The difference between a CRM and CurrentBusiness

Wikipedia defines a CRM as “a system for managing a company’s interactions with current and future customers. It often involves using technology to organize, automate and synchronize sales, marketing, customer service, and technical support.”

Sounds great right? Organize, automate and synchronize… So why are many Forex brokers not only using a CRM to manage and keep track of their business, but also Excel spreadsheets, platform managers, cloud services and other software? Isn’t a CRM supposed to automate and synchronize everything? The truth is they don’t… But why not?

CRM’s are not designed for brokers, they are designed to be ‘customized’ for any industry or company that needs to keep track of client data. The brokerage industry can be complex, with multiple trading platforms, treasury, compliance, KYC documents, reporting, leads, MAM’s, funding sources, client agreements, marketing campaigns, referral links, demo accounts, revenues from banking transactions, spreads, commissions, conversions, swaps… AHHHH!

Unfortunately most brokers try to box all of these requirements into a single category called a “CRM”. What was just listed is much more then a CRM, it is an entire broker management solution. Hundreds of thousands would have to be spent on customization and continual maintenance for any CRM to provide the everyday features Forex brokers need. For this reason CurrentDesk has developed CurrentBusiness.

CurrentBusiness is a full broker management suite that includes everything listed above and much more. One of the most appealing aspects of CurrentBusiness is that it is completely platform independent. Typically brokers rely on data in their trading platforms to run their business. Since these platforms manage client data completely different it becomes extremely difficult to have any sort of standardized process to manage this data. CurrentBusiness solves this by integrating with any platform API, then collects and stores all data in a universal format. Within CurrentBusiness the broker can manage all processes from a single centralized interface while routine tasks can be performed automatically, such as: create new trading accounts, deposit and withdraw funds and change leverages. This eliminates the potential for human error and allows staff to focus on generating revenue versus manually processing back office tasks.

Being platform independent means all data will stay within CurrentBusiness whether additional trading platforms are added or discontinued. Platform independence gives the broker ultimate flexibility in the evolution of their business. CurrentBusiness is a feature-rich broker management suite which includes a CRM. Just remember, the CRM is only a fraction of what CurrentBusiness offers.

Other key features provided by CurrentBusiness are:

• Revenue Calculation
  Calculation of revenue across all platforms, revenues include commissions, spreads, swaps, conversions and banking transactions.
• Multi-Asset Manager
  Built in MAM which keeps track of all high water marks, performance fees, management fees and automatically charges the clients accounts and pays the asset manager.
• Client Portal
  Traders have online access to all accounts at the broker, where they can transfer funds, upload documents, download trading platforms and much more.
• Partner Back Office
  Partners have access to view their clients, upload documents, see client statuses, write notes, mange referral links and more.