In the crowded market of financial advisory services, being different, not better, is the key to success. Develop a clear point of distinction to help your customers understand and remember why they should work with you.
Focus your branding on your clients, not yourself
Look at your competition’s marketing and I bet you’ll see a lot of similarities. Terms like “fiduciary,” “holistic planning,” customized portfolios,” etc. are often very overused.
The fact is that your best clients work with you because you focus on their needs, not your brand or service platform. To really differentiate yourself, make your potential customers understand that they are the focus of your brand.
How to introduce yourself to prospects
An initial meeting with a prospect should be simple, but it’s sometimes a difficult time for advisors. Nerves can cause you to want to fill in silences or gaps with facts and figures, or launch into a one-sided sales pitch.
You actually don’t want to go into “sales mode” here—or ever, really. Instead of talking about your practice, start by getting the prospect to talk about themselves, and then concentrate on listening to what they say.
Here are some sample questions to get you started learning more about your potential clients:
- What do you do for a living?
- How did you end up there?
- Tell me about your family.
- What are you passionate about?
- What’s your biggest pain point?
At some point, the prospect will probably ask about you. This is what you are looking for!
How to respond to that question “about you”
Develop a simple way to respond to the question, “What do you do?” and structure it like this:
“I work with _______and help them_______ which allows them to ___________.”
The best example I’ve ever heard of this answer came in a conversation with business development coach, Duncan MacPherson with Pareto Systems, when he was talking about helping an advisor develop his message or “elevator speech.” He said:
“I work with business owners and help them develop a process that allows them to become work optional.”
Now that is a powerful message that doesn’t sound like your competition, but instead puts all the focus on your client!
To learn about more ways that Quantum can help you stand out from your competition, call me at 800.440.1088.
Taylor Brown received his finance degree from the University of Colorado Boulder and was recruited out of college to Northwestern Mutual before joining Jackson National. He spent several years at Transamerica and another leading firm before transitioning to Quantum.
