Ep 272: Streamlining Operations And Workflows With The Advisor CRM As The Centralized Hub with Kate Guillen
Financial Advisor Success
Michael Kitces
4.7 • 719 Ratings
🗓️ 15 March 2022
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kate Guillen is the founder of Simplicity Operations Management, a consulting firm based out of San Diego that specializes in helping advisory firms get the most out of their Customer Relationship Management systems and streamline their internal operations. Kate uses the advisors' CRM system as the central hub for the entire business and builds out workflows from the CRM to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.
Listen in as she explains how realizing that most firms are underutilizing their CRM systems inspired her to launch Simplicity Operations, what it was like launching at the beginning of the pandemic, and how she soon realized that her consulting services were needed now more than ever as firms went remote. Kate also shares why she sees the CRM system as the hub around which advisory firms should be built, the key to building solid workflows from that hub, and how firms can streamline their operations significantly by systematizing key repeatable steps of their business.
For show notes and more visit: https://www.kitces.com/272
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Financial Advisor Success Podcast, where you go behind the scenes with |
| 0:06.8 | financial planner, speaker, and consultant Michael Kitsis to hear stories of how leading |
| 0:12.1 | financial advisors navigated the inevitable challenges that arise on the path to success |
| 0:17.2 | and get insight from leading industry consultants about how to break through to the next |
| 0:21.9 | level in your advisory business. And now here's your host, Michael Kitsis. Welcome, everyone. |
| 0:28.2 | Welcome to the 272nd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast. My guest on today's podcast is |
| 0:34.2 | Kate Gion. Kate is the founder of Simplicity Operations Management, a consulting |
| 0:38.4 | firm based in San Diego, California, that specializes in helping advisory firms get the most |
| 0:42.8 | out of their CRM systems and streamline their internal operations along the way. What's unique |
| 0:47.3 | about Kate, though, is the way that she utilizes an advisor's CRM system, not their broker-dealer |
| 0:51.9 | or custodial platform, as the central hub of the entire business |
| 0:55.2 | and then builds multi-system workflows from that base to ensure that everything gets done and |
| 0:59.8 | nothing falls through the cracks for clients. In this episode, we talk in depth about why Kate views |
| 1:04.6 | the CRM system and its four components of calendaring task management, sales pipeline, and contact |
| 1:09.8 | management as the center around which |
| 1:11.6 | all advisory firms should be built. Why, the key to building good workflows is not just about |
| 1:15.4 | articulating the steps of a process, but also the follow-up to demonstrate that good service |
| 1:19.7 | to clients, and how firms can start the process of systematizing their key repeatable steps |
| 1:24.2 | of the business in new client onboarding and ongoing client service. |
| 1:31.5 | We also talk about how working for an advisory firm herself and observing their operational systems or challenges thereof encouraged Kate to first master redtail in its intricacies. |
| 1:37.0 | How Kate was inspired to launch her company after discovering how often other advisory firms |
| 1:41.2 | are also struggling with their CRM system's operational potential, |
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