“Everything we do, we do differently than we did 18 months ago. We’ve reengineered the entire firm to change the client experience,” said John Ohmer, CEO of YellowBrickRoad Financial Advisors. “It’s made portfolio reporting and financial advising completely different than anything we’ve ever experienced.”
What John and his team did was to go boldly to a place where they had not gone before…that place is called the cloud.
They started with Salesforce CRM and continued with NetDocuments: “We kept our documents on a shared drive on our server but we felt strategically that we wanted to have our document solution hosted in the sky and we needed it to be SEC compliant and integrated with Salesforce,” John said.
Re-engineering a firm to improve the client experience not always easy, but YellowBrickRoad made it look easy. Read their case study to get the entire story.
Post written by Danny Johnson of the NetDocuments Marketing Team
Investment banking is complex enough, anyone alive in 2008 can attest to that. Now couple that with the difficulty of sharing information in a secure and compliant way across offices and firewalls. That’s the situation THiNKGREEN! Global Advisors was looking at before it made its move to the cloud.
“We used to have our own server but that was pretty dicey. It was usually reliable until it wasn’t. If that went down, everything went to a standstill…Now we know that all of our documents are always available and safe in NetDocuments. Our whole idea was to be entirely in the cloud to eliminate wasted resources which bodes well with our green tech push.” – Asmaa Parker, banking associate.
THiNKGREEN! Global Advisors is paving the way for the next generation of green and sustainable energy companies and found a technology solution that helped it grow its business without sacrificing its clean technology values.
Read more about THiNKGREEN! and how document management in the cloud changed the way it does business here.
Thousands of lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and more use NetDocuments everyday to securely manage and share their content from the cloud. Salesforce CRM users are another fast growing constituency among NetDocuments users.
In fact, NetDocuments is the most popular all-time document management system among Salesforce users.
Since 2006, when NetDocuments first released its AppExchange integration, the rich customizable platform of Salesforce and NetDocuments has allowed the applications to be tightly integrated for all types of customers, including enterprise-level organizations such as Extra Space® Storage, as well as hundreds of financial service advisory, consulting and legal firms.
After four and half years, Salesforce’s AppExchange currently lists NetDocuments in its rankings:
#1 Most Popular – (All-Time), paid document or content management, (4th overall when including free apps. All of which are feature add-ons and not true document mgmt).
2nd Highest-Rated App for document or content management service (2nd to a fax- only service).
Check out our AppExchange listing to read the comments and ratings by typical customers, such as the customer who stated, “[NetDocuments] provides our organization with the capabilities we need, with the security we require, at a price we are able to afford.”
Another customer commented on AppExchange that “I was looking for a SaaS service that would integrate with Salesforce. NetDocs was the only one I could find that would work properly for our needs. It’s also HIPAA compliant.”
Extra Space Storage’s business revolves around earth-based self storage units, but that doesn’t keep it from using the cloud to make its business go.
With 2,200 employees spread out at self-storage locations around the country it uses NetDocuments to manage and share all of its documents within Salesforce.com in a simple and user-friendly way.
It adds over 5,000 documents a week that are instantly made available to the corporate office in Salt Lake City as well as the majority of employees that are working in their local communities.
Remember recess in elementary? That’s right, a hundred kids running at full speed in different directions, headed for unknown destinations, totally oblivious of who would be there and why? Exciting, yes. Fun, yes. Total mayhem, you bet. The Cloud Computing industry is growing at a break-neck pace, recess is out, and it’s time to make some sense of the chaos.
Collaboration is a broad and well trodden topic; in fact, it was Salesforce.com’s theme at their event of the year, titled “Collabor8”. But just because Salesforce.com can throw around phrases like “collaborative software”, or taking a “collaborative approach” in their business vernacular, it doesn’t make it any easier to grasp in a real sense, nor to implement in a real-life, competitive and fast-paced environment, especially if your business has nothing to do with Salesforce.com.
Note: If you think collaboration is a cliché topic, then you don’t really understand how far reaching of a “principle” it really is. It is the secret sauce to the budding industries and technologies of social media, software/technology design, the user experience, and channel management, so quit you’re complaining and put your “cliché” card away.
I’m not talking about collaboration specific to the NetDocuments world, although it’s worth mentioning that client portals, data rooms, extranets, threaded discussions, notifications, alerts, and workspaces are all collaborative tools available within NetDocuments’ functionality (shameless plug), but I’m talking about Collaboration from a bird’s eye perspective in the developing Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry. Business solutions aggregators are beginning to sprout and take shape; timely since CNET has just validated that one of the “Top 12 Cloud Gifts of 2010” is the broad acceptance of Cloud Computing. What immediately follows acceptance? Chaos. What should follow chaos? Collaboration.
Here are a few industry-specific collaborators – Let’s see what they have to offer…
The LCCA is specific to the legal industry and has comprised some innovative and thought leading organizations who among others, purport to be leading the “cloud computing” pack. Member organizations surround practice management and technology consulting for the legal professional, including: Clio, DirectLaw, RocketMatter, and TotalAttorneys. If the aim is to define standards and best practices, and form policies and guidelines, the list is not yet complete but I’m thrilled to see it beginning to take shape.
The LCCA’s charter
Provide a unified and consistent voice for vendors in the legal cloud computing market;
Collaborate and cooperate with Bar Associations and other policy-forming bodies in efforts to form policies and guidelines relating to the use of cloud computing in law practices;
Define standards and best practices;
Provide educational resources to attorneys and the broader legal community on cloud computing and the technical, legal and ethical issues relating to cloud computing
Virtual Solutions Consortium (VSC) aggregates financial services solutions and resources into one central location, separated by two main categories: Virtual Staff and Resources. Virtual Staff includes links to operational managers, compliance consultants, web developers, and accountants. The resources tab includes C-level strategists, coaching, client portals, and document management. VSC seeks to answer the questions: What can I outsource? What should I outsource? Who can I outsource it to? With a concise set of value-ads such as:
Increased efficiency and productivity
Expert advice and execution
Greater flexibility
Significant cost savings
Virtual Solutions and the LCCA are two innovative organizations seeking to bring collaboration and unity to the chaos and clutter of the cloud computing industry. I applaud their initiative, but there is still a lot of work to be done to collect and unite the key stakeholders across vertical markets and the industry as a whole. To learn more about new collaboration, or to contribute to the discussion, send a tweet to @NetDocuments or @MarriottMurdock.
There is no question as to the importance a solid CRM application plays in a firm’s overall business strategy. But just having the best-of-breed CRM app doesn’t mean that you’ve connected all the dots in the end-to-end customer experience. Having your CRM integrated at the record level with your client-specific data will enhance not only the interactions with your clients, but also aid in predictive up-selling and retention initiatives.
CRM strategy in a nutshell
Strategic Process – The CRM should be the lifeline between the various departmental silos and data sharing across the organization should be done through the same interface and portal. This should not be restricted only to “organizational functions,” but should aid in developing a “customer-centric” company by allowing all departments to access and contribute to client data.
Selection – Internal resources are scarce, requiring an organization to be selective in the use of time, money, and personnel. The resource selection and allocation process is enhanced through the CRM by assigning resources based on the economic value, and potential economic increase of the customer. How can you quickly determine the customer value without all relevant customer info available through the CRM?
Interactions – Exchange of information, goods, and services between the customer and vendor evolves as a function of past interactions and predictive offerings. Customers can no longer be looked at as isolated individuals consuming a product or service, but rather, potential advocates or enemies of a brand, based on their perception and opinion of the last experience they had with your service.
Customers – A “customer-centric” company knows that end-users are not the only important individuals requiring attention. There are always intermediaries such as distributors, partners, resellers, and integrators who should be included in the various targeted customer segments. Fine-tuning of segmentation strategies will help target individual customers with customized product offerings based on previous purchases, type of customer segment and demographic data.
Optimizing current and future value – Maximizing customer lifetime value is dependent on the information available quickly and efficiently through the CRM application. This includes service agreements, quotes, proposals, Statements of Work, SLAs …and the list goes on. By having this type of data dynamically retrieved through the CRM record will arm the customer-facing departments with the necessary info to increase the quality of the interaction and add value to the customer’s experience. By seeing the types and details of the client’s documents, the representative can quickly make more efficient decisions about the current situation based on the past services and future offerings suitable to the client.
Why wouldn’t I just store the client-related documents in the CRM application?
CRM applications are rarely compliant with many of the regulatory entities governing document-intensive industries such as legal, financial services, healthcare, and insurance. Client’s sensitive data needs to be protected in a secure, compliant, yet retrievable format through the CRM.
Trying to be everything to everyone has never worked. CRM applications do not specialize in document and email management. This translates to higher storage costs and reduced functionality when working with documents. Where does the CRM store your data? What disaster recovery tools are built into their service? What security procedures and regulations are in place surrounding the data? …a few simple questions and you’ll know that CRM is what they do best, not DMS.
A document management system will have reasonable storage fees, coupled with a robust set of work-in-progress document features, including external collaboration portals, document history tracking, ethical walls, versioning, alerts, Microsoft Suite integrations, client-centric workspaces, and customizable configuration settings.
In summary, a CRM with the ability to quickly retrieve relevant client documents from within the CRM user interface will enhance the depth and quality of the customer’s interactions with your company. This will increase internal productivity and efficiency through time saving data retrieval, and cross-departmental information sharing. This ability should not be achieved at the expense of a secure and compliant document management solution… yes, you can have your cake and eat it too!
Developing an efficient and coherent CRM strategy requires planning, organization, and a well defined process to manage the interactions and data surrounding every customer. While this may require some time and attention, these are necessary steps to ensure the customer is engaged in a positive dialogue. …and, as you know, the dialogue about your company is happening with or without you; feedback is constantly flowing from consumer’s mouths, and fingertips, and organizations go to “the chopping block” everyday through the numerous outlets of communication. One negative experience can go viral and spiral, highlighting the importance of having all the client-related data available at the front lines of the customer interaction.
With SaaS technology, the PC can be made to serve as a global network. Today, in part 2 of a 3 part series, we will discuss how financial advisors and broker dealers can reduce hardware costs, decrease their carbon footprint, increase mobility and enable collaboration with clients while providing SEC and FINRA compliance through cloud computing and SaaS.
Financial advisors have been technology trailblazers by their wide acceptance and use of SaaS, especially in the areas of CRM and email. Salesforce has done for corporate SaaS, what Gmail and Facebook did for consumer SaaS; made it available, usable and strategic.
Though there are many benefits and ways to use SaaS technology, the points listed below are the strengths most commonly brought up in my many discussions with financial advisors around the country in regards to SaaS best practices.
Server Ranches
As SEC and FINRA standards increase, the number of documents and files maintained by advisors is proliferating. Having to store all that on a server, or servers, is a complicated, expensive and time consuming task. SaaS CRM and document management eliminates those worries as all of those documents can be stored and managed securely in the cloud, ultimately allowing you to get out of the server ranch business and back to managing wealth.
Doing Your Part – Paperless Cloud Office
With oil companies and others doing their part to harm the environment, we can take small steps to do our part to protect it by reducing paper and hardware which in turn reduces our carbon footprint. I recently talked to an advisor who told me that she is saving a small forest by digitizing all of her paper files. While professionals have been going paperless for years, it is now time to take that next step and utilize existing cloud infrastructure which eliminates the need for external hard drives, servers, etc, which not only reduces cost, but reduces technology waste.
Go Virtual
With integrations maturing, and SaaS options available for every technology need, it is now easier than ever before to have a virtual and mobile office. With SaaS CRM, document management, client portals, financial management platforms and email, an advisor can access a global network from anywhere and from any browser enabled device.
Client Portals
Client portals have become increasingly popular as a way to interact and collaborate with clients. While email is a simple solution to sending a file, it does not provide the client, nor the advisor any tools for collaboration, security or any type of secure meeting place. Client portals, which are gateways to electronic information and files that are made available via a web browser, such as a NetDocuments NetBinder or client-centric workspace, provide a place for clients to upload documents, review documents and securely interact with clients.
Compliance
RIAs, CFPs and broker dealers are unique when it comes to using technology, especially in regards to client data, in that they must meet SEC and FINRA compliance standards. NetDocuments for example, allows advisors to store files in WORM-compliant cabinets, as well as allows them to define retention policies and audit histories to preserve digital records according to the customer’s needs and SEC and FINRA complaince requirements. Furthermore, I’ve talked to numerous advisors that have used NetDocuments SaaS document management to easily provide an examiner access to specific files for an audit, and then when the audit is over, remove the rights and return to work.
With SaaS on the horizon, why are advisors and other professionals still wringing their hands over managing independent, locally installed applications on end-user PCs? Though the answer to this question remains up in the air, few reasons remain to use legacy on premise software.
Post Written by Danny Johnson of the NetDocuments Sales and Marketing Team
Post authored by Marc Duncan of the NetDocuments Sales Team
It was a cloudy day in San Francsisco
Wow, what a week and what a show. I have just returned from theDreamoforce 09show in San Francisco and had an amazing experience. As a member of the NetDocuments sales team I spend a lot of time “selling” the idea of SaaS, cloud computing, etc. During this day to day routine, it is easy to wonder: is this idea really catching on? On Wednesday morning during the keynote address I was assured that yes…SaaS and Cloud computing are here to stay.
I was in the main exhibition hall surrounded by thousands of other enthusiast like myself waiting to hear fromMarc Benioff, the CEO of Salesforce.com. The excitement and energy in the room was unprecedented. Not only has the idea of SaaS caught on, but people are excited about the potential that SaaS and cloud computing bring to every company in every market.
One thing that really struck me was the progressive thinking ofSalesforce.com. They already consider SaaS and cloud computing the great idea of the “90’s & 2000’s.” And they are now looking forward to the next decade and developing ways to integrate social networking into the daily workings of the business enterprise. My eyes were opened when Marc Benioff said, “I know more about strangers then I do my own company.” Why is it that we all know everything about our friends and very little about our co-workers? How can we know what everybody thinks of the latest movie, but have no idea what our associates think of the latest proposal? The reason is that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have passed the business world when it comes to efficiency and real-time knowledge. The answer? I believe the next decade will ultimately decide, but Salesforce took a huge step forward by introducing “Chatter.”
Chatter is the “Facebook for the enterprise” and allows users of Salesforce to post status updates, look at real time Twitter feeds, etc. Just imagine if you could know the daily buzz of your company just like you do your inner circle of friends? Imagine status postings like, “just had a great meeting with my number one client,” or “looking for ways to close this deal and need ideas.” By integrating the efficiency and intuitiveness of social networking into the technology that runs our businesses the possibilities are endless.
Cloud computing andSaaSare here to stay. My advice: Commit to this type of technology so that you can begin to take advantage of the new and limitless possibilities it brings.
“Everything we do, we do differently than we did 18 months ago. We’ve reengineered the entire firm to change the client experience,” said John Ohmer, CEO of YellowBrickRoad Financial Advisors. “It’s made portfolio reporting and financial advising completely different than anything we’ve ever experienced.”
