Every advisor who has been in the business for a while understands how demanding their role can become. This is especially true of advisors who manage money and offer comprehensive financial planning. At some point, it becomes difficult to keep up with the numerous tasks required for each client. I reached this point in late 2014. Hence, in the first quarter of 2015 I added or replaced several pieces of technology. In this post, I'll share a few thoughts from this experience.
As 2014 was ending and my number of clients was increasing, I realized I had to incorporate technology that would increase efficiency. I replaced my CRM software—ACT— with Redtail. I also changed my financial planning software to eMoney and added YCharts for securitoes and economic analysis. After the changes, I was using Retdail, eMoney, Morningstar Advisor Workstation and YCharts.
The first three integrate with each other as well as with my custodian, TradePMR. In retrospect, I should have decided what I was going to use and add them individually. Adding too many new programs at one time can be overwhelming.
Redtail
Redtail has some unique features. Although it lacks a few things I used with ACT, the company is making improvements. When considering Redtail over ACT, I find the pros outweigh the cons. One feature included with Redtail is the ability to establish processes. This is one area of high priority at this time.
