Reason #9:
Reason #9:You believe it’s important to use tech vendors with strong, deep roots in the industry who clearly understand your challenges as well as your opportunities and are staffed with employees equipped to help you meet those challenges and take advantage of those opportunities.
Redtail CRM was initially developed as an in-house custom CRM for a financial management firm. Brian McLaughlin, Redtail CEO, was a software developer for that firm involved in the CRM project, and, along with his friend and Redtail COO Andy Hernandez who also worked at the firm, they recognized the potential for the CRM to be beneficial for many in the industry.
In 2003, Redtail CRM was made available for advisors outside of the firm and, beginning initially with 25 advisor offices on the platform, has grown to occupy the space we currently enjoy in the market.
While many factors have played into Redtail’s success as a trusted vendor in the industry, three that have proven particularly relevant in regard to our ability to help advisors meet their challenges and recognize and take advantage of their opportunities are our culture, our industry relationships, and our thoughtful leadership efforts.
Redtail culture results in raving fans
The tone for organizational culture typically comes from the top, and Redtail is no exception.
From the beginning it was important to both Brian and Andy that Redtail feel like an extended family for those who came to work with them. They recognized the hard work that lay ahead while also understanding that if a comfortable and rewarding work environment were established and maintained employees would take pride in and ownership of their work, resulting in happy Redtail subscribers who know the company has their best interests in mind.
In short, the culture established from within at Redtail drives employees to do their best work for those we serve in order that we might include you in our culture as well. We love serving the financial services community and are driven each day to understand your working lives better so that we might serve you better while also including you in the ‘Tailer community.
As a reflection of this commitment to culture, we are frequently named to Best FinTechs to Work For lists.
Industry relationships
The strong, mutually respectful relationships Redtail has built with others in the fintech industry over the past 18 years have also proven beneficial for Redtail subscribers. From the outset, breadth and depth in regard to integration with others in the space has been a primary driver. You can read more about our integration efforts in Reason #7.
We’ve also forged these relationships through millions of miles of travel to industry conferences and events. Through the countless hours reflected in this travel, not only have we had the opportunity to stay abreast of what is happening in financial services and collaborate in innovative ways with fellow event attendees, but we’ve also formed meaningful friendships that further strengthen our resolve to work together to meet the needs of the advisor community.
Of course we meet and develop strong working relationships and friendships with advisors as well, both through conferences and industry events as well as through on-site trainings or our Redtail University events. Just as with your profession, we find relationship-building to be one of the most rewarding aspects of our careers. And, it’s through these advisor relationships we forge that some of the best ideas for updates to Redtail solutions arise and are implemented.
We are invested in learning your business more thoroughly in order that we might do our business in support of your needs better.
Thoughtful leadership built upon open dialogue
In order to build tech solutions that meet the needs of modern advisors, ongoing conversations of the type described above are required with other vendors, industry experts, and, of course, advisors like you. We are fortunate at Redtail to have a team comprised of so many individuals dedicated to sparking and/or participating in those conversations, whether it’s our CEO, members of our Sales Team while they are on the road at conferences, or a member of our team helping an advisor office work through an issue on a support call.
All of these conversations over the years have strengthened our ability to act in support of your needs and have, in turn, lead to Redtail having a number of voices that are respected in the industry for the insights they are able to provide on issues of concern to you. As a result, opportunities frequently arise for us to share some of these insights.
Just a few recent examples of some of those opportunities we’ve had to speak to a broader audience include:
• David Mehlhorn, Redtail’s Director of Sales, sharing three tips for customizing client communication at InvestmentNews, a topic inspired by results from our 2020 annual survey, which found that the pandemic had little to no effect on advisors’ top communication challenge
• Redtail CEO Brian McLaughlin joining Orion’s Fuse Show podcast to discuss building a successful fintech partnership as well as a virtual panel discussion moderated by Joel Bruckenstein to help advisors understand the advantages of working with Best of Breed API systems. You can also read a recent piece from Brian at ThinkAdvisor on “4 Ways to Build Company Culture While Working Remotely“.
• Rick Williamson, Redtail’s Lead Trainer, delivering his Adapt to the Future session at Riskalyze’s Fearless Week 2020.
These are but a small sample of the types of engagements where we welcome the opportunity to participate and open up further dialogue with others in the industry. You’ll find many more at Redtail’s Blog.
In short, when dealing with Redtail, whether it be with a support team member or our CEO, you’ll find you’re speaking with someone interested in what you have to say and dedicated to assisting you with the success of your business.
Up next week, Reason #10: You don’t want to break the bank on your technology (or on support for your technology).
As always, if you have any questions along the way as we address these, you can reach out to our team online or call 800.206.5030. We can’t wait to get to know you and your business better and to show you why Redtail is an industry leader committed to your success!
