Rather than pouring all your energy into searching for any and all new clients, you should be working out how to attract your ‘ ideal clients ’. If you agree to work with everyone who comes your way, your business will not continue to be sustainable.Here are five reasons why it will pay you to drill down to your target market and decide only to work with these types of people.
Even though traditional Advisor training focuses far too much on technical information & product knowledge and far too little on people skills, it is the mastery of soft skills that will carry you to the next level. Get the
mp3 compilation, Mastering Client Relationships: What Elite Advisors Do, and start building strong relationships with your ideal clients.
1. You can’t be ‘all things’ to ‘all people’
Creating a niche for yourself will help you stand out in a crowded market. To investors financial advisors all look and sound the same. By
differentiating your offering, you will attract people who are looking for your particular service.To help you identify your target market ask yourself what problems are you great at solving. Are you adept at creating retirement plans? Does this type of work give you an especial sense of achievement? Work out your strengths and develop an ideal client profile around this. If you try to be all things to all people, you will dilute your offering and get lost in the crowd.Related:
Articulating Your Value to Prospects and ClientsRelated:
How to Use Your Clients as Your Sales Force 2. You’ll become the ‘go to’ advisor in a niche
By only advising a select group of people who fit your ideal client profile, you will, over time, become an expert in this niche. Maybe you’ll become the ‘go to’ advisor for retirees in a specific geographical area, or the advisor preferred by doctors or dentists. Once you’ve built a reputation in this area clients will naturally come your way, thereby ensuring your sales funnel is consistently full.
3. Work will become more enjoyable
Not everybody will like you. You don’t need to take this personally, it’s not your fault. There will be all kinds of people you dislike working with too.Once you’ve decided to work only with people who fit your ideal client profile, i.e. those you like working with, your job will become more enjoyable. Ask yourself which of your clients do you find uplifting to work with and why?If you can pinpoint the aspects shared by these clients, and create a target market based on these, you’ll find you’ll be working with people who appreciate you, thereby increasing your productivity.A shared trait among successful Financial Advisors is love for this business. To learn more about it and 6 other traits, watch the
Webinar Replay, The 7 Essential Traits of Successful Financial Advisors.
4. You’ll be able to build more effective marketing campaigns
Specializing will narrow your pool of prospects – but it will enable you to create a compelling case as to why specific people should work with you. By deciding only to work with people in your niche you can perfect your marketing campaigns to suit these prospects, greatly increasing your chances of converting them into clients.Once you’ve developed your ideal client profile, work with Compliance to create a ‘
marketing resume’ to hand out to likely prospects. This will help to break the ice and pique their interest – something a generic marketing handout is unlikely to do – because they will be able to directly relate to you and your proposal.
5. You can let go of clients you don’t enjoy working with
By only focusing on working with the right number and type of clients you will build a more profitable business. Once you’ve created your ideal client profile you can let go of clients who don’t fit this profile without feeling any remorse.This will rid you of clients whose demands are unreasonable or who take up too much of your time. You’re running a ‘for profit’ business, and by
letting go of clients who don’t fit your ideal profile your business will remain healthy going forward.If you need help figuring out why you are paid what you’re paid and how to charge what you’re worth, watch the
Webinar Replay, How to Create Value with Your Clients.There’s no such thing as a universally loved product or service. To get ahead in this industry you need to speak the same language as the people who hire you. You need to be a perfect fit when it comes to their needs, wants and goals. By determining your ‘ideal client’ profile you are ensuring that you can deliver to these selected clients a service that goes above and beyond, whilst becoming highly referable to others of a similar ilk.
