Forum Discussion

Cass's avatar
Cass
Virtual Explorer
11 months ago

How do we challenge ourselves?

We’re a group of 3 practices operating under a single license, all are XPlan based.  We would consider ourselves ‘pretty good’ users of XPlan.  How do we learn what we don’t know?  Challenge ourselves to be better users by leveraging functionality to the maximum extent possible and delivering more value for our investment?  Is there a forum (either online or in person) we can join or tap into to meet like minded practices? 

  • roccomusumeci's avatar
    roccomusumeci
    Exploring Newcomer

    Great to hear you're eager to take your XPlan skills up a level! Before jumping into training, imagine how your practice's daily experience could change for the better with XPlan or any software, for that matter. What inefficiencies or pain points could it solve? With that future vision defined, let your goals guide targeted training and exploration of key features that'll make the biggest impact. Resist activating every bell and whistle at once! Instead, selectively implement functionality that gets you to your ideal daily experience.

    • Cass's avatar
      Cass
      Virtual Explorer

      Thanks for replying, I appreciate it.  For the most part, we have solved our pain points or are well on the way to solving them.  I might rate us an 8/10 user of XPlan yet in comparison to someone else we could actually be a 5/10 user.  We 'think' we are aware of all functionality but that's exactly what I'm looking to quantify.  

  • anne.graham's avatar
    anne.graham
    Icon for Advisely Index Top 10 rankAdvisely Index Top 10

    Hi Cass - that's a great question that we ask ourselves often. That is, we think we're pretty good at XYZ but how do we compare to others? I agree with roccomusumeci that it's helpful to know what problem you wish to solve or strategy you wish to implement then find the answer. I think this is a great platform to expand my knowledge of how to improve efficiency in our practice and just doing things better. So far the conversations have been really useful and I've learnt about things I didn't know existed from the experts - particularly the Xplan gurus. Maybe you could help by posting one or two tips that you think are handy and see what the response is like. I'd be keen to hear from your experience. 

    • Cass's avatar
      Cass
      Virtual Explorer

      Thanks Anne.  In terms of tips, we rely very heavily on the data contained within XPlan to support us in how we operate the license. There is a plethora of current and historical data available and we constantly look at how we can leverage it to answer questions or more importantly measure success for all sorts of projects.  Leveraging data accessibility and capability can add huge value at both a practice and licensee level. 

  • Welcome to Advisely, Cass – so glad you could join us on our mission to level up efficiency in advice!

    Trying to know what you don't know always seems like an impossible task! Luckily, there are ways to make the unknown known. Here are some of my recommendations:

    1. I can say that this is the premiere forum where you can connect with peers and industry experts to tap into their expertise and take away best practice tips. If you have any specific questions, I highly encourage starting more discussions on particular functionalities or workflows, or even ask one of our experts in the Ask an Expert section.
    2. Check out the blogs in the Xplan Hacks section. Here you'll find tips (and tricks) on how to leverage Xplan to deliver driving operational efficiencies, greater client engagement and value for your investment. Here are some really great ones to start – and make sure you hit 'Follow' to receive updates when a new post comes out!
    3. For more in-depth info about a specific Xplan functionality, you'll find a plethora of information in the Iress Learning Centre resources and Iress Community.
    4. Lastly, I encourage you to complete the Advisely Index. See how your practices stack against key industry benchmarks, and perhaps use the findings as the lens with which you communicate your needs with your RM.

    I hope this helps!

    • Cass's avatar
      Cass
      Virtual Explorer

      I did the Advisely Index today.  When the screen appeared saying 'Your Advisely industry benchmark result' nothing appeared.  I actually did it twice wondering if the first time was just a bug. 

      • primrose.foster's avatar
        primrose.foster
        Icon for Advisely Team rankAdvisely Team

        Cass that is odd - thanks so much for letting us know. I just tested it on my end and it worked, but I have raised this with our tech team to look into and I will get back to you as soon as I hear from them. 

         

         

  • deborah.kent's avatar
    deborah.kent
    Icon for Advisely Index Top 10 rankAdvisely Index Top 10

    Hi Cass welcome to Advisely we are with a licensee for our xplan and have been using it for many years now, xplan is a portal that has many facets to it and can do so much, I do agree with previous comments that you really need to define what it is you want from Xplan to service your clients and create efficiencies.  In the past 12 months we have been able to uncover aspects of xplan we didn't know about, we have now implemented them which has been great for our business.  This forum is great to learn from some of our expert Advisers and also Xplan support on tips and what is available, we have also been undertaking a tech audit to ensure that all the technology we pay for we are actually using you would be surprised what you pay for and don't use!! 

    • Cass's avatar
      Cass
      Virtual Explorer

      Hi Deb - yes we also did a full tech audit last year prior to a cyber upgrade.  Managed to identify some $ savings and it was a great opportunity to deep dive into how/why we were using certain modules and functionality based on advice processes. When you say you uncovered aspects of xplan you didn't know about, how did you uncover them?  

  • Cass .

    Credit to you for asking the question of how can we make the most of the solutions that we have to be a better business.

    Some great insights from many of the experts and I agree with all comments. rainier.reyes identified some great resources and an approach.

    In my business I had several team members who were passionate about X Plan and all that it can assist with to make teams lives better and also the client experience better or more engaging.  We would then prioritise accordingly,

    Might be worth going back to your team and asking them to list the 3 areas that are causing them the greatest frustrations or taking the most time from their perspective and then picking one and tap into the X plan community to understand how others are dealing with that particular issue. Within our licensee there was also an X plan power group who went into latest developments and practice insights on what was making a difference for them.

     

     

    • Cass's avatar
      Cass
      Virtual Explorer

      Thanks Darren, yes we're looking to establish an XPlan power user group to be the conduit between functionality release and adoption.