Beacon Blog

Next Generation Advisor Marketing

I just got off the phone with Peter Montoya. Peter is the mind behind MarketingLibrary.net. To say I was impressed is an understatement.  Over the span of an hour, we walked through the toolkit. With his programs Marketing Library and Marketing Library Pro, he can deliver a whole fulfillment center to an advisor. By fulfillment I mean a representative can send out email campaigns, email economic summaries, email letters as well as hard copy letters and cards. One of the things I thought was really cool was that hard copy cards could have an advisor’s handwriting as a font. The other thing I liked is that Peter integrates with other solutions. Examples include RedTail, EZ Data and other CRM applications. Additionally, I liked the compliance features that are baked into the system and frankly that functionality can benefit OSJs and Compliance officers by streamlining and centralizing their marketing and advertising oversight responsibilities. The only weakness in the application that I saw was the document storage piece. It was not as intuitive as I would like and there were not associated workflows. Overall though, I was impressed by the application and, based on the growing client list, others are seeing their value as well.

I am interested in feedback from users of MarketingLibrary.net. So please comment.

Spending Time at the Pershing Conference

Last week I braved rainy New York to attend the Pershing customer conference. My time was spent balancing big picture Pershing objectives with small picture tactical tools that Pershing can deliver to its clients. Big picture topics included going green, on-line account opening with e-sig, marketing tools supporting statement suppression, and merging NetEx Pro (rep and advisor). Additionally I was very impressed with Mark Tibergien who was very articulate in discussing the morphing of a insurance/bd representative to a hybrid advisor. From a tactically perspective discussions included the findings of the Pershing commissioned Moss Adams study that focused on efficiency and profitability. Key in that discussion was Michael Nesspor who made a compelling argument for simplification and s-t-p for greater efficiency and profitability. The other tactical discussion that I attended included iNautix success stories. Specific success stories covered document management, consulting services (though they are not an independent 3rd party like Beacon Strategies), and website development. Overall my impression of the conference was that Pershing was focusing on what they do well, and dedicated to educating their clients on their services.