Crm Client Lifecycle

CRM & Client Lifecycle

Core Concepts

Client Segmentation Models

Client segmentation assigns every household to a category that determines the level of service, contact frequency, review cadence, and resource allocation the firm provides. Without systematic segmentation, advisors default to reactive service — responding to whoever calls — rather than proactive, tiered engagement that matches effort to relationship value.

AUM-based segmentation is the most common starting point. A typical three-tier model:

| Tier | Household AUM | Typical Label | |------|--------------|---------------| | A | $2,000,000+ | Platinum | | B | $500,000 - $1,999,999 | Gold | | C | Under $500,000 | Silver |

AUM-based segmentation is simple to implement because AUM data is readily available from the custodian or portfolio management system. However, AUM alone is an incomplete measure of relationship value.

Revenue-based segmentation uses total annual fees generated by the household rather than asset levels. This captures value more accurately when fee schedules vary across clients, when some households pay financial planning fees in addition to AUM fees, or when clients have complex billing arrangements. Revenue data comes from the billing system and should be annualized to smooth quarterly fluctuations.

Multi-factor segmentation combines quantitative and qualitative dimensions for a more complete picture:

• Assets under management (current relationship size)
• Revenue generated (actual economic value to the firm)
• Growth potential (age, career trajectory, expected inheritances, held-away assets not yet consolidated)
• Referral activity (clients who actively refer new prospects)
• Relationship depth (number of services engaged — investment management, financial planning, tax planning, estate planning, insurance)
• Strategic importance (centers of influence, professional advisors who refer, board members, community leaders)

Behavioral segmentation classifies clients by engagement patterns rather than dollar amounts. Categories might include: highly engaged (frequent contact, attends events, uses the client portal), moderately engaged (responds to outreach, attends annual reviews), passively engaged (minimal contact, rarely initiates), and disengaged (does not respond to outreach, skips reviews). Behavioral segmentation identifies retention risk and helps advisors tailor their communication approach.

Segmentation review cadence. Client segments should be re-evaluated at least annually, typically after year-end billing and performance reporting. Major life events (inheritance, business sale, divorce, retirement) can trigger an immediate re-segmentation. The CRM should flag households whose AUM or revenue has crossed a tier boundary so the advisor can adjust the service level.

Household Management

The household is the fundamental unit of relationship management in wealth advisory. A household groups related individuals, their accounts, and associated entities into a single relationship view that reflects how the family thinks about its finances.

Household composition typically includes:

• Primary client (the individual who is the main point of contact and decision-maker)
• Spouse or partner
• Dependent children (relevant for 529 plans, custodial accounts, and beneficiary designations)
• Adult children who may be clients in their own right or future clients
• Trusts (revocable, irrevocable, charitable) established by the primary client or spouse
• Business entities (LLCs, S-Corps, partnerships) owned by household members
• Family foundations or donor-advised funds

Account-to-household linking. Every account in the portfolio management system and custodian must be linked to a household in the CRM. Account types within a household commonly include: individual taxable, joint taxable, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, rollover IRA, inherited IRA, revocable trust, irrevocable trust, UTMA/UGMA custodial, 529 plan, entity accounts, and charitable accounts. Accurate linking is essential for household-level AUM aggregation, fee tier determination, consolidated reporting, and holistic financial planning.

Household AUM aggregation. The CRM should display total household AUM by pulling position-level data from the portfolio management system or custodian feeds. Aggregation must handle: accounts at multiple custodians, held-away assets (employer retirement plans, outside brokerage accounts, bank accounts) that are tracked but not managed, and assets under advisement (where the firm provides guidance but does not have discretion).

Multi-generational relationships. Wealth management relationships increasingly span generations. The CRM should support parent-child household linking so that when a client's adult child becomes a client, the advisor can see the full family relationship, track generational wealth transfer, and coordinate estate planning across generations. This is critical for client retention during the intergenerational wealth transfer projected over the coming decades — estimated at roughly $84 trillion through 2045 (Cerulli Associates estimate, published 2022; verify current projections).

Primary and secondary advisor assignment. Each household should have a designated primary advisor (responsible for the relationship and investment decisions) and optionally a secondary advisor or client service associate. The CRM should track these assignments and use them for routing service requests, scheduling reviews, and generating workload reports. When an advisor departs the firm, the CRM's advisor assignment data drives the client reassignment process.

Household data hygiene. Common data quality issues include: orphaned accounts not linked to any household, duplicate household records for the same family, stale contact information (addresses, phone numbers, email), missing or incorrect beneficiary data in the CRM (which may differ from the custodian's records), and inconsistent naming conventions (e.g., "Robert Smith" in one record and "Bob Smith" in another). Quarterly data quality audits should identify and remediate these issues.

Service Tier Frameworks

Service tiers translate client segmentation into a concrete, actionable service delivery program. Each tier defines the minimum service standards the firm commits to providing, creating consistency across advisors and accountability for service delivery.

Service tier definition matrix:

| Service Element | Platinum (A) | Gold (B) | Silver (C) | |----------------|-------------|---------|-----------| | Annual reviews | 4 (quarterly) | 2 (semi-annual) | 1 (annual) | | Proactive contacts | Monthly | Bi-monthly | Quarterly | | Financial plan | Comprehensive, updated annually | Modular, updated bi-annually | Goal-based, updated at review | | Tax coordination | Direct CPA collaboration | Tax-aware investing | Tax-lot method guidance | | Estate planning | Attorney coordination, trust review | Estate plan checklist | Beneficiary review | | Event invitations | All events + exclusive dinners | All events | Educational seminars | | Response time SLA | Same business day | Next business day | 2 business days | | Dedicated CSA | Named CSA assigned | Shared CSA pool | General service queue |

SLA enforcement. Service level agreements are only meaningful if the firm tracks compliance. The CRM should monitor: days since last contact (by tier), whether the required number of reviews have been completed within the trailing 12 months, response time on service requests, and whether proactive outreach targets are being met. Advisors and practice managers should receive weekly or monthly SLA compliance reports.

Service menu per tier. Beyond the matrix above, firms should define the full menu of services available at each tier. Platinum clients might receive: proactive tax-loss harvesting, annual estate plan coordination with the client's attorney, Social Security and Medicare optimization analysis, charitable giving strategy, and invitation to an annual client appreciation event. Silver clients might receive: annual portfolio review, beneficiary verification, and access to educational webinars. The service menu should be documented and shared with all advisors and client service associates to ensure consistent delivery.

Capacity planning. Service tiers drive advisor capacity requirements. If a Platinum client requires 20 hours of advisor time per year and a Silver client requires 4 hours, an advisor's capacity determines how many clients of each tier they can serve effectively. A common capacity model: one advisor can serve 20-25 Platinum households, 40-60 Gold households, or 100-150 Silver households, with most advisors managing a blended book.

Client Review Scheduling

Systematic review scheduling ensures that every client receives the review cadence appropriate to their service tier and that reviews are prepared thoroughly, conducted effectively, and documented for compliance purposes.

Review cadence by tier:

• Platinum: quarterly reviews (every 90 days)
• Gold: semi-annual reviews (every 180 days)
• Silver: annual reviews (every 365 days)

Scheduling workflow. The CRM should automate review scheduling by tracking the date of each client's last completed review and generating scheduling tasks when the next review approaches. A 60-day advance scheduling window gives the advisor and client adequate time to find a mutually convenient date. The scheduling task should include: the client's preferred meeting format (in-person, video, phone), preferred day/time, and any special preparation notes from the prior review.

Review preparation workflow. The standardized preparation checklist and pre-meeting data assembly process are covered in the client-review-prep skill (advisory-practice plugin) — the CRM's role is to trigger preparation tasks when a review is scheduled and store the resulting preparation documents on the household record.

Review documentation. After each review, the advisor or CSA records in the CRM: meeting date, attendees, topics discussed, any changes to the investment strategy or financial plan, action items with responsible parties and deadlines, suitability confirmation (the client's objectives, risk tolerance, and financial situation were reviewed and remain appropriate or were updated), and the next review target date. This documentation satisfies the annual review requirement that regulators expect and provides a contemporaneous record in the event of a client dispute.

Action item tracking. Every review generates action items — rebalance the portfolio, update the estate plan, roll over an old 401(k), increase life insurance coverage. The CRM should track each action item with an owner, due date, and completion status. Open action items should appear in the advisor's task list and carry forward to the next review preparation if not yet completed.

Client Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages model the client's progression through distinct financial phases, each with different needs, priorities, and service requirements. Tracking lifecycle stage in the CRM allows the firm to tailor advice, communication, and product recommendations to the client's current situation.

Prospect. An individual or household that has expressed interest or been identified as a potential client but has not yet signed an advisory agreement. CRM tracks: referral source, initial meeting date, proposal status, follow-up cadence, and conversion probability. Key metrics: prospect-to-client conversion rate, average time from first contact to signed agreement, and pipeline value (estimated AUM of active prospects).

Onboarding. The period from signed agreement through funded, invested account. The CRM tracks onboarding milestones: agreement signed, KYC/CIP completed, accounts opened, accounts funded, initial investment executed, first review scheduled. The onboarding stage typically lasts 2-6 weeks for simple accounts and up to 3 months for complex situations (trusts, entities, large ACAT transfers). See the client-onboarding skill for detailed onboarding workflows.

Accumulation. The client is actively building wealth — working, saving, contributing to retirement accounts, and growing the portfolio. Advisory focus: investment growth, tax-efficient accumulation, risk management (insurance review), debt optimization, and retirement projection. This stage may last 20-30 years for clients who engage an advisor in their 30s or 40s. CRM tracks: contribution patterns, savings rate, career milestones, and financial plan progress.

Distribution. The client has transitioned to drawing income from the portfolio — typically at or near retirement. Advisory focus shifts to: income sustainability, withdrawal strategy, Social Security optimization, Medicare enrollment, required minimum distributions, tax bracket management in retirement, and portfolio de-risking. CRM tracks: withdrawal rate, RMD compliance, income sources, and spending patterns.

Estate/Succession. The client's planning focus shifts to wealth transfer, legacy, and end-of-life financial management. Advisory focus: estate plan review, beneficiary updates, gifting strategies, charitable giving, trust funding and administration, and coordination with estate attorneys and CPAs. The CRM should track: estate plan last reviewed, trust structures, gifting history, and identified successor contacts (adult children, executors, trustees).

Dormant/At-Risk. A client who shows disengagement signals: declining assets (systematic withdrawals not explained by planned distributions), unresponsive to outreach (missed reviews, unanswered calls/emails), reduced engagement (stopped logging into the client portal, skipped events), or expressed dissatisfaction. The CRM should flag dormant or at-risk clients based on configurable rules so the advisor can intervene before the client leaves. Re-engagement strategies include: a personal call from the primary advisor, an invitation to a special event, a complimentary plan review, or an offer to review the fee structure.

CRM Data Model and Integration

The CRM is the system of record for client relationship data and the integration hub that connects to the portfolio management system, custodian, financial planning tool, document management system, and marketing automation platform.

Core CRM entities:

• Contact record: Name, demographics, contact information, employment, tax status, risk profile, communication preferences, trusted contact person. One record per individual.
• Household record: Groups related contacts. Stores household-level data: total AUM, segment/tier, primary advisor, service model, lifecycle stage.
• Account record: Links to the custodian account. Stores: account number, account type, registration, custodian, model assignment, billing status. Each account belongs to one household.
• Activity record: Every interaction with the client — calls, emails, meetings, service requests, document deliveries, review completions. Activities are linked to a contact and/or household and tagged by type and date.
• Opportunity record: Tracks potential new business — prospects, additional account opportunities, financial planning engagements, insurance referrals. Stores: estimated value, probability, stage, and expected close date.
• Task record: Action items assigned to team members with due dates, priority, and completion status.

Integration with portfolio management system (PMS). The CRM should synchronize with the PMS to display: current household AUM, account-level balances, asset allocation, recent transactions, performance summary, and model assignment. Data flows primarily from PMS to CRM (positions, performance, transactions), with some flows from CRM to PMS (household structure, advisor assignment, billing preferences). Synchronization frequenc

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Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: JoelLewis
• Source: JoelLewis/finance_skills
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.