Three things Redtail workflows do for your firm

I have worked with dozens of firms (50+) at all different stages of their growth trajectory (1 advisor, one admin to a $1B+ firm and everything in between, including a project that I built for Loring Ward). It's CRITICAL that growing firms pump the breaks to get their systems in place...otherwise, you're just amplifying a problem. Workflows within your CRM (we use Redtail) do many things, but I think it can all be boiled down to three themes: scalability, transferability, and transparency. Scalability: the workflows are written in a way that you're able to…continue reading →

How a Workflow System Can Replace Your To-Do List

Attend any productivity workshop or speak with any business management consultant and the conversation will eventually, if not inevitably, cover the need for a "to do" list. There are obvious benefits to having a to-do list, but I've found that most people are ineffective in the consistent documentation as well as ensuring that they are capturing all of the "to do's" in their life. We'll forget about the all-encompassing to do list or productivity system. For that, I highly recommend David Allen's book and system Getting Things Done. It's changed how I capture,…continue reading →

Ocean Waves, Our Thoughts, and Ideas

While out in San Diego at Loring Ward's National Education Conference, I was privileged to be able to log some miles in the early morning running along the beach of the Pacific ocean. There is always something serene and calming about running in the morning (which is why I almost always run in the morning), but when you're running along the beach on Coronado Island, that's an added bonus. There are times when the environment or weather that I'm running in will inspire some ideas or thoughts on life and business, and this time was…continue reading →

See You in San Diego!!

We're excited to be only one day away from the start of the Loring Ward NEC (National Education Conference) in San Diego! During the conference, we'll be holding a couple of breakout sessions, during which time we will be sharing a live demonstration of our newly designed Design/Build/Protect workflow system within Redtail CRM. During our sessions we'll be talking about the importance of workflows and the benefits of running your practice on a workflow system. We'll also give advisors a look at the workflows, how they're built, and how they function within a real…continue reading →

An Exciting Update

The first part of 2016 has proven to be very busy and exciting for ICAS on multiple fronts. We've successfully aligned with a number of firms already throughout 2016 and are finally in a position to announce a great partnership that has been many months in the making... We are excited to partner with Loring Ward and provide to them a customized and proprietary version of our workflow system! Loring Ward is a firm that was founded by three advisors in Silicon Valley in 1990 and they continue to be focused on being a leading…continue reading →

Four Considerations When Choosing Your CRM

Most advisors today won't disagree with the notion that any successful, growing firm needs to have a CRM (Client Relationship Managment) system. There are no shortage of available systems out there, but there are also a number of different key considerations to evaluate when choosing which one is going to fit your firm. Begin with the end in mind. As this article in Financial Planning magazine points out, optimizing your CRM means understanding where you want your firm to be in the future, not where it is today. We all know that the…continue reading →

The Currency of Trust

I recently read a pretty direct and elaborate customer experience from someone based off of their terrible experience with a product and service combo that they purchased. The real takeaway that I took from their story was not their experience with the product. It was with the way they were served by the business owner and the lack of integrity and trust that the customer felt after the relationship terminated and the buyer shared their lack of alignment with the product and service. Mark Twain has been quoted saying "Always tell the truth.…continue reading →

After Thanksgiving…

Thursday, November 26th was Thanksgiving - an occasion to gather, feast, and reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives. There is a saying, "never let the things you want make you forget the things you have." What are you thankful for this year? What are the simple things in life and small developments in your business that have made your life better? Let us treasure these moments, pleasures, people, and things on Thanksgiving - and throughout the year. Even though Thanksgiving is but one day of the year, make it…continue reading →

An Update (Long) Overdue

Wow!! What an incredible last couple of months we've had here at ICAS!! There are so many different directions I could take right now on giving you an update, but rather I'll be short and sweet with our progress and giving you all some perspective as to where the firm is at right now and what we've been spending our time doing the last couple of months. On that note, we will be intentional and focused on providing more timely content on a regular basis. Our goal will be to shoot for two…continue reading →

Size Doesn’t Matter

A recent post by Seth Godin talks about comparing yourself to others and the effect that it can have on your growth and development as an individual. All too often, I see this spill over into how advisors run their practices and the decisions that they make as a result of the "compared to" syndrome. I see this occur with advisors all the time when we work with them in their practice...they talk about how they know of another practice that produces more revenue, has a larger client base, has more AUM, more…continue reading →