The Customer Wins

Thom Singer is the CEO of Austin Technology Council (ATC), the leading unifying voice of technology in Central Texas. ATC is an informed opinion leader, providing the Austin Tech community with the insights, resources, and connections they need to grow and thrive. Thom is a keynote speaker with over 15 years of speaking to corporate and association audiences about cultivating meaningful connections. He has worked as a Director at Stanton Chase International, an executive search firm providing clients with consulting services. Thom has also authored many books on the power of business relationships and networking. In this episode… Are you a tech leader in Austin struggling to grow and thrive? What is the secret sauce for your success in this area? According to Thom Singer, community collaboration and conversations can solve all problems in any industry. He believes adding one person to your inner circle is more impactful than adding 1,000 people to social media. He realized this after a successful career in business development for law firms, banks, and consulting firms. He now shares how he's working with the best thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs to promote and support the Austin Tech Community. Listen to this episode of The Customer Wins as host Rich Walker welcomes Thom Singer, CEO of Austin Technology Council (ATC), to discuss how they help Austin tech leaders thrive through community. Thom explains how Austin has evolved over the years, ATC’s strategies for building connections, how building a network helps customers win, and shares his thoughts about building communities virtually.

Sanjeev Kumar is the Co-founder and CEO of Skience, a firm transforming financial services firms with innovative services and solutions. His passion for leveraging technology to solve business problems inspired him to found The Athene Group in 2001, which later transformed into Skience. With a mechanical engineering degree from Bangalore University, Sanjeev found the world of technology much more challenging and fun — starting a business that lets him build extensive relationships with financial services firms all across the world. In this episode… With constant evolution in the business world, financial services firms are struggling to keep up. So where can they get the right technology and guidance to help them thrive? According to Sanjeev Kumar, firms that are adopting technology in the financial services industry are the ones making a difference. The only problem is that tech is constantly evolving. Having worked in the industry for hundreds of firms, Sanjeev has developed a tool to help financial services firms streamline and automate their operational processes. Listen to this episode of The Customer Wins as host Rich Walker welcomes Sanjeev Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of Skience, to discuss how to thrive in the financial services industry through digital transformation. Sanjeev explains how Skience helps people, its partnership with Salesforce, its techniques and processes for creating excellent customer experiences, and its customer success stories.

Jud Mackrill is the Co-founder of Milemarker, a specialized team of experts focused on solving the data and integration problems of leading financial services companies. He is also the General Partner of Mammoth and an Advisory Board Member at LifeYield. Jud is passionate about connecting the future of financial advice through design, software integration, and investing in financial services companies. As a multi-award-winning marketer and designer, his work has contributed to the success of many leading financial services and advisory firms. In this episode… Are you struggling to thrive in the financial service industry as an advisor? What can you do to unlock your potential and make your business more efficient and scalable? Financial advisors nowadays are facing data and integration problems hindering their progress. Jud Mackrill recommends leveraging modern infrastructure and tools to become data-driven advisors. They simplify integration, automate processes, and create remarkable experiences for advisors and clients. Learn how to take control of your data and start delivering proper solutions to your internal and external customers as an advisor. Listen to this episode of The Customer Wins as host Rich Walker welcomes Jud Mackrill, Co-founder of Milemarker, to discuss how financial advisory firms can thrive. Jud talks about Milemarker and its services, why he got into the financial services industry, his first role at Orion, and how Milemarker helps financial advisors become more present with their clients.

Shelli Taylor is the CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, an entertainment company providing the best cinematic experience in the world through good food, good beer, and good film in one place. She is an accomplished Fortune 100 executive and also serves as a board member and public speaker. Before Alamo, Shelli spent her 25-year global career with brands like Starbucks Coffee Company, The Walt Disney Company, and Planet Fitness. She is well known for leading high-performance teams through rapid growth and transformation to achieve outsized results. In this episode… Do you find yourself getting distracted in most theaters and being able to fully enjoy the movie? Are there theaters that still offer singular, refined theatrical experiences? Shelli Taylor believes that a theatre should focus on offering the best guest experiences when setting its rules and culture. As for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, it has gone an extra step to become a dining cinema where food, beer, and film can be enjoyed in one location with dedicated customers. Now Shelli Taylor shares how they deliver the best film experiences to their customers. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Shelli Taylor, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, to discuss tips for the best customer experience in the film industry. Shelli talks about Alamo rules and culture and how they were developed, the value of hiring the right talent that aligns with your values, how to drive customer experience, and advice for entrepreneurs on how to win more customers.

Blake Wood is the CEO of Lumiant US, an advice and client engagement platform where advisors connect with clients around their lives, values, and finances. Before Lumiant, he spent over 15 years at Envestnet, a financial service company transforming the deliverability of financial advice through an ecosystem of technology. Blake has 20 years in the FinTech space working with advisors. He has a BGS in economics and an MBA in international management. In this episode… Do you feel like you are not giving the best advice to your clients as a financial advisor? Would you like to acquire more customers? Where can you get the support you deserve to thrive in this space? Nowadays, consumers wanting financial guidance are becoming more disengaged from financial services because of the poor deliverability of the advice. They are starting to prefer fintech apps over advisors. So what needs to be done? Blake Wood shares how he's enabling financial advisors to help their clients align their finances with their values. Listen to this episode of The Customer Wins as host Rich Walker welcomes Blake Wood, CEO of Lumiant US, to discuss how they are helping financial advisors connect with clients. Blake talks about how Lumiant helps people, tips for shifting a customer’s mindset around money, customer success stories, and the future of Lumiant.

Rick Williamson is the Director of Training at Redtail Technology, the leader in web-based client relationship management solutions for financial advisors. He develops training and education initiatives, working hands on to improve team management and even public speaking. Rick is an expert on all things CRM-related and has a background and experience in film production and public speaking. In this episode… As a financial advisor, do you desire to transform how you scale your business through technology and outsourced solutions? Where can you get a CRM that offers you the necessary tools to assist you in your efforts? For over a decade, Rick Williamson has been in all things CRM related. He has discovered that financial advisors struggle with managing their client base and scaling their business because they lack the necessary tools for their work. Rick recommends CRM that integrates widely and deeply with other popular tools in the financial services industry. In this episode of The Customer Wins, host Rich Walker welcomes Rick Williamson, Director Of Training at Redtail Technology, to discuss CRM that best serves financial advisors. Rick talks about Redtail and how it helps people, tips for creating and delivering great customer experience, how Redtail and Orion’s merger improves their clients' lives, and its customer success stories.

Chris Wallner is the Partner and Chief Marketing Officer of Chief Outsiders, the nation’s leading Executives-as-a-Service firm. Chief Outsiders helps organizations identify the fractional marketing and sales executives they need to accelerate growth. Chris works with technology and financial service companies to drive revenue growth by converting insights into actionable, sustainable strategies and solutions. He is an accomplished marketing, product management, development, and e-commerce executive with an impressive track record in the technology and financial industry. In this episode… Running all of the different departments in a company is challenging. A leader may be good at some but does not have the skills to lead them all. So where can they get the support they deserve to help them run efficiently? Chris Wallner recommends hiring fractional executives to help them unlock and accelerate their growth. Many business leaders don't have the time or money to hire full-time CMOs or CSOs, but they need help growing their companies. This allows for leaders to grow without blowing the budget, and this is is how it works. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Chris Wallner, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer of Chief Outsiders, to discuss the importance of being a customer-centric leader and hiring fractional executives. Chris talks about Chief Outsiders and how it helps people, the top three challenges that Chief Outsiders solves, and tips for becoming a customer-centric leader.

Adam Holt is the Founder and CEO of Asset-Map, the leading advice engagement platform for financial professionals that offers financial planning reports. As a certified financial planner and financial consultant, his areas of expertise include estate and retirement planning, benefit programs for businesses, and business succession planning. His podcast, Rethink — The Financial Advisor Podcast, challenges financial professionals to evolve in the industry. Adam considers himself both a student and a teacher, helping his clients understand the nuances of their finances. In this episode… Learning how to manage your money is a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Unless you’re educated in the financial advising industry, reading and understanding financial reports can be overwhelming. So is there a way to better visualize your financial plan? After recognizing a lack of financial literacy among his clients, Adam Holt sought out a solution to help them understand their financial plans. Rather than constructing bulky reports, he changed his tactic by sketching visual representations of his clients’ financial profiles that included their unique financial instruments. His innovative approach helped his clients interpret their assets and gave them confidence in their financial decisions. In this episode of The Customer Wins, host Rich Walker welcomes Adam Holt, Founder and CEO of Asset-Map, to discuss his unique approach to financial advising and how he tripled his company’s revenue three years in a row. Adam talks about his transition into the FinTech industry, how building his company has humbled him, and AI’s impact on the customer experience.

Derek Notman is the Founder and CEO of Couplr, a fintech company that offers lead generation solutions for financial companies and their advisors. He is a FinTech founder, certified financial planner, and co-host of the Rethink. The Financial Advisor Podcast. Derek is also the Founder of Conneqtor and Intrepid Wealth Partners. He was recognized as Wealthies Rising Star of the Year in 2022 by WealthManagement.com. In this episode… People want help with their money and want to get the most out of it. So who's better to help them than a qualified financial advisor? But where can they get the support they deserve to connect and create a mutually beneficial relationship? Many financial advisors fail in their first three years of practice. This is often because they don't know how to build relationships with their clients based on trust. For them to open up about their finances to get help, financial advisors have to be able to connect with them on different human and monetary dimensions — and that's where Couplr enters. Learn about Couplr as Derek Notman shares his journey in founding and running it. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Derek Notman, Founder and CEO of Couplr, to discuss how they help financial companies and advisors connect with their clients. Derek talks about the challenges financial advisors face, how Couplr helps people connect with financial advisors, why he became a financial advisor and achieve work-life balance, and how AI is impacting the customer experience.

Cody Foster is a Co-founder of Advisors Excel, a marketing organization that helps independent insurance agents and financial advisors become great business owners. Since its founding in 2005, Advisors Excel has grown from three founders to over 800 employees, making them one of the largest employers in Topeka, Kansas. Cody joined the financial services arena as the director of marketing for a corporately owned, national field marketing organization. He has been featured in Success, The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster, and Money Master the Game. In this episode… Are you a good financial advisor that wants to have your own practice? To be a good business person, what do you need to know to get started? According to Cody Foster, many financial advisors struggle to run a business. They get too focused on their practice that they forget the operational side of their businesses. With this realization, Cody started Advisors Excel to help financial advisors build a great business around their financial advisory practices. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Cody Foster, Co-founder of Advisors Excel, to discuss how financial advisors can become great business owners. Cody talks about Advisors Excel and how they operate, how they built the company's culture, the customer success stories of the company, and the impacts of AI on the customer experience.

Rick Burgess is the Founder and CEO of Forms Logic, a cloud-based system for companies looking to integrate single data entry across multiple forms. He is a veteran of the trading floor and an established entrepreneur who has started several companies, including Connect Lending. Rick works closely with clients to understand their needs and apply the right technology to solve them. In addition to running the operations, he conducts outbound sales calls, interacts with staff, and manages six offices remotely. In this episode… Filling out multiple forms can be a tedious and monotonous process. Where can you get developed systems that automate and simplify the way you fill out forms? According to Rick Burgess, many people are good at managing money but poor at managing their paperwork. After recognizing the challenges inherent in managing paperwork that requires inputting the same data among multiple forms, he founded Forms Logic. People can now learn simpler and better ways to handle their paperwork. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Rick Burgess, Founder and CEO of Forms Logic, to discuss how organizations can manage their paperwork better. Rick talks about Forms Logic and how it serves people, the business processes they specialize in, their customer success stories, and how they use AI.

Alan Giancaterino is the Co-founder of Finlocity, an online community that delivers high-quality presentations from the most innovative leaders in the industry and virtual solutions showcasing the latest financial technology. He is a seasoned sales and marketing professional with over 30 years in financial services. Alan began his career as an advisor and became the youngest recipient of the CLU, RHU, and ChFC professional designations. Before Finlocity, Alan established several FinTech firms in the retail brokerage and wealth management marketplace. In this episode… Would you like to be making well-informed financial decisions? Where can you learn about the latest and greatest solutions in the fintech world to make that a reality? According to Alan Giancaterino, many people struggle with making strategic financial choices. He co-founded Finlocity to level the playing field for everybody via online summits and in-person forums. They believe in getting out best practices and exposing emerging solutions, be they financial products or technology, to the marketplace on an equal footing. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Alan Giancaterino, Co-founder of Finlocity, to discuss how they are helping people in the FinTech industry through conferences. Alan talks about Finlocity and how it helps people, the importance of creating high-quality experiences at conferences, their transition back to in-person events, and their secret to winning more customers.

David Knoch is the CEO of Docupace, the leading digital operations technology provider that simplifies how wealth management firms both process and digitize their data. Before joining Docupace, he served as President of 1st Global, a wealth management partner to CPA and tax planning firms. He was named to the ThinkAdvisor Luminaries Class of 2021 and was awarded CEO of the Year by WealthTech Americas in April 2022. In this episode… Do you have a financial plan? How can you go through the process faster, more securely, and with fewer errors? Financial planning can be a tedious and stressful process. Many financial services professionals are frustrated by the time-consuming process of fully helping their customers transform their finances. Thanks to Docupace, which has eliminated transactional paperwork and its associated costs, financial services firms can efficiently serve their clients and increase their profits. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with David Knoch, CEO of Docupace, to discuss how financial services firms can best serve their clients. David explains why Docupace’s process, working with clients in the early days, and how AI impacts the customer experience.

Richard Walker is the CEO of Quik!, a provider of forms automation and management solutions for companies looking to maximize efficiency and productivity. He started Quik! in 2002 to help people spend less time on paperwork and more time on what they do best. Before Quik!, Richard was a business consultant with Arthur Andersen. He is also a published author of two books and a father of three boys. In this episode… Do you feel overwhelmed by the constant paperwork needed to run your company? Are you looking for a forms automation solution to handle the time and hassle of paperwork in your firm? Serial entrepreneur Richard Walker says that paperwork takes up too much valuable time. That time can be used by entrepreneurs to focus on clients and increase the efficiency of their companies. Looking for a way to solve the issue and make his life easier, Richard founded Quik!. He shares how the tool provides forms automation solutions, empowering firms in the financial industry to improve their bottom line. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Chad Franzen of Rise25 sits down with Richard Walker, CEO of Quik!, to discuss his entrepreneurial journey in the forms automation space. Richard shares the backstory of how Quik! was formed, the challenges he faced, things that differentiate Quik! from other forms automation tools, and his new podcast and target audience.

Philipp Hecker is the Co-founder and CEO of Bento Engine, a B2B Fintech SaaS company at the intersection of technology and effective wealth management advice. He is passionate about wealth management advice that goes beyond investing and actually improves the lives of his clients. Before founding Bento Engine, Philipp spent 15 years on Wall Street at Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. He is also a Procter and Gamble-trained brand manager. In this episode… There are universal moments and experiences that require financial advice. Everything from marriage to retirement to death calls for robust financial counseling. So where can you get the wealth management support you deserve to navigate such events? Philipp Hecker says that when major money-in-motion events occur, as a client-centric financial advisor, you want to be there and advise your clients through all of the implications. He noticed that it is what the advisors do for their main clients and drove him launch Bento. His idea behind Bento is to use technology to automate and scale the great work that advisors are doing to bring the magic to the woefully underserved. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Philipp Hecker, Co-founder and CEO of Bento Engine, to discuss the importance of financial advice. Philipp talks about Bento Engine and how it helps people, the catalyst that made him get into the wealth management industry, how Bento won its first customer, and how AI impacts the customer experience.

Gerry Murphy is the CEO and Partner of Arcus Partners; a forward-thinking, fintech, and service-focused company. Arcus Partners empowers wealth management companies and their clients by digitizing how they work. With over 30 years of leadership experience in the financial services industry, Gerry is an expert in global financial markets and IT. Before starting Arcus Partners, he was the President of International Operations for Fiserv and CEO of several divisions at SunGuard (now FIS). In this episode… As a wealth management firm, are you struggling to do things manually? How can you innovate and digitize your process to accelerate your growth? The financial industry is changing and growing over time in terms of technology. By leveraging it, processes become easier, minimizing the time to deliver to clients. Most companies in the industry have invested in technology but are wondering how they could get value out of their investments. Arcus Partners introduced the idea of Salesforce-as-a-hub, which enables companies' other applications to work within their Salesforce environment without requiring them to navigate away from the platform. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Gerry Murphy, CEO and Partner of Arcus Partners, to discuss how wealth management can leverage technology to win more customers. Gerry explains how Arcus Partners helps their clients, how they win customers, how artificial intelligence impacts customer experience, and shares advice for business leaders.

Adrian Johnstone is the Co-founder and President of Practifi, a performance optimization platform that transforms data into insights, action, and excellence at scale. Practifi helps wealth management firms go beyond traditional CRMs and redefine what’s possible. Adrian has over 20 years of experience in wealth management as a consultant and tech company founder, advising businesses on their technology, client experience, and regulation. He is a consistent presenter at industry events in Australia and the United States. In this episode… As a wealth management firm, how can you get the visibility and oversight you need to drive your organization forward? How do you identify the drivers of your success and amplify them? Achieving success in the wealth management industry can be challenging. For companies to thrive in this industry, they need someone who can offer a simple solution for their complex challenges to improve their client relationships and interactions. Adrian Johnstone shares how his company help firms go beyond traditional CRMs and redefine what’s possible. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Adrian Johnstone, Co-founder and President of Practifi, to discuss how wealth management firms can become market leaders in the industry. Adrian explains how Practifi they got their first customer, how AI will affect Practifi and the wealth management industry in the next two years, and advice for companies on how to win more customers.

Patrick Meyer is the Senior Manager of Solution Engineering at DocuSign, a platform that helps organizations connect and automate how they prepare, sign, act on, and manage agreements. As part of the DocuSign Agreement Cloud, DocuSign offers eSignature: the world's #1 way to sign electronically on practically any device. Patrick is also a practitioner in wealth management as an executive director of a New York-based RIA. He has an extensive background in wealth management, having spent seven years in institutional client solutions at Northern Trust Asset Management and working with some of the US' largest pensions. In this episode… Are you spending a lot of time and money managing your paperwork? Have you considered automating your processes? The business world runs on agreements, and manually handling them takes time and money. Leveraging technology to simplify, connect, and automate agreement processes helps accelerate business growth. Learn how companies can digitally prepare, sign, and manage agreements through DocuSign. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Patrick Meyer, Senior Manager and Solution Engineering at DocuSign, to discuss how DocuSign accelerates business and simplifies the life of their customers. Patrick explains why he pivoted from finance to join a tech solution company, problems companies in wealth management face when growing, and how AI is improving customer experience.

Pem Guerry is the Executive Vice President at SIGNiX, the largest provider of digital signatures in North America. He possesses a wide range of financial, marketing, and technology management experience in the private and public sectors. Previously, Pem served as Assistant Commissioner of finance and administration for Tennessee where he managed the state’s overall technology resources. Before starting his career, he played on a professional tennis tour and traveled the world. In this episode… As a business, are you looking to adopt digital signatures as a method for signing documents? Where can you go to find simple, secure, and seamless digital signatures? With the evolution of the business world, companies need effective and efficient ways of doing business. One effective solution includes e-signatures. By helping customers sign any document at any time, organizations increase their chances of success. For these reasons, Pem Guerry shares how they've created a secure, fast, and convenient cloud-based platform that allows digital signatures on any device. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Pem Guerry, Executive Vice President at SIGNiX, to discuss how to succeed through digital signatures. Pem talks about the early days of the company, factors that increase the adoption of e-signatures, the KPIs that demonstrate SIGNiX's impact on its customers, and the process of doing an online notarization.

Randy Cass is the Founder and CEO of Nest Wealth, Canada's largest independent digital wealth management platform, offering direct-to-investor and advanced business-to-business solutions. He is an experienced executive and entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Randy has started and successfully exited several VC-backed companies, including a hedge fund and a technology company. He is skilled in entrepreneurship, fintech, securities, and asset management. In this episode… Do you wish to have a better financial future? Where can you get sophisticated wealth management advice to help you succeed? According to Randy Cass, most companies fail because they lack professional wealth management input. For this reason, he started Nest Wealth to empower investors by providing them with sophisticated and personalized wealth advice for their unique objectives. He now shares how he offers direct-to-investor wealth management solutions that make it easier for thousands of Canadians to reach their financial goals. In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker sits down with Randy Cass, Founder and CEO of Nest Wealth, to discuss the impact of wealth management on the success of a business. Randy talks about his career background in wealth management, the reasons for Nest Wealth's rapid growth, their clients’ success stories, and the KPIs that demonstrate their impact.