Households with an assigned tier and review frequency
The foundation for scheduling reviews and measuring service.
Financial advisory firms · CRM setup and cleanup
Turn your advisory CRM into a list you can actually run the firm from
Advisory CRMs fill up with history: households built differently by each advisor, spouses entered as separate clients, children and attorneys mixed in as contacts, service tiers never assigned, and workflow templates from a consultant who left years ago. Custodial and portfolio integrations add accounts that do not always map to the right household. Simple questions, like how many top-tier clients are overdue for review, take an afternoon.
How it often works today
- Households are structured inconsistently, so AUM by household, tier and advisor does not match what the portfolio system reports.
- Duplicate contacts from custodial feeds and manual entry mean mailings sometimes reach clients twice, or reach a spouse who has passed away.
- Service tiers and review frequencies are missing for many clients, so the firm cannot tell who is overdue for a review.
- Old workflow templates and unused tags clutter the CRM and leave new staff unsure which ones actually matter.
CRM cleanup for advisory firms means agreeing how households, relationships, tiers and review schedules should be structured, fixing existing records in bulk, and setting up a few rules and reports that keep them right. It is usually the step that makes everything else possible, from meeting notes and review scheduling to AUM reporting and succession planning.
The improved workflow
Agree the data model
Define households, relationship roles such as spouse, beneficiary, CPA and attorney, service tiers, review frequency and the few required fields every record must have.
Measure what is broken
Export contacts, households and accounts, and count duplicates, missing tiers, unmapped accounts and stale tags, so the scope rests on data.
Fix in batches with review
Merge duplicates, rebuild households and assign tiers in batches using Redtail, Wealthbox or Salesforce tools, with each advisor checking a sample from their book before changes go through.
Reconcile with the portfolio system
Match CRM households to Orion, Black Diamond or Tamarac households so AUM, billing and fee reports agree across systems, and fix unmapped accounts at the source.
Keep it clean
Required fields, a monthly exception report and a named owner for data quality stop the drift that caused the cleanup in the first place.
How we deliver this: AI automation for small business or fractional CTO leadership, scoped in writing and run over 90 days. See pricing or the sample scope.
What we would measure
CRM to portfolio system AUM match rate
Shows whether household structures now agree across systems.
Duplicate contact rate
A visible test of whether the cleanup is holding.
Time to answer standard management questions
If basic reports take minutes instead of hours, the cleanup is paying back.
Where people stay in control
- Advisors review proposed changes to their households before bulk merges, since relationships and family situations are not always obvious from the data.
- Full exports are taken before each batch, stored securely and deleted at the end of the project according to policy.
- Notes and records of advice are never deleted during cleanup; outdated records are archived in line with books-and-records requirements.
Example
Preparing for a second advisor
Illustrative example: a founder-led firm hiring its second advisor wants to hand over 80 households. The CRM shows those households structured three different ways, many without a service tier, and several duplicate spouses from a custodial feed. Over a month the team agrees a household standard, merges duplicates, assigns tiers and matches each household to the portfolio system. The new advisor receives a clean book with review dates, and the founder can finally see review status by tier.
Tools typically involved
What the first 30 days look like
In the first 30 days we would export your CRM and portfolio households, measure duplicates, missing tiers and AUM mismatches, and interview each advisor about how they use the CRM. Then we write a one-page household and tier standard with you and agree which records to fix first.
Common questions
Should we move from Redtail to Wealthbox or Salesforce while we clean up?
Only with a clear business reason, such as integrations you need or a scale your current CRM cannot support. Cleaning up first is wise either way, because migrating messy data is expensive. If a switch is already decided, the cleanup becomes migration preparation, and we would focus on the fields and relationships the new system depends on.
How long does an advisory CRM cleanup take?
For a firm with a few hundred households, agreeing a standard and fixing households, tiers and duplicates can often fit within one to two months. Larger books or several merged practices take longer. We prioritize records that drive reviews, billing and reporting rather than polishing every historical note.
Will cleanup disrupt our integrations?
It can if merges are done carelessly, because custodial and portfolio integrations rely on links between records. That is why we test merges on a sample, check integrations after each batch and coordinate with your CRM vendor where needed. A short pause in a sync is manageable; broken account links are what we work hardest to avoid.
The business case
Does it pay for itself?
Illustrative defaults for a financial advisory firm. Replace them with your numbers.
What this workflow costs today
a month in staff time, before any lost sales
Monthly fee + assumed tools +
Break-even: new clients a month (at first-year value)
Or: staff hours recovered and redeployed
Break-even additional revenue
Value of +1 point of win rate
First 90 days, service fee
Worth a closer lookTest the assumptions
Illustration only, not a forecast or guarantee. Recovered staff time becomes a cash saving only if spending actually declines or the time goes into paid work. Tool costs are an assumption; we replace every number here with yours before recommending a scope.
CRM setup and cleanup in other industries
Consulting and professional services firmsInsurance agenciesNonprofit organizationsReal estate brokeragesStaffing and recruiting agencies
CRM setup and cleanup: full guide
Related guides
Change management for new softwareGetting staff to adopt new toolsHow to choose a CRMHow to automate lead follow-up without losing the personal touch
Terms used here
Next step
Bring one expensive workflow. Leave with a clear next step.
In 30 minutes we look at one recurring workflow, what it costs you today and whether there is a credible case to improve it. If there is not, we will say so.
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30 minutes with Phil or Martin. No technical brief, no pitch deck. Phil or Martin replies personally, usually within one business day.