{"id":5381,"date":"2021-12-08T06:59:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-08T06:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getvymo.com\/us\/blog\/?p=5381"},"modified":"2021-12-08T07:03:17","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T07:03:17","slug":"benefits-of-sales-engagement-platforms-for-financial-advisors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/benefits-of-sales-engagement-platforms-for-financial-advisors\/","title":{"rendered":"Benefits of sales engagement platforms for Financial Advisors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p>[vc_row][vc_column]<style>@media (min-width: 992px) { .ld_spacer_69d4314838e4e{height:15px};}<\/style>\r\n<div class=\"ld-empty-space ld_spacer_69d4314838e4e\"><\/div>[vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As technology continues to build better heuristics for business growth, the importance of sales engagement platforms is now in focus. Because the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled uncertainty, financial advisors are now faced with the challenge of providing targeted solutions even as they look for ways to shorten their sales cycles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So how do sales engagement platforms help financial advisors? To understand that, we first need to quickly review what sales engagement is.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is sales engagement<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales engagement is the chain of interactions between sales teams and prospects or customers across various touchpoints. Because of software technology, sales engagement can be measured more accurately and personalized at scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When designed and implemented right, sales engagement can positively impact the way you help customers and prospects discover the value of your products, ultimately translating to increased sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is a sales engagement platform<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales engagement platforms are interfaces used by sales teams in order to optimize their interactions with prospects and customers. That means your growth teams can use sales engagement platforms to make selling more efficient by tracking, measuring, and improving every interaction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These platforms aren\u2019t just huge databases; they are smart and have the ability to better contextualize nudges and reminders. As a result, you\u2019ll find them in the arsenal of almost every successful sales team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why do you need a sales engagement platform<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HubSpot <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/sales\/sales-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cites<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a study which found that 60% of customers said \u2018No\u2019 four times before they said \u2018Yes\u2019. That clearly indicates how important followup is. And considering that 8 out of 10 B2B sales interactions will happen over digital channels (Source: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/en\/sales\/trends\/future-of-sales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gartner<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), it\u2019s vital that your sales deck is geared to automate follow-ups and make them more relevant, more meaningful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While traditional CRMs are vast but passive databases, sales engagement platforms are anything but. Unlike a standard CRM that cannot provide you insights, these new-age platforms interpret signals and thus build context with which financial advisors add credibility to their communication.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s look in detail at the benefits of sales engagement platforms for financial advisors:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Processes turn efficient<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div id=\"ld_images_group_element_69d4314838f63\" class=\"lqd-imggrp-single ld_images_group_element_69d4314838f63\"   >\r\n\t\r\n\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container\"    >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<figure ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1200\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 2400 1200&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" class=\"attachment-full size-full ld-lazyload\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/71.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/71.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/71-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/71-1024x512.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" data-aspect=\"2\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-content -->\r\n<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-single -->[vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This might come as a bit of a shocker, but <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forbes<\/span><\/i> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kenkrogue\/2018\/01\/10\/why-sales-reps-spend-less-than-36-of-time-selling-and-less-than-18-in-crm\/?sh=50e90067b998\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">says<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sales people get to devote only 35.2% of their time to actual sales &#8211; the rest is spent in repetitive, admin tasks that don\u2019t generate revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sale engagement platforms take care of a lot of scheduling, reminding, and following up (or prompting for a follow up). That means your financial advisors can spend more time proposing the best-fit solutions to customers and get more of them to sign on the dotted line.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Make it truly digital<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div id=\"ld_images_group_element_69d4314847788\" class=\"lqd-imggrp-single ld_images_group_element_69d4314847788\"   >\r\n\t\r\n\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container\"    >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<figure ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1200\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 2400 1200&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" class=\"attachment-full size-full ld-lazyload\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/72.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/72.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/72-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/72-1024x512.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" data-aspect=\"2\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-content -->\r\n<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-single -->[vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Solutions that work in silos only make it harder for your sales teams to derive any real benefits from them. Sales engagement platforms are smart &#8211; they can sit on top of your existing systems and perform like a unified, one-stop platform from where to do everything: getting insights, scheduling follow-ups, spotting opportunities&#8230;all this, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s why sales professionals say these platforms are truly digital because they leverage the power of integrating various devices, solutions and data.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Increases productivity\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why choose a sales engagement platform<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">? In one word: better productivity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your sales teams no longer have to scroll through dozens of different systems to piece together data. Your sales engagement platform will act as a single source of truth, by displaying all the metrics that your teams need to reshape customer engagement strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Omnichannel is easier<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div id=\"ld_images_group_element_69d4314854e9f\" class=\"lqd-imggrp-single ld_images_group_element_69d4314854e9f\"   >\r\n\t\r\n\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container\"    >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<figure ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1200\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 2400 1200&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" class=\"attachment-full size-full ld-lazyload\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/73.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/73.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/73-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/73-1024x512.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" data-aspect=\"2\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-content -->\r\n<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-single -->[vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your customers go through various stages before they make a purchase. And as their understanding and readiness improves, they typically shift from one channel to another. They may start with social media, then sign up for your newsletters, switch to emails, and finally get on a phone before taking out their wallet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales engagement platforms are designed precisely to help you optimally engage your customers everywhere, from social media to emails to phone calls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Scales personalization<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t need to be reminded that the age of mass selling is practically over, especially today where more data than ever is available. Sales engagement platforms efficiently leverage this data and personalize your communication at scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This personalization helps your customers trust you because they realize you\u2019re putting in efforts to understand their needs and sharing only relevant information.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Handles repetitive tasks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From updating databases to sending documents to customers or prospects, your sales teams are typically tied to a number of repetitive, administrative tasks that should be automated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales engagement platforms can efficiently take up such activities and free your sales personnel. This becomes especially important for financial advisors, since they are more strongly bound by compliance requirements. Automating such tasks enables them to concentrate on growth-facing activities without compromising compliance.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Optimize communication<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div id=\"ld_images_group_element_69d4314862215\" class=\"lqd-imggrp-single ld_images_group_element_69d4314862215\"   >\r\n\t\r\n\t<div class=\"lqd-imggrp-img-container\"    >\r\n\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t<figure ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1200\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&#039;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&#039; viewBox=&#039;0 0 2400 1200&#039;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" class=\"attachment-full size-full ld-lazyload\" alt=\"\" data-src=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/74.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/74.jpg 2400w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/74-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/74-1024x512.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2400px) 100vw, 2400px\" data-aspect=\"2\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-content -->\r\n<\/div><!-- \/.lqd-imggrp-single -->[vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having to create fresh responses every time there\u2019s a prospect query is like reinventing the wheel. Template sequences, on the other hand, make sure that you send the best, proven versions of replies and yet remain on top of things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s one more reason to templatise responses: Anywhere between 30 and 50% of sales is won by the business that responds first (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.thebrevetgroup.com\/21-mind-blowing-sales-stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Source<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Setting auto-responses keeps your prospects from turning cold, and ultimately you losing the sale.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8. Goes beyond CRM<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned before, CRMs have few capabilities beyond storing data. They, for example, cannot provide financial advisors any context with which to strengthen the customer relationship. Relying only on a CRM, therefore, means advisors still have to do a lot of spadework when it comes to customer engagement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A dedicated sales engagement platform is crafted to provide such solutions. You can benefit from a platform that doubles up as a smart digital assistant, and do more with fewer efforts and in a shorter time.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales engagement is a key driver in modern sales processes. Using dated, legacy sales tools seriously hampers the ability of financial advisors to help clients achieve their financial goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Process efficiency, increased productivity, scaling of personalization, improved communications, and freedom from repetitive tasks are some of the many reasons why finance agencies choose sales engagement platforms. If you aren\u2019t using one, it\u2019s high time you started a dialogue to explore further and reap the benefits of technology solutions<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]As technology continues to build better heuristics for business growth, the importance of sales engagement platforms is now in focus. Because the Covid-19 pandemic fuelled uncertainty, financial advisors are now faced with the challenge of providing targeted solutions even as they look for ways to shorten their sales cycles. So how do sales engagement platforms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[56,52,55],"class_list":["post-5381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-financial-advisors","tag-rms","tag-sales-enablement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5381"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5391,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5381\/revisions\/5391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vymo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}