Case Study: Why the Right Business Technology Partner Asks Questions First

“What Do You Actually Need?”

For more than three decades, Advanced Financial Consultants has partnered with Coordinated Business Systems because the relationship has always revolved around that one simple question.

Not, “I have the latest and greatest, and I’m going to sell it to you!”

Rather than showing up with the same recommendation for every customer, Coordinated Business Systems starts by listening. Sometimes that means spending an hour following a single piece of paper from beginning to end, asking where it slows down, how it moves through the office, and whether there's a better way to handle it. The technology comes later, and only after taking the time to understand how the office works.

After more than 30 years of working with Coordinated Business Systems, that one question has led to new technology, streamlined workflows, and countless small improvements in Advanced Financial Consultants’s workflow — but it’s also established something much harder to find: a business technology partner whose first instinct is to solve the problem, whether the answer involves one of their products or not.

A Foundation Built on Relationships

Advanced Financial Consultants has been serving clients since the 1960s. And while the company provides financial services, the heart of the organization has always been its people.

According to Operations Director Amy Lacine, the office has a rare kind of staying power. Several employees have been with the company for more than 20 years. Aunts, sisters, mothers, fathers, and sons have all worked there. Even the people who are not related often feel like they are, having shown up for each other's weddings, milestones, and big life moments over the years.

"We have a unique work environment that is professional but feels more like family and friends. That goes for our clients as well." — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial Consultants

So when it came to choosing an outside partner, the bar was higher than a product catalog or a polished sales pitch. Advanced Financial Consultants needed a business technology partner who would become part of the way they did business — not just another company that stopped by when it was time to sell something.

The Search Begins

By the late 1990s, Advanced Financial Consultants knew its paper-heavy office could be working more efficiently.

"We had a low-tech environment with a lot of paper and file cabinets. It was less efficient being so paper-oriented, but we didn't know what we were missing or what our options were." — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial Consultants

Over the years, plenty of vendors reached out, but each seemed to fall short in a different way:

• Some weren't local
• Some wanted to sell a much larger product package than the business needed
• Some didn’t offer enough, especially for a business aiming to grow over the years
• Others couldn't offer the kind of responsive, relationship-driven service Advanced Financial Consultants valued

For a company that had built its culture on fostering meaningful relationships, that last point mattered just as much as the technology itself. Advanced Financial Consultants wanted someone who would grow alongside them. Someone who would understand the business well enough to recommend the right fit today, then be there when tomorrow looked different.

Finding the Right Business Technology Partner

The first conversation with Coordinated Business Systems happened back in the 1990s. It wasn’t a particular product that stood out; it was having someone who took the time to understand the business before recommending anything at all.

And that approach held fast as the years went on. Each Coordinated Business Systems representative has taken the time to learn the business, check in regularly, and look for ways to make everyday work a little easier.

"They come in, they check on you and they ask questions like 'How's it going?' 'Do you have any issues?' 'Is there something I can help you out with?'” — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial Consultants “It's not so, 'I have this, and I want to sell it to you!' It's not like that."

Those visits rarely revolve around equipment alone. Sometimes that means sitting down for an hour to follow a single document through the office, asking where it slows down, how it could move more efficiently, and whether there’s a simpler way to handle it before ever recommending a product.

"They take their time to come out to see how the nitty gritty works." — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial Consultants

That consultative approach has given Advanced Financial Consultants confidence that recommendations are based on the way the business operates — they have nothing to do with whatever happens to be newest in the catalog.

It’s what laid the foundation for a partnership that has continued evolving over the past three decades.

One Improvement at a Time

One conversation led to another. One improvement led to the next. Over the course of 30 years, Coordinated Business Systems has helped Advanced Financial Consultants continue to refine the way work moves through the office as new needs emerge.

New opportunities have included:

• Copiers that match the way the office works, improving everyday document management
• A closer look at the phone system, making sure it continues meeting the team's needs as the business evolves
• A transition to eFaxing, reducing paper and ink costs while making documents easier to send, receive, and organize
• A roadmap for future growth, including conversations around Managed IT so Advanced Financial Consultants already knows where to turn when that need arrives

Rather than replacing technology simply because something newer existed, each recommendation has solved a specific problem or supported a new stage of growth.

"Because of partnering with Coordinated Business Systems, our office is more efficient, we have cost savings, and we know we have the most up-to-date technology." — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial "This has helped us save our clients' time and gives us peace of mind that things are done correctly."

The Family Treatment: Going Above and Beyond

Sure, the technology has made Advanced Financial Consultants more efficient over the years … but it's the moments between equipment upgrades that have truly defined the relationship.

Once, after an internal miscommunication left the Advanced Financial Consultants office without toner, the team expected to spend the day tracking some down themselves. Instead, their Coordinated representative located the toner at another business in town, picked it up personally, and delivered it to the office within the hour.

Even when Advanced Financial Consultants has needed help with something outside Coordinated's scope, that same mindset has persevered. Instead of simply pointing Advanced Financial Consultants towards a third party, the Coordinated representative has helped point the team in the right direction, staying involved long enough to connect them with people who can step in and help.

Those aren't services listed in a product catalog, and that level of genuine care isn’t something you can put a price tag on. They're simply the kinds of things people do when they're invested in someone else's success.

"Being with the company for 30+ years speaks volumes to how much we value their partnership. We know who to call, and we can trust they will deliver." — Amy Lacine, Operations Director at Advanced Financial

Looking Ahead

Advanced Financial Consultants knows its technology needs will continue to evolve, just as they have since the 1990s. The difference is that the company won't have to start over every time those needs change. They already have a business technology partner who understands how they work, where they've been, and where they're headed next.

And Advanced Financial Consultants aren’t the only ones. Check out some of Coordinated’s other client success stories:

• Case Study: How River Valley Home Care Found Dependable IT Support for Home Healthcare Agencies Through an Extraordinary Connection With Coordinated Business Systems
• Roeder Smith Jadin

Contact Coordinated Business Systems today to work with a technology partner that takes the time to understand what your business needs and stays invested in helping you succeed.