Pareto Converts, Re-Launches Financial Advisor Platform on Microsoft Dynamics CRM
BY Pam Derringer
PUBLISHED: April 15, 2010
A 10-year-old Canadian financial consulting firm has converted its customized CRM software to the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform and will be demonstrating it later this month at Convergence.
British Columbia-based Pareto Systems, whose SaaS software is tailored to the specific client needs of financial advisers, expects to officially launch the new Dynamics CRM-based Pareto Platform on May 1.
The software initially will be available as a service for $95 a month but an on-premise application also is planned, according to co-CEO David Miller, who noted that most of Pareto’s business is with U.S. firms.
The Dynamics conversion is expected to help Pareto’s customers, who will benefit from faster global response times on Microsoft servers. And when Dynamics CRM 5 goes to the cloud, Pareto’s customers will, too, said Pareto CTO Cody Shiloff.
“The Microsoft network. That’s the key,” Shiloff said. “Microsoft has servers all over the world and the best Internet connections available. And when Dynamics CRM 5 comes out, Pareto users can simply migrate to the cloud. We’ll reach more people with this.”
But Pareto, a $5 million, private consultancy in western Canada, also should get a boost from the affiliation, broadening its profile and global reach by becoming part of the Microsoft family.
How it got started
Miller, who has been assisting financial advisers for 20 years, said Pareto decided to create its own software seven years ago after evaluating existing CRM products, including Dynamics, and realizing that none of them met the specialized needs of financial advisers.
“Most CRMs don’t focus on the areas needed for advisers,” Miller said. “You need to zero in on what advisers want to accomplish. We know what they want. And we know they aren’t very tech savvy.”
The Pareto Platform doesn’t attempt to acquire or evaluate financial data, which advisers already have from other sources, Miller added. What it does instead is create a computerized framework to help advisers develop and maintain a close personal relationship with all their clients while ensuring that the most important clients are at the top of the radar screen, he said.
Focus on the client
Miller believes that Pareto’s most critical differentiator is its automated calendar, which schedules recurring contact events for multiple clients at the click of a button. The calendar inputs events according to personalized data and a service matrix, which classifies clients according to size, he said. For example, an adviser can designate specific activities such as a letter, an e-mail, a phone call or a meeting for all clients in particular classification and they all will be plotted to the calendar simultaneously, he said.
In addition, Pareto’s ability to categorize customers ensures that the needs of the most important clients remain uppermost in the adviser’s mind, which is critical because the top 20% of an adviser’s clients typically generate 80% of the revenue, he said.
Pareto’s conversion to Dynamics was no quick fix. Pareto’s proprietary database and code were written in Java and C to run on Linux and Unix machines, according to Shiloff. Everything was rewritten in C sharp and added on top of the Dynamics CRM code base, with six or seven additional levels of objects to automate the calendar and add the service matrix and link everything together in a logical way, he explained.
Kudos from a customer
Mark Lamkin, president of Louisville, Ky.-based Lamkin Wealth Services and a member of the $2.79 billion LPL Financial network, said his 9-year-old practice started off with GoldMine CRM software but he “hated it.”
“GoldMine was cumbersome and big and it wasn’t tailored to us,” he said.
After evaluating other products and meeting Pareto co-founder Duncan MacPherson, Lamkin switched to Pareto.
“It was a perfect fit and just what I needed to build my practice,” Lamkin said. “And it was a heck of a lot easier to run.”
Several features are particularly helpful, including the calendar which highlights the day’s scheduled client follow-ups in a specific color. In addition, the software saves and retrieves notes from prior client conversations, which is critical for compliance records, he said.
The bottom line: Pareto’s system, including its best practices, training and templates have given Lamkin the ideas and the framework to grow the business to $130 million in client funds, despite an often-turbulent financial climate, Lamkin said.
As for the coming switch to the Dynamics CRM base, Lamkin said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the change and will be happy as long as it integrates successfully with his Microsoft e-mail and his Blackberry.
The conversion to the Microsoft should broaden Pareto’s appeal to prospective customers, he added.
“This will automatically open doors and give Pareto instant credibility,” Lamkin said. “Professionals are far more likely to look at it.”