Rookie of the Year
Upswing, the new CRM platform we introduced to you in September, exemplifies what a Rookie of the Year should be. It is new, and it was a little rough around the edges when we first tried it, but it is an application that generated a lot of enthusiasm from readers. (The folks at Upswing tell me that the response from readers of my story was very enthusiastic.)
There are a number of good online CRM applications available to advisors, but none are easier to learn and use than Upswing is. Many firms claim that you can master their application in less than a day, but Upswing is one of the few that delivers. One way Upswing developers did this was by not trying to be all things to all people. They worked on making the core functions (contact info, data entry, navigation, calendaring, etc.) easy to use, and they stayed away from things that make CRM complex, such as work flow, integrated e-mail, and document management. Of course, as they add new features (and a number are in the works at the moment), it may be a challenge to keep things simple, but I believe that Upswing will be up to the task.
Upswing makes good use of AJAX technology, which helps it deliver an intuitive and responsive Web-based application. The quick contact screen is a great idea; it allows you to capture the most relevant information about a new contact (name, telephone, e-mail) from just about anywhere within the program. Adding to Upswing's appeal is the price. At $35 per month, it offers a lot of bang for your buck.
If you are looking for a very comprehensive CRM application, there may be better choices, but if you are looking for a good balance of features, price, and usability, Upswing is a great new option available to you.
Disappointment of the Year
Without a doubt, the biggest disappointment of the year was Intuit's entry into the portfolio management software market in February, and its subsequent departure about seven months later. Personally, I had high hopes that a firm of Intuit's size and stature could bring some new innovation, creativity, and competition into a market segment that was ripe for change. Unfortunately, it didn't take Intuit managers long to figure out that the premise they built their business model upon (essentially a self-service model) was not going to fly in the advisory world. As a result, they chose to withdraw rather than start over.
The best that can be said for this seemingly abrupt decision is that it happened before Intuit built a large customer base. The decision offered little in the way of solace for the approximately 75 advisory firms who put their faith in Intuit, however. While we begrudgingly credit Intuit for their damage control efforts, I'm sure most advisors wish, as I do, that they had never ventured into this territory.
There you have it, the best and the worst of 2006. Congratulations to all of our winners, and bah humbug to our loser.
