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If you live on the east coast of the United States, you may have filled up your car with gas at a Sheetz or Wawa gas station, not realizing that you were visiting a business that has experienced explosive growth in the past decade by revolutionizing the way we think about the commodity they sell.
Sheetz and Wawa are two companies with 50+ year histories of selling gas. But both realized the way to get more people to choose their gas station was to stop focusing on the gas and instead focus on providing an amazing customer experience. They dissociated their brands from the way people typically think about gas stations (as cigarette and soda-selling pit stops).
Walk into either of these gas station/convenience store chains, and you’ll be blown away by the clean, well-lit space, the made-to-order food (with many healthy options), the small-batch coffee and the incredibly friendly, helpful customer service. Sheetz and Wawa no longer focus on marketing themselves as gas stations. Instead, their marketing revolves around all these other elements that combine to make shopping at their stores an integral part of their raving fans daily life.
The shift in focus paid off, with Wawa selling 80 million hoagies and 200 million cups of coffee in 2017 and Sheetz pulling in $5.6 billion in revenue in 2018. Most importantly, both firms are recognized as “cult brands,” with loyal customers who feel a sense of ownership in the brands’ popularity and success (and who wouldn’t dream of going to another gas station).
The future of marketing is customer experience
The stories of Sheetz and Wawa and how they shifted the focus of their brands offer a fantastic marketing lesson to every financial advisor.
Don't think about marketing the investment management you offer or the financial plans you produce. Think about the entire experience that you're offering to clients. Stop focusing on the commodity you are selling, and instead focus on the service you are providing.
Your value proposition should come from what you do better than the competition, not from forcing copywriters to figure out a clever way to articulate your services. If you can make the benefit of working with you immediately apparent to the customer, you’ll be a step ahead because everyone else is still trying to compete on features.
Advisors know this inherently but often do a bad job focusing on those things in their marketing. Instead, advisors tend to focus on things like their history of portfolio returns or how long they have been in business. But look at what Sheetz focuses on: Its made-to-order sandwiches, great coffee, clean bathrooms and the fact that they're always open 24/7. You don’t hear them say, “We have great gas.” This would never be a part of their marketing.
To win more clients, get your value proposition right
Your value proposition answers this question, “Why should I work with you and not your competitor?” It should be easy-to-understand and give your prospects a clear reason to act.
Value propositions should be incredibly specific, unique, and measurable and:
- focus on the fears or problems your clients have and the solutions you provide to solve them; and
- offer measurable and compelling reasons to act.
A value proposition is not:
- focused on your company (how many years’ you have been in business, the certifications you have, etc); or
- generic or fuzzy (our clients are like family, etc.).
Use this gas station marketing trick to win more clients
People no longer simply buy things. They don’t go to Sheetz or Wawa just for the gas – they go for all the other things that are wrapped up in that brand.
Think about what your current clients get most excited about, what they value most about working with you. Maybe you work with a bunch of employees at one particular company and you know their benefits packages and compensation better than almost anyone and therefore you can advise very specifically on that. Or perhaps you are a woman who went through a divorce and now specialize in helping other women take control of their finances who face a similar situation.
Whatever it is, hone in on it and make it the core tenant of your marketing. Remember, with technology being what it is today, most people could open their own investment accounts or use budgeting software on their own. The reason a prospect chooses to work with you is because of all the little things you do that combine to create a unique experience.
It’s not the investments. To win more clients, don’t focus on that.
Samantha Russell is the chief marketing and business development officer at Twenty Over Ten (a digital marketing and website development company for financial advisors). Samantha helps financial advisors create digital marketing strategies that produce explosive growth through website development, content marketing, SEO, social media and video.
Read more articles by Samantha Russell