When it comes down to it, a CRM is only as good as the data within it. So the question becomes, which kind of CRM will best allow your firm to manage your data?
If you are an investment firm, you might have more budget available, and a considerable amount of data to manage. You also must consider factors such as compliance, as well as what the best, most reliable option for your sales team is. In this blog, we compared the different options that investment firms usually consider when choosing their CRM solution.
Traditionally, fund managers have had two options: use a general-purpose CRM product, or purchase an all-in-one fund management platform that includes CRM functionality.
What to Expect with General CRM for Investor Relations
Increasingly, many small and mid-market investment firms have been investing in customizable solutions rather than all-in-one standard products. Why? Because there is no one size fits all solution and they anticipate high costs for customizing a ready-made product. For example, firms may have company-specific workflows or internal processes that require additional automation or they would like to get different teams onboard for multiple purposes (e.g. deal teams, investor relations, operations and compliance). This scope, however, might not fit well into the overall ready-made product. Any above the standard customizations can translate into unnecessary costs for the firm.
For alternative investment firms that require flexibility, individual approach and outsource fund administration, customised CRM might better fit their specific internal processes. With customised CRM options, investment managers get a general CRM product that fits around 80% of the fundraising and investor tracking needs. In other words, customizations usually only reach up to 20-40% of the general CRM product which dramatically saves budget over the long-term and allows investment firms to be up and running fast with minimal resources. Moreover, one of the core advantages of this approach is the flexibility the company needs when it grows above a certain AUM value. Below is the summary of the standard vs customized solutions.
