Over the last 20 years, I have worked with advisors from selling to processing to practice management, and in the last decade, it’s been in a marketing capacity. Throughout these years, there has always been one mantra that’s been consistently repeated. Specialize, and focus on our ideal client. The riches are in the niches.
It’s understandable at the beginning of your advisory career that you’ll talk to anyone with a pulse. (Well, at least I did. 😀)
As your career progresses, you start identifying your ideal clients and notice a change in your book. You enjoy spending time with these clients. You start identifying patterns with these clients. You know that you can make an impact on their finances, investments and insurance. You also notice that they start making up the bulk of your revenue. Congratulations, you have found your ideal client.
Why do we encourage advisors to identify a niche? This is because when you choose a niche, you can have a clear message.
Your message should include:
- What are the problems they face?
- How do the problems make them feel?
- What solutions do you provide?
- Why are you the best person to help them?
Let’s use the example of individuals 5-10 years from retirement.
What are the problems they face?
- I don’t know if I have enough to retire. Will I outlive my retirement?
- Should I take the commuted value of my pension plan?
- When should I start taking CPP?
- What about health insurance in retirement?
- I want to give money to my kids while I’m alive.
- I don’t want to downsize my home, but if I don’t, I might not have enough to retire.
- Can I retire even if I have debt?
- What about OAS clawback?
- What about inflation, and how will it affect my retirement plans?
How do these problems make them feel?
The reason why it’s important to understand how your client feels is because we act on emotion.
- There’s so much noise, I feel overwhelmed.
- I’m frustrated because I don’t have a clear plan.
- I’m anxious because I don’t even know what questions to ask.
- I’m excited about retiring, but I want to ensure everything is ready.
What solutions do you provide?
- Retirement planning- RRSP, TFSA, a non-registered investment
- Health insurance
- Critical illness insurance
- Life insurance
- Financial planning
- Portfolio management
Why are you the best person to help them?
- Is it because you have helped hundreds of people retire with confidence?
- Your years of experience
- Often you don’t want to tell prospects how great you are, so let your clients do the talking- get testimonials.
- Do you have designations?
- Do you have a personal story that your client can relate to?
Knowing who your ideal is will not only help you clarify your message, but it will also help you focus your energy on getting qualified prospects.
If you haven’t yet identified an ideal client, you can even try to work backwards, meaning identify the main services you provide and then go from there. When it comes to marketing:
- On your website, focus on the ideal client on your home page. (You can use the other landing pages on non-ideal clients if you feel obligated to do so.)
- Use the problems and solutions for your email newsletter and social media.
Book a meeting with us and see how we can grow your business today.