Businesses that fail to quickly and clearly articulate their uniqueness and value have failed at the most simple and critical business requirements—defining why you. This would appear to be the simplest of tasks, but it’s not. And for many financial advisors, it’s holding them back.
You’ve likely seen the marketing of the advisors who’ve nailed this. Their marketing is simple, compelling, and direct. You can quickly see who they work best with and how they prefer to engage. And if you experience their marketing and expertise, it likely has depth and value for their ideal audience.
So how do advisors overcome this critical gap in their businesses?
Start with a framework for developing and sharing your value proposition.
INTRIGUING TITLE/FOCUS
If you start a conversation with an intriguing statement, that conversation is more likely to carry on and with a greater degree of openness.
An intriguing statement about how you label yourself is a great start. It should, if nothing else, make a statement that you are interested in being interesting. (But if you get too cute with your title, it could go the other way too.)
You might actually choose to complete this section last, since answering the following sections could help you arrive at the right title.
Some simple title examples:
- FINANCIAL CLARITY ADVISOR
- WEALTH PURPOSE ADVISOR
- WEALTH COACH
- FINANCIAL BEHAVIORIST (borderline cheeky!)
- WEALTH EFFICIENCY STRATEGIST
COMPLETE THIS STATEMENT:
Hi, I’m a <title/focus statement>.
INTRIGUING “WHY US” STATEMENT
What is it about what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it that is most compelling?
Ask yourself these questions:
- What are your core strengths?
- What do you do best? Do you do it better than most of your peers?
- Who is your ideal audience? The more specific and clear, the better.
- What does your ideal audience care about?
- What are the key benefits you provide that they care deeply about achieving?
Next, give your audience a look at why they should consider choosing you. The idea here is to give them enough to want to continue a conversation with an open mind.
COMPLETE THIS STATEMENT:
I help with by/through <core/special strength>.
ENEMY STATEMENT
It’s good to know who your enemy is. More specifically, it’s important to know who you don’t want to be. In what way do you want to be different or better than your most clear competition? Be careful with this phrase though; you don’t want to come across as negative or advisor bashing. Stick to the facts and your key point of differentiation or value.
COMPLETE THIS STATEMENT:
Most other <enemy statement>. I take a different approach.
“I SOLVE FOR” STATEMENT
It’s always important to attach emotional hot buttons to your value proposition. Your ideal audience will have several. Identify the most pressing and perhaps the lesser recognized ones and think of how to leverage those in your value statement.
COMPLETE THIS STATEMENT:
Have you ever experienced <problem>? I solve this by <solution> so you can <ideal outcome>.
“NEXT STEPS” STATEMENT
This section is already scripted for you. You can shorten or modify it as it suits you, but the key point here are to separate yourself from others by how you prove your expertise and value. Most advisors do not have a podcast, a blog, or a whitepaper. It’s critical that you work to complete these items because they are the part of your value proposition that PROVES you are the real deal.
COMPLETE THIS STATEMENT:
Before I ever work with anyone, I ask them to visit my website, read my blog posts, download my whitepaper, <“name”> and listen to my podcast, <“name”>. Then and only then can people truly appreciate what I’m about, how much I understand them and their needs, and most importantly, decide whether we’d work well together, both personally and professionally.
THE FORMULA:
| INTRIGUING TITLE/FOCUS | |
| What do you do? | Hi, I’m a <intriguing title/focus>. |
| INTRIGUING “WHY US” STATEMENT | |
| Wait…what? | I help with <ideal audience> with <key benefit> by/through <core/special strength>. |
| ENEMY STATEMENT | |
| Thanks interesting. | Most other <competitor> <whatever you don’t want to be>. I take a different approach. |
| “I SOLVE FOR” STATEMENT | |
| So, how do you do that? | Have you ever experienced <list 2-3 key hot buttons>?
I solve this by <list 2-3 key/unique strengths> so you <achieve these 1-2 compelling outcomes>. |
| “NEXT STEPS” STATEMENT | |
| So, how do I learn more? | Before I ever work with anyone, I ask them to visit my website, read my blog posts, download my whitepaper, <“name”>, and listen to my podcast, <“name”>. Then and only then can people truly appreciate what I’m about, how much I understand them and their needs, and most importantly, decide whether we’d work well together, both personally and professionally. |
The formula works best when:
- Ideal Audience is as niche as possible and their needs are clear and spot on.
- Key Benefit resonates with Ideal Audience and is obvious to them.
- Core Strength is positioned as different, better, and most importantly, relevant.
- Whatever You Don’t Want To Be is seen as a negative to your ideal audience and they‘ve likely experienced it.
- Hot Buttons are brief, powerful, and believable.
- Unique strengths yield compelling outcomes. FYI, “peace of mind” is not compelling.
- Advisors have brand depth in the form of blog, podcast, and whitepapers to refer to in this. It really sets the table when you sound and look professional. A podcast is the best brand depth option here because they get people talking and listening.
