Advice technology experts say ongoing regulatory debate diverts attention from client relationships
The creators of award-winning PractiFI says FOFA debate is holding the industry back from technological advancement
FOFA debate is holding the industry back: PractFi
The creators of an award-winning client management tool for financial advisers have said that the ongoing regulatory debate distracts advisers from what’s truly important to their business: their client relationships. Additionally, the industry needs to catch up with contemporary standards of CRM technology in order to regain ground lost over recent years.
Co-founder of PractiFI, Adrian Johnstone, said that if advisers harnessed the best technology to manage relationships, engagement between the industry and clients would improve.
“Every adviser wants good relationships with their clients, and the average Australian doesn’t know or care about FOFA. But for those of us in the industry, FOFA has dominated the conversation and our attention for far too long. We’ve missed a huge opportunity for technological advancement in the single most important aspect of our businesses: our client relationships.
Mr Johnstone said that although the wealth industry has typically spent big on technology[1], the proliferation of out dated, inflexible software is evidence that the industry has fallen behind what’s possible.
“The number one aim of PractiFI is to bring the best of contemporary CRM features to a neglected industry, allowing advisers to strengthen their relationships and improve business management.”
PractiFI is a flexible cloud system that allows anyone who provides financial advice to manage what is most important in their business: their client relationships. PractiFI provides a genuine technology alternative for financial planners, licencees, accountants, super funds, mortgage brokers and insurance brokers.
Co-founder and CEO, Glenn Elliott, said PractiFI is backed by the power of Salesforce, which is the market leader in the CRM thanks to its robust platform and rich features.
“PractiFI lives on the Salesforce1 Platform because it’s the best cloud around. High performing, massively scalable and secure, it just works.
“Salesforce spans the needs of SMEs right up to large enterprises. But for most advice firms, undertaking the necessary customisation is complex and costly. So we’ve used the flexibility of Salesforce to create an advice practice management solution that brings the relationships across a practice’s client base to life. We’ve put the client and everything about them — conversations, calls, file notes, documentation, agreements, advice written, tasks and more — upfront. Para-planning tools and processes, along with the transactional SOA/ROA, are back-office outputs.
“Planning is about so much more than just producing statements of advice, so we’ve created a tool that way around, then wrapped it in a beautiful user experience.”
Mr Elliott said feedback has been extremely positive amongst clients and the Salesforce community. Having tasted success at Dreamforce 2013 in San Francisco for its groundbreaking user experience, PractiFI recently picked up a second award at the OzForce event in Sydney showcasing Australian innovation on the Salesforce1 Platform.
“We set out to create an elegant, indeed beautiful, solution to the task of managing the core business of financial advice: client relationships. The great feedback we’ve received from the industry tells us that we’re on the right track.”
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[1] http://www.afr.com/p/technology/slowing_finance_sector_still_drives_umlJC89rKH8Pgn0iVvIdEN
