovative solutions. And while having more choices is probably not a bad thing, it does pose some challenges for financial advisors to identify which ones are appropriate for their situation and needs. Thus, developing a system to evaluate technology, based on objective criteria that are tied to the firm’s needs, should be a necessary step in the selection process.

To better understand an evaluation system, let’s first look at a couple of new choices. The first is a company called GreenRope (www.greenrope.com). GreenRope is a CRM and marketing software that, according to its founder and CEO, Lars Helgeson, took 12 years to create. GreenRope has some innovative features that may give Salesforce CRM some real competition. And they offer competitive pricing, based on the size of the database and not the number of users. At the low end, you can purchase a subscription for up to 1,000 contacts with unlimited users and unlimited e-mails for $129 per month. GreenRope was recently approved for use by LPL Financial, one of the largest broker-dealers in the country, according to Matt Stewart, marketing associate with GreenRope.

But the cost and popularity of software is not always the best criteria to evaluate whether it is a good solution for your firm. In the case of GreenRope, comparisons should be made between them and a similar solution such as the aforementioned Salesforce (www.salesforce.com). GreenRope has developed a full-featured client relationship management (CRM) solution that has such features as marketing automation, event and opportunity management, calendar booking, social network marketing, project management (automated work flows), lead scoring, predictive analytics and even an e-commerce feature. It offers full e-mail integration using the Zimbra e-mail client (Redtail also uses them) and has many other integrations, including (surprisingly) an integration with Salesforce. It can track visitors to websites and has a phone call capability (click on a contact phone number and the call is initiated as long as the advisor’s office has a compatible phone system). The phone capability can also automatically record the date and time of a call in the contact record. It also has the ability to record when a contact reads your e-mail and which e-mail is saved in the contact record.

The second choice is a company well known in the financial advisory profession, Junxure (www.Junxure.com). They recently rolled out their cloud-based solution, JunxureCloud. The platform is an easy-to-use layout, reminiscent of the live tiles concept of the Microsoft 8.1 operating system. With a much-improved work-flow management feature and management reporting function, office efficiency is bound to improve. Junxure Cloud has a lengthy list of integrations that permit the user to access client data and capture documents and information in the CRM database. Initiating activities, such as adding an action, correspondence and updating account information, has been made easier through a completely redesigned platform that speeds up navigating through all the features.

The cost of JunxureCloud, as reported on their website, is $75/month per user with a first-year introductory price of $59/month (some exceptions may apply). There is a one-time fee for training and their technical support is offered without charge to current subscribers. Other services, such as data migration, document/e-mail archiving, etc., could generate additional fees.

Taking the two choices mentioned and subjecting them to an objective comparison, several aspects of the platforms should be compared. This comparison can take the form of a checklist, with the line items created based on the situation and needs of the advisory firm. For instance, if your office uses an enterprise server, you would want to look at software and systems that can take advantage of that environment. If you have Apple desktops/laptops/tablets, etc., then you want to study those solutions that can function efficiently in that operating system. See sidebar for a sample list of potential line items that might be included in a software comparison checklist.

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