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Written by: Derrick Kinney | Success for Advisors
Susan felt overlooked and underappreciated as a financial advisor. Before I began speaking at a recent event, she told me she felt stuck and didn’t know how to stop spinning her wheels. As I listened, I knew she wasn’t alone. Countless other smart and talented advisors I meet tell me that they’re frustrated as they hit the same revenue ceiling year after year.
After years of struggling as a financial advisor myself, I discovered a solution that finally caused me to stand out as the financial advisor of choice in my local area.
Here’s the secret: When you own a problem, you own your success.
What many advisors believe is that prospects choose to work with them based on the features and benefits of their investment platform, their low-fee insurance policy, their business model, and how they charge their clients.
If you believe that is what sets you apart, you’re wrong. You’re only renting your success.
Let’s say that your shoulder is really bothering you. You visit the doctor and after listening to your concerns, she prescribes a medication she feels will offer relief. And she tells you that it has worked for many of her other patients with the same issue. So what is your next move? Do you (A): Tell her that you’re going to comparison-shop medications and see which one you think you’ll like the best. Or (B): You begin using the medication as prescribed with the expectation that you’ll begin to experience positive results. I know what I would do. And I’m betting you would begin taking the medication too.
But as an advisor, are you positioning yourself to your prospect as someone who just recommends products that you expect people will shop around for the lowest fees? Or are you a specialist who truly understands and owns the problem that your prospect has? Advisors that are selling based on their product or service features and benefits are only renting their success. But when you own a problem, you attract more high-quality prospects and you begin to build the business you’ve always wanted.
Here is my 3-Step Formula for Owning a Problem:
Step 1: Make a list of your five most recent clients. Ask yourself what problem did they come to you to help them solve? Write that down.
Step 2: Make a list of your five favorite clients. Ask yourself what initial problem did they come to you to find a solution? These are the clients who truly respect the value you add to their lives.
Step 3: Blend the two lists and look for common problems that your most recent clients and favorite clients share. This is like a highly-paid focus group telling you exactly what problem you specialize in solving—but may not have known it until now.
Armed with this recent and relevant marketing intel, you can now begin to craft a specialization statement that begins with: We specialize in… (insert the problem that you recognize you are solving for your current clients). The fact is that specialists command more respect and people expect to pay more and even wait longer to get in to see them.
Specialists own problems. In your next conversation, add in the words, “We specialize in…” You will become a lot more interesting to talk to.
For Susan and other advisors who feel like her, this is the first step to becoming the respected and sought-after financial advisor that prospects need. Because when you own a problem, you own your success. And you help more people achieve their financial goals.