Sarah, a financial advisor at a boutique wealth management firm, starts her Monday morning with 47 unread emails. Three are urgent client questions about portfolio performance during last week's market volatility. She needs to check Salesforce for account details, consult with her operations team via Slack about transactions in progress, review portfolio positions in her financial planning software, and craft personalized responses—all while preparing for a 9:00 AM client meeting.
Let's talk about the elephant in the room: that expensive CRM system you invested in—HubSpot, Salesforce, or another enterprise platform—is probably gathering digital dust. You're not alone. Across the wealth management industry, firms are sitting on six-figure technology investments that deliver a fraction of their potential value.
The numbers are sobering. While 91% of companies with more than 11 employees use a CRM system, and the CRM market is projected to reach $97.90 billion by 2025, there's a dark side to these impressive statistics: 70% of CRM projects are reported to fail, often due to poor user adoption.
For RIAs and wealth management firms specifically, the problem is even more pronounced. According to recent industry research, 44% of wealth managers view their existing technology as outdated, and 31% say it's not appropriate for their purposes. Meanwhile, smaller firms often have limited awareness of the comprehensive benefits CRM systems can provide, directly impacting adoption and market penetration.
If you've invested $100,000 or more in a CRM system only to use it as a glorified contact database, this article is for you.
Before we can fix the problem, we need to understand it. CRM underutilization in wealth management firms typically manifests in several ways:
Most underutilized CRMs are essentially expensive Rolodexes. Advisors enter basic contact information—name, email, phone number—and maybe log a few meeting notes. But they're missing:
If your team is only using 10-20% of your CRM's capabilities, you're essentially paying luxury car prices for a bicycle.
One of the most common complaints about CRM systems is that they create more work, not less. Advisors spend time manually entering data that could be automatically captured. They're updating spreadsheets and the CRM, creating duplicate work and data inconsistencies.
This happens when CRMs are implemented without proper integration planning. Your CRM should connect to:
Without these integrations, your CRM becomes a data silo that requires manual feeding—and nobody has time for that.
Here's a statistic that should concern every firm: 32% of CRM users report a lack of technical expertise as a major roadblock. When firms invest in powerful CRM platforms but skimp on training, adoption suffers.
Your advisors might know how to add a contact, but do they know how to:
If the answer is no, you've got a training problem—and it's costing you money.
Technology without strategy is just expensive noise. Many firms implement CRM systems without first defining:
The 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study from Schwab Advisor Services found that Top Performing Firms typically possess a written strategic plan, an ideal client persona, a client value proposition, and an integrated marketing plan. These strategic foundations inform how the CRM should be configured and used.
Without this strategic clarity, your CRM becomes a tool in search of a purpose—and it usually ends up underutilized.
When your CRM investment sits underutilized, you're not just wasting the licensing fees. You're losing opportunities across your entire business:
Businesses using CRM effectively experience an average return of $8.71 for every $1 spent. CRM software has been shown to boost conversion rates by 300% and sales by 29%. When you're not leveraging these capabilities, you're leaving revenue on the table.
For a wealth management firm, this translates to:
While you're underutilizing your CRM, your competitors are leveraging theirs for competitive advantage. The 2025 benchmarking data shows that RIA marketing leaders—those who effectively integrate technology and marketing—experience 40% more client growth, 23% more asset growth, and 20% more revenue growth than other RIAs.
Firms that effectively integrate digital tools, including CRM, have reported a 13% boost in productivity, an 8% increase in Assets Under Management (AUM), and an 8% increase in revenue.
Today's clients—especially younger generations—expect seamless digital experiences. They want:
If your CRM isn't enabling these experiences, you're at risk of client attrition. The research shows that 95% of firms are focused on improving the client experience, and 55% of Top Performing Firms have a client segmentation strategy—enabled by their CRM.
When your CRM isn't properly utilized, your team wastes time on manual tasks that should be automated:
This inefficiency doesn't just cost money—it costs morale. Your talented advisors and support staff are spending time on administrative drudgery instead of high-value activities.
Understanding the root causes of CRM underutilization is the first step toward fixing it. Here are the most common culprits and their solutions:
The Problem: Many firms treat CRM implementation as a technical project rather than a business transformation. They migrate data, set up basic fields, and call it done—without customizing the system to match their specific workflows and processes.
The Solution: Proper CRM implementation requires:
Vantage Point specializes in CRM implementation for wealth management firms, ensuring your system is configured to support your specific business processes from day one.
The Problem: Firms often provide one-time training during implementation, then expect users to remember everything. As the system evolves and new features are added, the training gap widens.
The Solution: Effective CRM adoption requires ongoing training:
The Problem: When your CRM operates in isolation from your other business systems, it creates duplicate work and data inconsistencies. Users naturally gravitate toward the tools that require the least effort.
The Solution: Your CRM should be the hub of your technology ecosystem, with integrations to:
This is where the partnership between Vantage Point and TE+A Marketing becomes particularly valuable. We've seen too many firms with powerful CRM systems that sit disconnected from their marketing efforts, creating inefficiency and missed opportunities.
The Problem: Without a clear strategy for how the CRM supports business objectives, it becomes a tool in search of a purpose. Users don't understand why they should use it, so they don't.
The Solution: Your CRM strategy should align with your business strategy:
If you're reading this and recognizing your firm in these descriptions, don't despair. CRM underutilization is fixable—and the ROI of fixing it is substantial.
Here's your roadmap:
Start with an honest assessment of your current state:
Based on your business strategy, define what success looks like:
Want expert guidance on implementation? Our 60-Day Program provides hands-on support for every step. Learn more →
You don't have to fix everything at once. Prioritize improvements based on:
Execute your optimization plan with a focus on:
Transforming your underutilized CRM into a growth engine doesn't require a multi-year project. Through our partnership, Vantage Point and TE+A Marketing have developed a 60-Day Program specifically designed for RIAs and wealth management firms.
This program includes:
The result? A CRM that actually delivers on its promise—driving growth, improving efficiency, and enhancing client experiences.
If your $100K CRM investment is gathering dust, it's time to change that. Start with a complimentary Marketing Technology Assessment that will:
Your CRM should be your competitive advantage, not your expensive burden. Let's make that happen.
Our 60-Day Program provides the strategic foundation and execution support you need to achieve sustainable growth.
Start Your 60-Day Program Today →
This blog series is brought to you through the partnership of Vantage Point and TE+A Marketing, combining deep expertise in CRM optimization and strategic marketing for financial services firms.
Vantage Point specializes in CRM implementation, optimization, and integration for wealth management firms and RIAs. With decades of experience in financial services technology, Vantage Point ensures your CRM investment delivers measurable ROI.
TE+A Marketing is a full-service marketing agency focused exclusively on financial services firms with 50-500 employees. TE+A Marketing develops integrated marketing strategies that drive predictable growth and measurable results.
Together, we offer a unique 60-Day Program that bridges the gap between your technology and your marketing—creating a unified growth engine for your firm.
Ready to transform your CRM from a dust-gathering expense into a growth engine? Contact us today for your complimentary Marketing Technology Assessment.
About Vantage Point
Vantage Point specializes in AI-driven, tailored CRM solutions for financial services institutions. Our expertise in Salesforce Financial Services Cloud implementation and optimization empowers organizations to enhance client engagement, achieve operational excellence, and drive measurable business success. Contact us to learn how we can help your institution master personalization and transform your customer experience.
David Cockrum founded Vantage Point after serving as Chief Operating Officer in the financial services industry. His unique blend of operational leadership and technology expertise has enabled Vantage Point's distinctive business-process-first implementation methodology, delivering successful transformations for 150+ financial services firms across 400+ engagements with a 4.71/5.0 client satisfaction rating and 95%+ client retention rate.