• December 5, 2023
 CTT Group’s Software Innovation Process: Develop, Test & Implement

CTT Group’s Software Innovation Process: Develop, Test & Implement

When launching any new product or service, the main factor in determining its success is always the same: is there a need? The curse of the innovator is to assume every new idea is going to be a winner. No matter how great an idea seems, it will fall at the first hurdle if it doesn’t solve a problem or fulfil a need for the customer.

At CTT Group, we know this. The group was born from listening to the needs of our clients, who wanted to receive professional financial and estate planning advice under one roof. We delivered, and 20 years on, CTT is celebrating two decades of industry-leading success, thanks to our client-focused innovations and software solutions.

“I don’t think you can be successful in today’s era unless the client is at the forefront of everything you do,” asserts CTT Director, Clive Ponder. “One of the reasons for our success is that both Bob [Massey fellow CTT Director] and myself understand clients, we know what clients want. Also, we understand advisers well having spent much of our time in their shoes.”

CTT Solutions

CTT Group may have filled a gap in the consumer market with its unique blend of financial and estate planning advice. Our drive to innovate and improve client services hasn’t stopped there. Making life easier for professionals within the industry has led us to develop a wide range of ground-breaking software solutions, inspired by the everyday problems faced by our professional advisers.

In 2015, we launched Legacy, our innovative will-writing software programme. Legacy combines legal document drafting with a CRM platform to smooth tricky processes and reduce time-consuming admin for our professional advisers, so they’re free to focus on providing the best possible service for their clients.

“It does all the things advisers don’t want to do,” says Clive. “I don’t want to go back and send an email or an invoice. I don’t want to go home and send a report out. So, all those things, the bits we don’t like, we just put in the software.”

But Legacy was only the beginning. True to our ethos of development and improvement, the platform has continued to evolve over the last eight years in response to client demand and feedback.

“It had to grow, and a lot of the things Legacy does now maybe aren’t what it initially set out to do,” says Director, Bob Massey, “but they’re all things that have become necessary for our advisors and it’s been a great success.”

“I didn’t know we were going to develop it, then we thought ‘we’ll do a bit of this, and we’ll do a bit of that’, then all of a sudden, we’re in full-blown software development!” adds Clive. “That’s probably where I spend most of my life now, but I understand what advisers want.”

Recent developments

One of Legacy’s most recent updates is its new Messaging feature, which allows users to store, access, and share important conversations and client information in one convenient place, making for a speedier and more efficient workflow when processing client orders.

“The way that Legacy works, users input client details and it produces documents, but if you’re looking for information around that process within your communications, you have to check through multiple emails, telephone conversations, and online chats. It can be quite frustrating searching all those different areas to find what you need,” explains Mickey Nagra, CTT’s Systems and Software Manager and the man behind Legacy’s development.

“The idea behind the messaging feature was to solve this issue by creating a software file where users can get all their correspondence in one location. We’ve taken the good parts of email and added many improvements,” he says.

Testing and feedback

The process of developing CTT’s innovative digital solutions is as client-focused as the products themselves. Continual communication with our end users is key to devising and fine-tuning our successful software.

We conduct thorough testing of all new digital products and updates with a team of advisers, to ensure they meet with (or exceed!) client expectation in terms of both functionality and usability.

Prior to the recent release of Legacy’s Messaging feature, multiple advisers and groups spent several months using it in everyday situations. This allowed us to gain valuable, real-life user insights on the convenience and accessibility of features such as searching correspondence history within threads, so our IT development team could make the necessary adjustments and improvements.

In addition to advisor testing and in line with Legacy’s existing software, which has been successfully penetration-tested, all new software and updates are also independently tested to ensure they’re secure prior to launch.

Continuous improvement

All our new software programmes and updates go through several rounds of testing, feedback, and improvement before the final version is released to our wider adviser community.

But the quest for perfection doesn’t end there! As with all CTT offerings, we welcome and encourage feedback from our professional advisers, so we can continue to ensure all our products and services meet their ever-changing needs – and those of their clients.

“With all we’ve achieved with our software solutions, it would be easy for us to rest on our laurels – but that isn’t the nature of CTT!” says Clive. ”We’re committed to coming up with new ideas and developing new technologies to take the industry and our client services to the next level. And we’ll continue to do just that.”

Find out more about CTT’s 20 years of innovation here.

This article was submitted to be published by CTT Group as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Wills and Probate. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Wills and Probate.

CTT Group

http://www.countrywidegroup.co.uk/

  CTT Group is an established Legal Services firm providing multi-disciplinary support for the UK’s Professional Adviser community. Their expertise spans multiple areas of Law, Estate Planning, Finance and Tax matters. CTT Group is recognised as a leading figure in the industry due to their wealth of experience and technical knowledge in the legal and financial sectors. CTT Group is made up of six areas: CTT Professional Services: A specialised knowledge hub designed for the Professional Adviser community and CTT Group members. The Professional Services team will provide you with a bespoke training and support package to suit any business. This includes the New entrants team, Training, Estate Planning Team, Professional Indemnity Insurance Service & the Resource Hub. CTT Tax and Trust: a premium support system for the Professional Adviser community, providing professional executor and Trustee services. They specialise in Estate Planning, Tax and Trust matters and have a wealth of knowledge and experience in delivering the right solutions for your clients. CTT Legacy Software: Ground-breaking legal software that will change how you work. Legacy was explicitly designed with you and your business in mind, so it will seamlessly align with your needs. It can also be tailored to suit your business needs, giving you complete control over your client journey. CTT Legal: Providing innovative and modern solutions to even the most complex legal problems. CTT Legal offer comprehensive Legal advice alongside CTT Law; an SRA-regulated law firm and strategic partner of CTT Group. This includes Residential and Commercial Conveyancing, Litigation, Document production, Client care, Professional Executor & Professional Executor. CTT Accountancy: A newly established Accountancy firm that will work in partnership with you and your business. CTT Accountancy is a practice of highly skilled and experienced accountants with expertise in trust matters, uniquely positioned to offer your clients a range of accounting services, whatever their needs. CTT Private Client: Offering individual professional advice to high-net-worth individuals with various financial situations. Their specialist team have a wealth of knowledge and will work with you to understand your requirements and provide bespoke advice. Click here for more information: https://ctt-group.co.uk/ Contact: CTT Group Tel: 01926 514 390 Email: enquiries@ctt-group.co.uk Address: CTT Group, Gables House 62 Kenilworth road Leamington Spa CV32 6JX