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Whenever I speak with advisors, I always ask, “How is your firm different from other independent firms?” Despite the advisors’ insistence that their firms are unique, I hear the same general answers:
We truly care about our clients.
We have great service.
We actually do financial planning (unlike firms that just say they do it).
We follow through on what we say we are going to do.
We act in the best interest of our clients.
While these all may be true and may help clients perceive you as different from other advisors once they are in a working relationship with you, these answers won’t help prospects understand how you are different from the other advisors they are interviewing. Every prospect is going to assume that you care, provide good service, do what you say you are going to do and are ethical. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be talking to you in the first place.
So, how do you differentiate yourself from your competition? The answer is not just in your marketing, which simply conveys the message of how you are different.
You differentiate yourself by drawing on all areas of your business, including your vision, service model, ideal client profile, investment philosophy, client service process and organizational structure.
Below are three steps to help you identify these unique factors.
To define your differentiators, start by asking – and answering – the right questions. Once you answer the following questions, you will know what separates your advisory firm from others:
What niche markets do you specialize in (e.g., dentists, business owners)?
Which areas of expertise or life stage do you specialize in (e.g., retirement income distribution, young families)?
What services do you offer that are unique and that differentiate you from an average financial
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advisory firm?
How is your fee structure different from that of other firms?
How is your investment philosophy different from that of other advisory firms?
What is the size and structure of your business (e.g., national firm, team, solo practice)?
What unique or specialized education or designations does your staff hold?
How is your service model different from that of other firms (e.g. “We have a service model that grows as a person’s career grows, from their first job to retirement”)?
What is your reputation in the community?
How might you describe your firm culture (e.g., how do clients feel when they leave your office)?
What results do you achieve for your clients that are different from that of other firms?
After you have answered all of these questions, ask yourself, “How does the client benefit?” If the client doesn’t benefit, then it doesn’t matter if it makes you different.
Whittle the answers down to the ones that make you stand out the most. If your firm is different from other firms in only one or two ways, that’s perfectly fine. You’re better off being narrow and focused than too broad.
While it is good to understand all the ways your firm is different, you are going to be most effective in your messaging if you can focus on one overall theme.
Now that you’ve chosen your differentiators, use them to craft a short, cohesive statement. Here are two examples:
While many financial planning firms are a jack of all trades, we focus on one thing: retirement income distribution strategies. That means we only work with people who are already retired and want to maximize their income from their retirement accounts, pension plans, Social
Security and other investment vehicles they may have. Because we focus on just that one thing, we have the expertise in all the possible strategies that can help our clients make the most out of their retirement income.
We are conservative investment managers. The types of clients who hire us are more concerned with protecting and preserving the money they have saved all these years than with beating the market in bullish years. We aren’t exciting, and that’s exactly what our clients like about us. They know our number one priority is protecting their money.
You don’t have to be all that different from other firms in the industry to differentiate yourself to a prospect or client. But you have to understand the one thing that makes you different and
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communicate that message over and over again. Only when you get this message out and are attracting clients will you be able to prove how you are different through your service and relationships, cementing those relationships in the long run.
Kaleido Inc. is a practice growth agency helping financial advisory firms break through growth barriers to build brilliant businesses. For more information, visit www.kaleido.net
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