Franklin Monroe Administrative Services, A behind-the-scenes partner for high-net-worth individuals focused on management of financial and legal needs.
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Franklin Monroe handles back office operations, tax matters, and more for hundreds of celebrities (athletes, movie stars, musicians, etc.) and dozens of ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs and business folks. They're not a bank, a legal firm, or an accounting firm, but they sit at the nexus of all of these services (and more). You've probably never heard of Franklin Monroe — neither had we. Their under the radar operations are by design, intended to protect the anonymity of their clients.
The Challenge
Create a bespoke platform to move all communications off email, align internal processes, maintain accountability, and optimize efficiency in operations.
When we began working with FM, their internal communications and processes were handled via email. Given the hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of transaction requests handled daily by this small but growing team, email was quickly becoming a bottleneck in their operations leading to missed requests and unhappy clients.
Apollo 21 was tasked with evaluating internal processes and designing software that would securely store sensitive client data while moving transactions from email to a structured system. We focused on streamlining communications, approvals, and task assignments while maintaining a detailed audit trail of every action.
The Plan
Evaluate the core workflows at FM and build technology focused on moving those processes from email into a secure, trackable management platform.
The Apollo 21 team worked closely with Franklin Monroe through a Discovery process to understand and document the current processes & workflows and to identify the key pain points that led to missed communications and opportunities. Through this Discovery phase, we identified three key processes that accounted for the majority of internal needs.
Once identified, we followed a crawl → walk → run strategy (a core principle at Apollo 21) that focused on rolling out solutions to each process over time. Built on our Mission Control platform, these workflows would help FM manage the process from request to approval to action while maintaining a detailed audit trail at every step.
The Solution
Create an instance of Mission Control* focused on workflow management and automation to streamline internal processes at FM.
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Using the Mission Control platform as a foundation, Apollo 21 built a workflow management system for FM that put their unique process at the forefront, ensuring that requests are controlled at every step and remain consistent based on the constraints of the system. The experience centers around the dashboard, which functions kanban-style, displaying transactions as they move from request to approval to closure.
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In addition, Mission Control acts as a data store, managing client records, legal entities, and bank account information, all stored securely to HIPAA-level compliance standards. These records can be referenced in transactions to auto-populate the request data, and new records can be added during the request creation process. Access to any given client or data is managed via role-based access on a user-by-user and client-by-client basis. Security and accountability are of the utmost importance when dealing with clients of this caliber. Mission Control logs every action taken within the system at both the global and transaction levels. Admins have access to review these logs at any time to aid in answering client concerns or tracking mistakes that may occur as hundreds to thousands of transactions flow through the system, daily.
The Results
Mission Control is being rolled out across Franklin Monroe on a client-by-client basis with resoundingly positive feedback. Those using the platform have noted a dramatic decrease in daily email communications as well as a clear, controlled workflow that makes day-to-day activities significantly easier to manage, track, and execute on.
In Their Own Words
"Communication from Apollo 21 is always top notch. We appreciate their focus on problem solving and their willingness to offer creative solutions to our complex problems. I would not hesitate to work with A21 again, and I would enthusiastically recommend them to someone with similar needs to Franklin Monroe."
