Solution description
Maximizer CRM has enabled Windrem Financial Group to effectively manage all client and prospect information through one central database; streamlining productivity and allowing the tracking of all client communications.
Implementation
Shawn Windrem, President and CEO, has used Maximizer CRM for 13 years, starting when the product was relatively new on the market. His valuable product feedback has helped Maximizer CRM become a leading solution used by financial services organisations and professionals throughout North America.
Recently, Windrem integrated Maximizer CRM throughout his business, enabling his team to provide an enhanced level of service across all lines of business.
Business challenges
- Managing client information across multiple lines of business within one company
- Ensuring timely client follow-up using disparate email systems and spreadsheets
- Spending significant time and effort to manage appointments
Objectives
- Empower sales team to optimise sales growth and client retention
- Effectively manage client follow-up across several lines of business
- Ensure a systematic approach to sales process
- Consolidate paper-based systems and spreadsheets into one electronic database
Results
- Increased client retention and referrals, ensuring strong sales growth
- Facilitated proactive client management, increasing investment revenue per client
- Improved productivity, reducing staffing costs and increasing retention
- Provided standardised sale process to optimise opportunities and close more business
- Minimised the need to prospect for new clients, reducing marketing costs
Windrem Financial Group – multiple lines of business simplified with Maximizer
Shawn Windrem founded his financial services business in 1994 as a sole proprietor and later incorporated following a decade of significant company growth.
Windrem Financial Group, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, specialises in retirement and estate planning, personal financial planning, insurance, business succession planning, pension plans and employee benefits.
It employs three full-time employees, two associates and 26 brokers that are licensed through the company. Windrem Financial Group has more than 500 clients in addition to a number of large group pension and employee benefits clients.
With several lines of business, each offering multiple products and services to meet the needs of the same client, the volume and complexity of information that must be organised and maintained is significant.
Maximizer CRM has allowed Windrem Financial Group's sales and administration teams to access and update the critical information in one central location, simplifying their sales process and allowing them to provide the highest level of service possible to meet the needs of their clients and retain their business long-term.
Maximizer CRM – client retention and referrals
During the early years of his career, Windrem was looking for a client management solution that did more than just store the name and phone number of his clients. As an early adopter, he saw the power of technology and what it could do for his business.
His goal was to eliminate paper notes and store everything electronically.
Windrem explained, "I tried a number of contact management products and none had a universal fit. Maximizer CRM's user-defined fields allow us to customise how we manage client information to specifically suit our business. This feature alone sets it apart from all the others. It's amazing how customisable it is, considering it's an off-the-shelf product."
As a financial services professional, Windrem has provided valuable feedback to Maximizer Software over the past 13 years, upgrading to each new version along the way. His input has helped the company develop Maximizer CRM into a leading solution for the financial services industry.
Prior to the roll out of Maximizer CRM to the rest of his company approximately one year ago, Windrem notes that it was difficult for each team member to speak with 20- 50 prospects per week plus existing clients and manage the details effectively using spreadsheets and paper notes.
In addition to resolving this issue entirely, Maximizer CRM allows his team to be far more proactive, using automatic notifications to remind them of investment renewal dates, rather than relying on reviewing monthly client statements to initiate a call with those clients needing attention.
"Maximizer is also our trusted source for all of our planning. We use it to schedule our days, prioritise tasks and set up important reminders. It frees up a lot of valuable time to spend with our clients."
Windrem also places high value on Maximizer CRM's Notes, which allow his team to document the details of every call and meeting against the client record. Not only does this ensure that all staff have access to the latest client information, it serves as a record of compliance in case the company is audited or faced with a legal issue.
Staying on top of every renewal date and having immediate access to each client's complete history in Maximizer CRM has proved invaluable for the company from both a sales and administration perspective.
"With the exceptional level of personalised service we can provide using Maximizer CRM, our strong client retention rate and ongoing referrals keep our business growing to the point where we no longer need to actively market or prospect."
A Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Life Underwriter, Windrem has dedicated years to achieve the level of education and experience required to build a successful, multifaceted financial services organisation – and has done it with surprisingly few employees.
He stated: "Clients and competitors often assume that because we have so many lines of business and are able to provide such a high level of client service, we must have a large staff. Working efficiently allows us to do a lot with very few people. Maximizer CRM gives us this competitive advantage."
Maximizer CRM's ease of use has enabled new staff to working productively right from day one with minimal training time. Windrem is able to keep staff costs in check by paying fewer staff higher wages than is typical in the industry, which ensures a high rate of retention.
With staff trained and motivated to use Maximizer CRM, Windrem has seen the positive impact of a streamlined sales process and reduced complexity in managing information that often spans several lines of business.
"Leveraging Maximizer CRM in all aspects of our business has allowed us to do much more with less, to the point where hiring one new employee is like hiring three. There is also security in knowing that processes are familiar, standardised and can be repeated if someone leaves."
Future plans – email consolidation and more mobile CRM
With Windrem's team fully on board with Maximizer CRM and realising the benefits its features and functionality provide, the next step is to move everyone to Maximizer CRM's built-in email platform. With several email systems being used within the company, Windrem plans to take further advantage of the solution's capabilities.
"I want everything we do relating to client communications and tracking to be contained within Maximizer CRM. It just makes sense in terms of further streamlining our business, with all client touchpoints documented and stored in one central location."
Furthering his goal to consolidate information and processes, Windrem is also exploring the Opportunities module in Maximizer CRM to incorporate the tracking of sales opportunities into their business processes..
A strong advocate for mobile technology, Windrem, as well as his field sales team, is now using Maximizer Mobile CRM for BlackBerry smartphones to access and update client information and their calendars while out of the office.
"We are learning more every day about how we can leverage this technology in our business."
He emphasises the importance of real-time access to client information as being key to the power of mobile CRM as a business tool.
"There is no synchronisation required so I always have the latest information. I can be out of the office seeing clients or on vacation and remain on the pulse of my business at all times."
Windrem concludes: "Today's marketplace requires more frequent follow-up than ever since everyone is so busy and less likely to respond the first time you contact them. Maximizer CRM helps us diarise everything for follow-up so nothing is overlooked - we couldn't work without it.
"Maximizer CRM enables us to live up to our mission statement: 'To provide excellent, knowledge-based financial services above and beyond client expectations.'"
