Communicate your unique value to clients

In The Legal Marketing Blog this week (which I follow, because financial professionals can learn a lot from other professional services firms), Tom Kane asks a great question, inspired by John Janstch: are you your own competition?   The thesis here, applied to our business, is that every financial advisory practice is unique in some way—but that clients don't perceive the subtle differences between advisors and their practices, and therefore view your business as basically the same as everyone else's.   So in fact, you're not really competing so much against other advisors as you are against your own inability to communicate your unique value.

This rings true.  Sure, you may offer the same products or money managers as some other advisors, but essentially, you and your team ARE your business, and since you're all unique individuals, your business is by definition unique as well.  The more you can get that uniqueness across to your clients and prospects, the more you will stand out from all the advisors who don't make a similar effort to differentiate themselves.

Tom writes:

The way to beat the competition is to set yourself apart. Make your firm different—in how it provides services, returns telephone calls, having an identifiable niche, or otherwise doing something differently to stand out from other law firms.

Just replace the law lingo with appropriate terms and this advice applies perfectly to our industry too. 

Remember, though, that it isn't enough to do things differently. If you serve specific niches, make sure to talk about it, even with clients in different niches.  If you pride yourself on a top-notch service strategy, you can allude to it in your client reviews ("Because we are committed to outstanding communication with our clients, our policy has been to contact you an average of once every two weeks.  But we want to make sure we're sensitive to your needs.  Is twice-a-month contact too frequent for you?")

Value is in the eye of the beholder. The real key to differentiation is client perception—so help your clients see you in a unique light, and they'll be better able to refer you.  (Need some help? Search Horsesmouth's library of resources on financial advisor differentiation using the keyword "branding" [free registration required].)

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