2025 is here. You want to make it your most productive year yet. Where should you start? We live in a breakthrough era for technology. Home offices have access to more resources than ever. A future-looking plan requires constant innovation, advanced data management and expertise in new tools like AI. It also requires the tried-and-true rules of effective relationship-building. If you want your firm to succeed and grow this year, tech and communication are the key words to live by.
When you assess your home office and expand your capabilities, start with the basics. Make sure your brand messaging is relevant and consistent. Get your advisors and relationship managers on the same page. Build from a foundation of people and industry knowledge. Hone your vision for what you want your business to become.
Leverage Relationship Managers For Communication
Above all else, productive companies require one key skill: good communication. It may seem simple, but conveying clear messages across the organization is key to driving growth, improving efficiency and making the most of your resources. In 2025, relationship managers should be a vital part of your communication strategy. These professionals employ a diverse skill set: They draw upon their understanding of high-level industry trends as well as the specific workflows of your company to keep everyone moving in the same direction.
Relationship managers are great for communicating change and motivating advisors. The most effective ones know their financial professionals well, in the same way that great advisors understand their clients and excel at building connections. The modern-day relationship manager is adaptable, proactive and empathetic. As situations evolve, they get creative about finding solutions.
Relationship managers are great for communicating change and motivating advisors.
Home offices can establish frameworks to help their relationship managers grow. Organize introductory programs with advisors so that everyone can get to know each other, professionally and personally. Encourage relationship managers to check in regularly, asking advisors what’s going well and where they need support. Help them establish recurring surveys and feedback loops to keep the conversation going. To make advisors feel heard and valued, it’s important for relationship managers to seek out proactive solutions – and you can help them structure this fast-paced work.
Technology’s Role In Communication
On the administrative side, make sure that your office is ready to communicate policy changes, structural shifts, and other major updates to your staff and advisors. Don’t let your team learn vital information through back channels or they may feel out of the loop. This year is the time to use tech to your advantage. Try automating updates as much as you can, and use data tools to organize important information.
The new year is also a good time to reassess your tech stack. As technology develops and advisors adapt, expectations will evolve. In a network like Axtella, advisors have their own preferences and workflows. Developing an ideal tech stack is a balancing act between cost, perceived value to advisors and experienced value for clients.
If you’re considering a change, ask advisors how they use your technology and investigate possible weak points. Your customer relationship management (CRM) platform and other important tech tools should match your company’s values and workflows. If your advisors are struggling to adopt new tech, accommodate software quirks or learn complex product features, your tech may be decreasing productivity rather than boosting it.
If your advisors are struggling to adopt new tech, your tech may be decreasing productivity rather than boosting it.
Ask yourself key questions. Does your CRM integrate well with portfolio management and compliance tools? Do your platforms have adaptable features, like mobile accessibility, AI-integration or a client-facing portal? Is your tech overly complex? Can you simplify things to save resources? Remember that your tech should work for you, not the other way around.
If you haven’t tried incorporating AI into your company’s workflows, it’s not too late to get in on the trend. AI tools trained on your company’s data can help advisors access resources tailored to their needs, and relationship managers can use them in a myriad of ways for problem-solving. AI tech innovation is expected to push even further in 2025, so this year is a good time to experiment and strategize.
Keep Advisors Involved In Tech Changes
As you encourage tech experimentation, or make major changes to your tech stack, keep advisors involved at every step of the process. Communicate strategy shifts and provide training to get them used to new tech tools. A series of hands-on training sessions is more effective than a single, lecture-style informational meeting. Give advisors opportunities to test out a new tool, and help them work through any pain points.
Once you’ve decided to integrate a tech tool into your workflow, make sure your team has the appropriate training and troubleshooting resources. Create a unified platform where your staff can access all tools, and consider adding a page with FAQs and additional information. You can suggest that staff and advisors participate in interactive webinars and take advantage of video libraries. Provide support if they seek related certifications.
Remember that tech innovation doesn’t always come from management. Consider holding a forum for advisors to share helpful tips or creative use cases where they have found success. Encouraging collaboration tends to incentivize engagement and form stronger connections across the board.
Communicating well with your advisors is the key to expanding your business. Make a point to support them as people, not just professionals. This effort can create a culture of trust and openness. With all the exciting productivity tools and strategies in mind, remember that good old-fashioned team building still matters. From clients to advisors to staff, this is a relationship business, and connections are the foundation of everything we do.
Brandon Rydell is President of Axtella, the network of RIA Sigma Planning and broker-dealers Sigma Financial and Parkland Securities.
