Stronger Solo Practice Foundations: Silverman + Associates Wealth Management, LLC’s Story
Financial planning decisions can often be challenging to navigate. With this understanding, Mark Silverman, CFP® has established a wealth management firm where clients can feel comfortable speaking openly and authentically.
“The firm’s personality is a unique blend of professional, laid back, casual and fun,” explains Mark Silverman, founder at Silverman + Associates Wealth Management. “It’s not your typical bank or brokerage firm.”
It’s this brand that has enabled Silverman to build a business that makes him proud. One of his goals is to keep the company small, so that he can deliver highly personalized attention and focus to his clients.
“We’re independent,” he says. “It’s a different experience here. I never want the firm to become so big that I don’t personally know all of our clients. I enjoy working with all of them and helping them achieve their life goals.”
With this vision, Silverman has built up a reputation for himself and the caliber of his advisory services. Here’s a look behind the scenes of his entrepreneurial journey — and how CircleBlack fits into that picture.
Introducing Silverman + Associates Wealth Management, LLC
Silverman started Tucson-based Silverman + Associates Wealth Management, LLC after a long career on the brokerage and bank sides of the business.
Following roles at prestigious firms such as Merrill Lynch and Harris Bank, he was ready for a new, entrepreneurial direction.
He established Silverman + Associates Wealth Management, LLC in 2008 after discovering his passion for working with clients and helping everyday people achieve their financial goals.
With his attention devoted to many important priorities, he relies on technology to drive efficiencies for his advisory firm and achieve balance in his life, overall.
Why CircleBlack?
Silverman considered multiple solutions before choosing CircleBlack. In addition to evaluating CircleBlack, Silverman considered other solutions including Orion and Black Diamond.
To Silverman, CircleBlack was the solution that was best in alignment with his firm’s core investing approach.
“We’ve implemented a methodology from Money Quotient, which provides tools for analyzing the emotional side of money,” says SIlverman. “We’re not just using data and building financial plans — we’re looking at everyone holistically. The tools give me a feel for how they want their life to look.”
Ultimately, this approach to client relationship management is what created the context for Silverman to implement CircleBlack.
“I’m always looking for better ways of doing things,” Silverman says. “When my firm started growing, I began looking at solutions to improve efficiencies in different areas of the business. I found CircleBlack when I was looking for billing solutions, specifically.”
“I thought that CircleBlack looked the best and had the exact features that I needed,” Silverman explains.
The software has become a core part of his business.
Strategic Workflows
CircleBlack enables Silverman to run an efficient operation and ensure that he is following through on his promises to his clients. Here’s how these moving parts fit together.
Keeping Clients Aligned
With CircleBlack, Silverman is able to have better conversations with his clients. In particular, Silverman uses a client review feature in order to get instant answers to questions during phone and in-person meetings.
“I can quickly run through reports to get answers to important questions,” says Silverman. “I’ll check and see where things are at and how things are allocated. Instead of me having to try to create screenshots, I can generate professional reports with our own branding.”
For Silverman’s clients, CircleBlack functions as a source of truth that links various data sources into an integrated view.
“When clients have a financial planning question, they can just give me a call,” he says. “I can provide quick answers and solutions.”
Reducing Admin Time
In addition to providing better support to clients, Silverman uses CircleBlack to simplify his firm’s billing.
“I don’t know how I would do billing without CircleBlack,” says Silverman. “It would be too much to do manually. It would be impossible to do my job and to do billing as well.”
By reducing admin time, Silverman can focus on what makes him most passionate as an entrepreneur.
Building the Right Technology Stack
CircleBlack fits into a bigger picture technology stack for Silverman + Associates Wealth Management, LLC. They use additional solutions, like Redtail for a CRM and Riskalyze for risk tolerance, that integrate seamlessly within the CircleBlack platform
“We use a lot of technology and different integrations,” says Silverman. “Everything works together. They don’t all connect to each other, but they all connect to something that will connect to something else.”
Silverman measures success based on the value that the technology is delivering.
“I’m always looking for better ways of doing things,” he says. “My clients are paying me to find a better solution.”
Future Plans
Silverman’s priority, for the immediate future, is to provide his clients with a sense of stability given the greater market.
“It’s about helping clients stay the course and guiding them to make their best decisions,” he says.
Learn more about CircleBlack
CircleBlack is an all in one management platform for the wealth management industry. You can think of it as an operational dashboard to better connect financial advisors and their clients around a shared perspective. The outcome is better collaboration.
To learn how our software can help you build, manage, and grow your wealth management practice, get in touch.
Disclosures
This material has been prepared for educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, investment, accounting, legal, or tax advice.