Can you introduce yourself?
I’m Caroline Brument, co-managing partner, responsible for administrative and functional matters. Along with my husband, Julien Brument, we founded our company in May 2020. Initially, we ran a firm specializing in wealth management. The COVID-19 period was a turning point, leading us to reconsider our activity. This is when the idea of forming "Les Associés" came about—a national network of independent wealth management firms and brokers. Today, we have over 100 members across France.
Our mission is to simplify their operations by offering solutions to business challenges, such as compliance and negotiations with partners. While groups like ours have existed in our sector for 30 years, our approach innovates by helping members navigate a complex regulatory environment. Since COVID, administrative and regulatory challenges have multiplied, especially for independents. We are here to support them through this transition.
What business challenge were you trying to solve?
Our initial challenge was the complexity of compensation protocols between insurers, brokers, and advisors.
Each insurer has its own way of calculating commissions, overcommissions, commission reversals, etc. As a result, many players operate blindly and only discover their remuneration at the end of the month when the insurers pay them. Not only are they unable to manage it, but they can’t detect possible errors.
We wanted to offer our network members a commission calculation tool that would allow them to instantly calculate their future commissions and track them over time. Once the commissions were calculated, we also aimed to improve invoice management within our network. Our goal was to simplify invoice generation, make them available online, and validate them before payment.
How were you addressing this problem before using RowShare?
Initially, we processed commissions in an Excel spreadsheet. But it wasn’t suited to all our use cases. We had to redo calculations manually, and the results weren’t always reliable. We would then send a copy of this Excel file to each member, without knowing if they’d use it or whether it could be easily updated.
As for invoicing, we created each invoice manually, one by one, then followed up with our members to get their approval. It was time-consuming.
What other solutions did you consider?
We had two key experiences.
Before founding Les Associés, our firm invested in the development of a custom CRM built by a specialized company. This CRM, which included a commission calculation system, cost us over €40,000. Even after several months, the system never worked satisfactorily. Moreover, any modification or correction cost thousands of euros. We quickly decided to abandon this solution.
After that, we explored the market, looking for a tool specifically designed to calculate commissions for brokers.
During this search, we considered another solution that didn’t fully meet our needs, and then we discovered RowShare, which ended up fulfilling our requirements.
Why did you choose RowShare?
There was really no economically viable alternative. It was the only affordable solution that could meet our expectations. To be honest, at first, we doubted RowShare could deliver on time and within such a reasonable budget.
How was the implementation process?
The first table was implemented by the RowShare team because it was based on a complex process.
How could we design a formula that calculates commissions for each product from each of our insurer partners and tracks changes in their remuneration protocols?
We needed an expert to design the solution and describe all our partners’ protocols. You proposed a solution that made us autonomous in keeping the catalog of products up to date. The calculation formula adapts automatically!
It went live fairly quickly, in just a few weeks. We were pleasantly surprised by the efficiency. We needed someone who knew our business and understood the data and commission mechanisms of different insurers.
Later, we began doing things ourselves, creating more tables independently. Then, 18 months later, we asked the RowShare team for help again with more complex processes, such as setting up workflows and creating reports, as well as learning to use the more advanced features.
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RowShare has simplified our relationship with our members by solving two problems at once: commission calculation and invoice management.
We’ve gained peace of mind and reliability. The network’s member firms have real-time visibility into their commissions, from simulation to payment.
Who are the RowShare users in your company?
Our entire team, but most importantly, the 110+ members of our Les Associés network. These are autonomous users, with varying levels of IT skills.
All brokers use RowShare to different extents. Since they aren’t employees, we don’t impose anything. They log in at least once a month to validate their invoices, but for some, it’s their daily tool.
What has RowShare brought you?
RowShare helps us in three ways: saving time, making our data more reliable, and differentiating from our competition.
Once we started using RowShare, we realized it offered far more features. The tool proved so versatile that we decided to close our website's member area and replace it with RowShare, which became our extranet.
We also use it for storing and managing our key content and information (videos, image libraries, etc.), for automatically generating contracts, and for tracking our network members.
What are the key features of RowShare that make your team’s daily work easier?
Have you ever contacted RowShare support? What do you think?
Yes, often. The service is fast and high-quality: a 5-star service!
Collaborative, simple and reliable.
Rowshare helps you gather and analyze data in an easy and confidential way.
