Having add​re​ssed the que​stions of the fi​r​st ste​ps of sta​r​ting your bro​ke​ra​ge, pla​tfo​rm provi​der choi​ce and li​qui​di​ty provi​der choi​ce in our previous ar​ti​cles, we now move on to ano​ther core ele​ment of your bu​si​ne​ss - your CRM.

Cu​sto​mer Re​la​tion​ship Ma​na​ge​ment system - “CRM” is a so​ftwa​re tool that co​lle​cts your cu​sto​mers’ per​so​nal in​fo​r​ma​tion, in​clu​ding emai​ls, pho​ne nu​mbers and even per​so​nal pre​fe​ren​ces ac​ro​ss mu​lti​ple sou​r​ces and chan​ne​ls, he​lping you coo​r​di​na​te your sa​les team to​wa​r​ds a more co​mple​te client re​la​tion​ship, ea​sing the pro​ce​ss of fin​ding new cu​sto​mers, as well as co​lle​cting and sto​ring KYC/AML do​cu​men​ts.

Never​the​le​ss, in a pool of CRM so​lu​tions avai​la​ble, pi​cking the ri​g​ht CRM for you may be a cha​llen​ge. What are the things to look out for?

CRM co​mpo​nen​ts

De​spi​te all the addi​tio​nal CRM fea​tu​res avai​la​ble, the core ones to pay spe​cial atten​tion to are:

• Lead Ma​na​ge​ment - gran​ting you the abi​li​ty to ea​si​ly look th​rou​gh your lead list and get all the in​fo​r​ma​tion you may need, in​clu​ding de​mo​g​ra​phi​cs, lead sco​re, conver​sions etc. The more de​tai​ls your CRM can ca​ptu​re - the be​tter.
• Pi​pe​li​ne Ma​na​ge​ment - a vi​sual sa​les pi​pe​li​ne, app​ro​p​ria​te​ly grou​ped to save your sa​les team the time.
• Bui​lt-in Ca​pa​bi​li​ties - the ease of pla​cing ca​lls in a few cli​cks, a si​mple way of assi​g​ning lea​ds to your team, ease and speed of ope​ra​tion, as well as a de​g​ree of au​to​ma​tion for sen​ding out re​min​ders to your clien​ts.
• Re​po​r​ts - essen​tial to mea​su​ring per​fo​r​man​ce by mon​th, qua​r​ter and more, as well as the abi​li​ty to cu​sto​mi​ze and crea​te in-de​pth re​po​r​ts for your advan​ced bu​si​ne​ss nee​ds.
• IB Pro​g​ram - to effi​cien​tly ma​na​ge your affi​lia​tes. A fluid IB pro​g​ram is so​me​thing you shou​ld de​fi​ni​te​ly keep an eye out for. If you are using cT​ra​der, ho​wever, an in​tui​tive pa​r​t​ner pro​g​ram co​mes bui​lt-in al​rea​dy, so you are free to choo​se the most conve​nient option for your co​mmer​cial nee​ds.

Pri​cing

CRM typi​ca​lly has ei​ther a mo​du​lar or a sca​le-up pri​cing mo​del.

Sca​le-up/tie​red pri​cing means that you get a choi​ce of mu​lti​ple mon​thly/an​nual pa​cka​ges, each co​mp​ri​sing a di​ffe​rent set of fea​tu​res, with pri​ces sca​ling upwa​r​ds as the fea​tu​re offe​ring in​c​rea​ses.

Mo​du​lar pri​cing, on the other hand, means you pay for the di​ffe​rent mo​du​les (fun​ctions) that you need, cu​sto​mi​zing the nu​mber of users and other aspe​cts of your offe​ring, and bui​lding your per​so​na​li​zed CRM.

Re​ga​r​dle​ss of what you opt for, a CRM is an impo​r​tant inve​stment that may grea​tly pay off in the long-term. Many bro​kers wou​ld ag​ree that going for a chea​per CRM so​lu​tion from the very sta​rt did their bu​si​ne​ss so​me​what of a di​sservi​ce.

Your bu​si​ne​ss expe​cta​tions

Te​ch​ni​ca​lly, the per​fe​ct CRM wou​ld be an all-in-one so​ftwa​re, allo​wing you to ma​na​ge data, client in​te​ra​ctions, affi​lia​tes, ma​r​ke​ting activi​ties and sta​ff per​fo​r​man​ce in one spa​ce, whi​le re​mai​ning easy-to-use for an​yo​ne in your or​ga​ni​za​tion, saving you the trou​ble and cost of leng​thy trai​ning.

Nee​dle​ss to say, ho​wever, the la​r​ger the offe​ring, the con​ta​ct sto​ra​ge and the nu​mber of users, who can join a CRM - the more pri​cey it’s bound to be. Hen​ce, it’s essen​tial to esta​bli​sh that the CRM re​spon​ds pre​ci​se​ly to your bu​si​ne​ss nee​ds. Often less is more.

In​te​g​ra​tions

Your CRM system isn’t a se​pa​ra​te en​ti​ty from your bu​si​ne​ss and your pla​tfo​rm. Impe​cca​ble in​te​g​ra​tion is not only of essen​ce for fluid fun​ctio​ning, but is also a way to save your sa​les team time when con​du​cting their activi​ties. A poo​r​ly-in​te​g​ra​ted CRM lea​ds to many issues with an end-re​su​lt of client fru​st​ra​tion and mo​ney loss.

This is why cT​ra​der co​mes equi​pped with an API rea​dy to in​te​g​ra​te any CRM provi​der of your choi​ce and re​mains the​re for any po​ten​tial te​ch​ni​cal issues at no ext​ra cost. Fu​r​ther, with tran​spa​ren​cy at hea​rt, hi​dden co​sts are not an issue, so you are safe from fa​lling into une​xpe​cted bu​d​get lo​sses, as in the case of some whi​te la​bel provi​ders with a pre-pa​cka​ged CRM that may cha​r​ge a reve​nue sha​re on all in​co​ming de​po​si​ts.

In con​clu​sion, it’s clear that the choi​ce of a CRM is one that ta​kes time and re​sea​r​ch. cT​ra​der is not a CRM provi​der, but we are in​te​g​ra​ted with a la​r​ge se​le​ction of syste​ms you can view here.

If you want to sta​rt your own bro​ke​ra​ge don’t he​si​ta​te to rea​ch out to us to​day!

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