A welcome update to a CRM stalwart.
ProTracker Advantage 4.0 is the much anticipated,
long overdue upgrade to ProTracker 3.3. For those unfamiliar with the
program, it was originally developed by Warren J. Mackensen, a fee-only
planner in Hampton, N.H., for use in his own practice. Since its launch
commercially at the 1997 National Association of Personal Financial
Advisors (NAPFA) National Conference in San Diego, ProTracker Software
Inc. has grown to a firm that now serves 672 users at 246 firms.
I'm happy to report that this upgrade was, on
balance, worth waiting for. ProTracker Advantage 4.0 addresses some of
the most obvious deficiencies of the earlier version, while adding a
few new features that are sure to please current licensees.
Getting Going
ProTracker Advantage 4.0 requires Windows 2000 (or
later) or Windows XP (or later). A current generation CPU and
sufficient RAM (I'd suggest 512 MB as a minimum) will improve
performance. Older operating systems, such as Windows 95, 98, ME, and
NT, are not supported. You will also need MS Office 2000 (MS Word,
Excel and Outlook) for mail merge, e-mail, exports to spreadsheets and
PDA connectivity. MS Access is not required; ProTracker ships with the
runtime version.
The ProTracker Web site
(http://www.protracker.com/Advantage.htm) contains a helpful 33-page
"Getting Started Guide" in PDF format, which includes clear, concise
installation instructions for both new users and upgraders. ProTracker
Advantage can be installed on a stand-alone PC, a peer-to-peer network
or a client/server network. Once the program is installed, existing
users must convert data from the 3.3 database to the 4.0 database. If
the 3.3 database contained photos (you can include a photo in the
client record), a separate photo database upgrade must be performed.
ProTracker Advantage, like all good CRM software,
allows users to document everything pertaining to a client in one
places. You can also track prospects, as well as all communications
with prospects.
Used to its full potential, ProTracker Advantage is
really more than CRM software; it is practice management software that
allows the business owner to more effectively manage the business,
employees and independent contractors.
Perhaps the most important aspect of a program like
ProTracker Advantage is its ability to track workflows. Every task is
assigned to an individual or individuals and the software tracks each
employee's assignments. As actions are completed, their status is
updated in the system; therefore, each person in the office who has the
proper authorization can find the status of all tasks at a moment's
notice. It also is possible to group a number of regularly
performed tasks together into a process. For example, each time you
bring on a new client, ten or more steps could be involved in opening
the account and multiple employees may be involved. Once programmed,
ProTracker sets the whole process in motion, assigning all the tasks to
the proper personnel and tracking the progress of the process.
New And Improved
The user interface, which was previously a major
weakness, is much improved. Most areas, like the home page and the
client area, include multiple screens, which are organized as "virtual
index cards." By clicking on the tab at the top of the cards, you can
navigate to the one you want.
All ProTracker screens now contain common elements.
Along the top, there are drop-down menus (File, Edit, View ... Help) and
a Toolbar (Home, Contacts, Clients, Calendar, etc.). Along the left is
a navigation area, which contains additional tools: a search box, the
"assistant," "reports" and "recent." The final common element is the
work area. The toolbar, which includes a "back" button, along with the
navigation pane to the left of the screen, greatly enhance navigation.
The search box is particularly noteworthy. Enter any part of a zip
code, phone number, account number name, etc., and the program returns
the appropriate results.
Many operations can be performed using two or more
of the navigation tools, but the menu offers the most extensive
controls. The toolbar and the navigation bar, on the other hand, offer
a much more convenient and intuitive method of moving around the
program. The navigation bar is context sensitive, so the options change
depending upon where you are working.
As soon as the program is launched, the main work
area displays the user's upcoming appointments and tasks. Behind the
"Home Tab" is a "Recent Activity" tab. Here, all recent activity for
the current user is displayed or, if permissions is granted, for
another single user or for all users. By default, all open
appointments, notes, tasks, e-mail, documents, etc., are presented.
Filter boxes can be checked or unchecked to effortlessly fine tune the
display.
Under the Recent Activity screen is the Document
Review screen. If an employee has, for example, submitted a list of
security trades for your review, it would reside here. You can view
reviewed items, items awaiting review or both.
Client Screens
The main client screen can hold multiple addresses,
phone numbers and e-mail accounts. Separate fields are provided for
special information such as a unique billing address, or a special
delivery address for packages. The main screen can also hold a photo of
the client, a net-worth history and a portfolio withdrawal rate.
There's a list of linked co-clients (a spouse or
child, for example) with basic contact information. Click on a client
or co-client's name, and tabs appear for personal information including
date of birth, Social Security number, employment history and "touch
options" (ADV offer, birthday card, privacy notice, etc.) There are
fields for organizations and affiliations, hobbies, charities and
health issues. Another tab, "Activities," offers the same functionality
as the "recent activities" screen on the home page, but the filtering
is limited to the individual client record. The association tab allows
you to track relationships the client has, including professionals,
relatives, trustees and beneficiaries.
The marketing tab, primarily for prospects, tracks
marketing campaigns, and opt-ins/opt-outs for mail, phone and e-mail
communications.
Behind the main contact screen are the following
tabs: Firm, Activities, Life Planning, Accounts, Estate, Insurance,
Tax, Billing and Custom. Some of these tabs include multiple subtabs.
For example, the "Firm" tab includes subtabs for Services (firm
associates serving the client, services provided, types of reports and
frequency, gifts from firm), investment policy information (initial
date, review dates, risk tolerance reviews), association and touch
options. The Life Planning tab includes goals, cash flow, and gifting
information.
Accounts includes a summary of all accounts, a
separate tab with account details, an RMD tab (for those subject to RMD
regulations), trustees, beneficiaries, cash deposits and cash
withdrawals.
The estate planning tab contains subtabs for an
estate plan summary, estate planning details, gift tax credits, IRD and
administration. The insurance tab can track insurance policies of all
types. The tax tab contains separate areas for federal and state taxes,
as well as tax administration. The billing tab tracks billing
policy such as rate, frequency, account to be debited, contract
history, fee reviews and links to all invoices.
As you may have gathered by now, ProTracker
Advantage 4.0 can store, track and report on a great deal of data, but
tracking client data is only part of the story. Once all of this
information is in the system, it can be routed to other employees,
shared with them and reported upon. As a result, each employee has all
work clearly outlined, and they have the information necessary to get
the job done. In addition, managers can check on any workflow in real
time, identifying bottlenecks and adjusting assignments as necessary.
Furthermore, since all of this information is available in one place,
managers can run reports to analyze services offered and employee
performance, thereby identifying inefficiencies.
ProTracker's ability to scan and manage client
documents has been improved, and almost any scanner can be used.
Prospects can be added to ProTracker using a business card scanner.
The calendar is much improved, with support for
daily, weekly and monthly views. Group scheduling, conference room
scheduling and a public calendar are available too.
Compliance remains an area of strength. With
extensive fields for personal information, the program supports Patriot
Act compliance. When a new client signs on, the firm can log
identification information (a passport or driver's license, for
example), scan the identification document and attach it to the client
record. The regulatory drop-down menu provides access to compliance
reports including assets under management, assets by institution,
clients by state, form ADV offer dates, privacy notice dates and more.
Other enhancements and capabilities are too numerous
to mention, but suffice it to say that with regard to navigation and
functionality, this version is a major improvement over previous ones.
Some Concerns
I ran into a couple of issues during my tests. On
one computer, the program failed to install properly. Due to time
constraints, I did not spend much time diagnosing the problem; I simply
installed it on another machine. After I had ProTracker up and running,
however, I did manage to cause crashes on a number of occasions. Each
time, the crash caused the program to shut down, but when I started it
up again, all seemed well. While these "crashes" would make me a little
leery of being the first to upgrade, no data was lost, so the problems
were an annoyance rather than a disaster.
I heard from at least one early upgrader who had
problems converting version 3.3 data to the version 4.0 format. Again,
I do not view this as a critical flaw; however, if too many users
experience problems, it could aggravate licensees as well as put a
strain on the support staff.
By default, a Tip of the Day pops up each time you
launch ProTracker (you can turn it off if you wish). I found the tips
very helpful, but you cannot minimize them; you must close them in
order to begin work within the program.
E-mail can be brought into ProTracker and associated
with individual records. This is a great feature from both a practice
management and a compliance standpoint. Unfortunately, the process is
not totally automated yet.
Ironically, ProTracker's strength, its deep feature
set, creates a problem: It takes time to learn how to use it. While
navigation has been greatly improved, not all features are immediately
obvious; time and training will be required to get the maximum benefit
here.
The Getting Started Guide and other documentation
are helpful, but for new users, more is needed. The ProTracker
Knowledgebase, which is a great source of information for earlier
versions, does not contain much about version 4.0 yet.
Improving Your Practice?
Most financial advisors are not optimizing their
time or profit-making potential. More than 100,000 financial advisors
with access to good financial planning software (the two leaders in
market share, NaviPlan and Financial Profiles, each claim well over
50,000 users), but only a fraction of these are using good CRM
software. In fact, the two leading CRM programs built by advisors for
advisors, Junxure-I and ProTracker, only have about 2,000 users between
them.
This imbalance leads me to believe that a great many
advisors are operating less efficiently than they could be. Virtually
every business financial service firm can benefit from a comprehensive
CRM package like ProTracker of Junxure-I. The question is, which one?
Currently, it is a close call. ProTracker, with its
new release, has probably jumped ahead of Junxure-I with regard to the
feature set, but given the distinct interfaces of the two products, and
the fact that Junxure-I is due to release a new SQL upgrade within a
few months, it is highly unlikely that ProTracker will win over any
Junxure-I converts at this time.
The more immediate question is whether or not this
upgrade will retain existing users and attract new ones. To the former
question, I'd answer a qualified "yes." Assuming that upgrades go
smoothly, I think that current users will be very pleased; however, if
there are widespread problems upgrading, those who patiently waited for
this upgrade might throw in the towel. New customers should exercise
restraint. Within a couple of months, existing users will be upgraded,
the kinks will be fixed, and the support staff will be more relaxed.
In the final analysis, not many programs offer
financial advisors this depth and breadth. If you are serious about
improving your efficiency, ProTracker Advantage is worthy of your
consideration.
Joel P. Bruckenstein, publisher of
Virtual Office News, (www.virtualofficenews.com) is an expert in
applied technology for the financial services professional. Reach him
at [email protected].