Effective workflow management can take care of much of the admin work that bogs down financial advisors. It helps make sure nothing falls through the cracks and keeps your processes consistent. Even with so many platforms already in your tech stacks, many advisors are adding tools to help manage their workflows. Once you get your processes set up, you’ll have more time to focus on what’s different about each client, instead of what’s the same for each client.
Financial advisors are using workflows to onboard clients, prepare for annual reviews, client communication, keeping track of Roth conversions, and additional day-to-day tasks that running a business requires. Organizing these workflows can become even more important the more your firm grows, to build consistency and ensure that everyone is following the same processes.
We have to give credit where credit is due and note that the majority of the charts and research below come from Kitces.com, specifically the August 2023 “The Kitces Report: The Technology That Independent Financial Advisors Actually Use And Like” that dives into 27 different technology functions that financial advisors use, the current offerings of each category, and advisors’ satisfaction ratings in each area. As a secondary source, we also quote and reproduce charts from the January 2024 T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey. We’ve previously summarized these surveys’ sections on financial planning software (both linked above), but we are specifically talking about workflow support tools in this piece.
How important is workflow support in the financial planning process?
The above chart, straight from Kitces, ranks “Workflow Support” as an 8.6/10 in importance, which puts it in the top third of all the technology functions analyzed in this report.
Kitces wrote:
The rise of workflow technology is certainly connected to advisors’ views that it is important to the success of their practices. With an 8.6 score, its importance rating ranks 8th highest out of 27 technology functions. Workflow support solutions rate just average with advisors, however, in terms of the value and satisfaction they receive from this technology.
How many advisors are using workflow support tools?
Despite the high importance that advisors have rated workflow support, just over half of advisors are using a workflow tool, though this number has been rising and is expected to continue to grow. Kitces considers this adoption rate roughly average:
Relative to other advisory functions, technology adoption is roughly average at 55.1%, but workflow solutions are increasing rapidly in popularity. Where just 53.1% of advisors were using some workflow technology 12 months ago, this use is expected to rise to 58.5% of advisors over the next 12 months, driven by an above-average level of importance assigned to the category by advisors.
Which workflow tools are advisors using?
There are three main buckets of workflow management tools: inclusions or add-ons to other software; industry-specific workflow tools; and general project management tools.
Inclusions or add-ons to other software
As seen in the chart above, the largest category that advisors are using for workflow support are their own CRMs. There are certain benefits to using a tool that you are already using and familiar with, beyond not having to memorize yet another password.
2024’s T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey declared that “creating workflows in your CRM is awkward and seldom works effectively” and points to that as a reason why advisors are also looking elsewhere.
The Kitces Report additionally wrote:
Yet while CRM systems may be capable of supporting many functions, these functions aren’t necessarily performed very well, as advisors that rely on CRM systems for workflow support rate this type of solution lowest of any provider in terms of satisfaction. Value ratings are low for CRM applications providing workflow support as well.
Third-party industry tools
The T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey only gave details on two workflow tools, both with less than a 3% market share. They specifically said about Hubly:
Hubly basically defined a new feature set and is virtually alone in providing it. The program includes a workflow creation tool to facilitate more efficient office processes…and also an office management tool that tracks every activity that needs to happen so that nothing falls through the cracks.
It also noted that while Hubly’s “market share went up a bit, the average rating slipped a bit,” from 7.91/10 to 7.53/10 from the 2023 report to 2024.
T3 clarified that ForwardLane was not specifically for workflows:
Forwardlane is a more of a data analytics solution that allows advisory firms to monitor their internal metrics, and incidentally manage processes to improve them.
Third-party project management tools
In the T3/Inside Information Advisor Software Survey, additional options mentioned that advisors were considering were Asana and Zapier. The Kitces report mentioned Asana, along with Trello, Microsoft Teams, Notion, and others.
On Asana specifically, Kitces said:
…for both value and satisfaction, Asana receives the highest ratings of any provider, suggesting that advisors’ needs are more a function of ‘workflow support’ in general (as any business must contend with as it grows), not specific to the financial services industry.
A new option: RightFlows, as an add-on to RightCapital
In 2024, RightCapital introduced a workflow management tool as an add-on to our financial planning software. It is the industry’s first financial planning workflow tool that incorporates direct collaboration with clients.
With RightFlows, pre-defined tasks can be automatically assigned to advisors, assistants, or clients as part of a workflow. Clients can view tasks within the client portal or the mobile app. Tasks and workflows can be visible to clients or hidden from them, so that firms can use RightFlows for internal processes as well.
To see RightFlows in action, watch this quick explainer video:
To dive deeper, visit our RightFlows product page and watch this previously recorded webinar.
An extended free trial of RightFlows, as well as special intro pricing for anyone who signs on early, are being offered until April 26th, 2024.
Reach out to our sales team today to have RightFlows added to your account: sales@rightcapital.com.