If you feel like you’re in a crowded space as a financial advisor, it’s because you are. There are over 300,000 advisors in this country (including seven in my office building alone).
The financial services industry is getting more and more competitive every single year. Now more than ever, you need to work hard to differentiate yourself so you don’t sound like every other advisor on the block.
But for many financial advisors, articulating what you do differently can be really difficult.
I recently watched a video with Michael Kitces where he told a story about a time he attended a conference and sat on a panel with other advisors from his area. When asked what made each of them different, the first two advisors gave similar stories: they help people with financial planning problems and offer investment strategies.
When it was Michael’s time to give his spiel, he got more specific. He talked about how he helps his clients:
- Create an income plan for retirement
- Navigate the best time to file for Social Security
- Consolidate and create ad distribution plan for retirement accounts
- Choose a day to retire, and retirement income
At the end of the conference, Michael had several people come up to him asking for a business card and more information about what he does. The other two guys didn’t.
There are two key lessons financial advisors can learn from Michael’s story:
- In order to truly stand out, you need to talk about your clients and the biggest problem you solve for them. They don’t care about what your firm does at an aggregate level or how many assets under management you have. They want to know what you can do for them.
- Don’t be afraid to alienate someone. You don’t need to appeal to 100% of the people you come in contact with. If you do this, you’ll blend in with the masses and no one will reach out to you. But if you alienate 90% of the people and drive the other 10% toward you, that’s a success.
Watch this four-minute video to learn more about how the best financial advisors differentiate themselves:
Need help crafting a marketing message that attracts “the 10%” and makes you stand out from the crowd? Schedule a free strategy session with me now. Together, we’ll talk about who you serve, what you do, and how you can differentiate yourself.