Access Financial Group - Case Study: Sept 08
Founded in 2004, Access Financial Group is a commission-based retail group. AFG serves mid- to high-net worth individuals as an independent registered representative and works with other registered representatives and registered investment advisors providing private labeled turn-key technology solutions critical to their business. Access Financial Group is Headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Challenge
Access Financial Group President Mike Simmons spent a number of years working with CRM and other automated and back office systems. During this time he discovered the value of automation for prospecting and on-boarding new clients.
“In our business the key to client prospecting is multiple, escalating touch points. You have to continuously maintain a presence in the back of the prospect’s mind until the right time arrives. The only way to do this effectively and professionally is to automate that process. As a start-up, we needed a cost effective, yet complete, technology that could handle client prospecting and on-boarding. No other solution addressed the entire process in a single application, and we couldn’t manage or afford the process of cobbling together multiple applications to develop a comprehensive solution,” explained Simmons.
Solution
When Access Financial Group was introduced to E*Assist by their broker-dealer — BrokersXpress — the firm was using a general CRM system, but looking for a more specialized solution. “E*Assist was the perfect fit. They offer a more comprehensive suite of services and are completely focused on the financial services market. We’ve been using E*Assist as a CRM and prospecting tool for two years now.”
Once a prospect becomes a client they are automatically transferred to the next phase within the same platform. “Normally I’d have to switch a new client over to a new system. But E*Assist automates every step of process, making it fool-proof. The history is already saved, so when the client converts from prospect to client, the system retains and automatically transfers all of the information so that it is readily available for moving forward with the new client relationship. No other single system can support this new client transition.”
Outcome
Since Access Financial Group began working with E*Assist, new business has picked up by 25% annually and efficiency has doubled. “The system is so efficient that it structures my time. I can conduct all of my prospecting in 2 hours a day and spend the rest of my time focusing on my clients’ business.” he explained. “Furthermore, because the system keeps a record of every client interaction, I have a complete record for compliance purposes at my fingertips,” he added.
What’s Next?
AFG has had so much success growing business through technology, that Mike has developed a collection of technology best practices that he is making available to young reps he is bringing into the firm. “E*Assist is the most important technology I use, and a solid backbone for any independent brokers looking to grow and better manage their business.”
