Three Tools to Differentiate Your Firm

How do you stand out?

First, realize that you don’t need to win by a mile – a single step will do. The team that is ahead by a single point at the end of the game still wins.

You just need an edge. Something that grabs the attention of the prospect and establishes an emotional connection you can build on. Your evidence-based slide deck won’t do it.

Second, recognize that your first interaction with a prospect is likely to be in two dimensions. They may visit your website, see you on social media, read your blog, or click on your email before they meet you in person.

Depending on which studies you believe, you have anywhere from a few milliseconds to half a minute to make a first impression. That’s not very long. But somewhere in that small window of time you must gain your edge.

Here are three tools for doing so that I rarely see mentioned by marketing gurus.

Beauty

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but certain areas of our brains are stimulated when we encounter it. When we see beautiful works of art our medial orbitofrontal cortex, which plays a role in our feelings of reward and pleasure, is triggered. When we see beautiful faces, our striatum – another reward center – is triggered.

A leading theory suggests that we are hardwired to appreciate certain forms and patterns that are pervasive in nature because they helped our ancestors survive. We experience these as beautiful and are pleased by them.

These positive reactions impact how we perceive the world. One study found that visually attractive user interfaces were experienced as easier to use even though they were not.

Your prospects will react positively to beauty. So, give them some. Your website and other communications shouldn’t conjure up images of a dusty old bank vault or a boring conference room filled with suits. Give as much attention to the aesthetics of your two-dimensional face as you do to describing your services and credentials.

How? Well, philosopher Thomas Aquinas said: “Beauty requires three qualities: integrity, harmony, and radiance.”

Design firm Grady Campell translates Acquinas’ statement this way: “Integrity is the quality of standing out clearly from the background. Harmony is how the parts relate to the whole. Radiance refers to the pleasure we feel when we experience it.”

This leaves you lots of room to define beauty in your own way. If you need a jump start, Google “best financial advisor websites.” You will see many examples of how firms have used beauty to gain an edge for their firms.

Simplicity

One common theme you will notice when you survey the “best websites” from any industry is their simplicity.

Our brains are wired to respond positively to simplicity. The reason is that simplicity can be advantageous for survival. Our ancestors had to make quick decisions based on limited information, so simplifying complex situations was evolutionarily advantageous.

This idea has been captured in a behavioral concept known as Simplicity Theory. It posits that people have a bias toward simplicity and are predisposed to choose products and experiences that minimize their cognitive load.

Based on this belief, branding consultant Siegel + Gale developed a Simplicity Index that ranks the brands with the least complicated client experiences. Not surprisingly, some of the nation’s top brands are ranked as the simplest.

Siegel +Gale found that since 2009 a portfolio of the simplest publicly traded brands would have outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 1,600 percent! They also found that 78 percent of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because of its simple experience and 64 percent are willing to pay more for a brand that delivers an uncomplicated experience.

This, of course, runs counter to much of the thinking in the financial services industry where complexity and obscurity is often equated with sophistication.

But the logic of keeping it simple is compelling:

• We have an evolutionary bias in favor of simplicity.
• Simplicity helps avoid being overwhelmed and facilitates quicker decisions.
• Clarity avoids cognitive overload and improves comprehension.
• Complexity can raise cortisol levels associated with stress.
• Simplicity is associated with transparency, which builds trust.

Keeping your message simple, ironically, is not simple. Steve Jobs once said: “Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

In the financial services world, jargon is the unofficial second language. Dense text sprouts up everywhere like daffodils in the spring. Impenetrable charts and graphs are used to befuddle prospects into submission.

In such a world, simplicity will not only make you stand out. It will make you a hero.

Creativity

Standing out requires doing something different. Being different requires creativity.

Most people don’t feel comfortable stepping out. They feel more comfortable as part of the herd. Again, there is an evolutionary reason why we think this way. Predators pick off the outliers. Safety lies within the tribe.

Get over it. Aping how others communicate their story means yours will be lost in a din of sameness. You must step outside the circle of safety and take a chance.

Most financial advisory firms are small businesses. This gives you an advantage. You still have a distinctive voice and personality. Use them.

It is the rare corporate giant that can generate a relatable persona. But for a small firm it is entirely possible. Indeed, it is mandatory if you want to stand out.

Here are some guidelines:

Be genuine. Your message should be consistent with who you really are. Prospects will find out soon enough and won’t become clients if there’s a disconnect.

Tell a story. Even a beautiful, simple list of the services you provide is not as compelling as a story about why you do what you do.

Draw others into your story. Don’t make it just about you. Your story has to show that you understand and have compassion for those you would serve.

Use attention-grabbing images that reinforce your story. Avoid cliches like the happy, graying couple strolling down the beach with the lighthouse in the background.

Don’t try to please everyone. If you are truly creative, some people will be attracted, while others are put off. Don’t worry – it’s a big world. The goal is to get those who see the world as you do to stop long enough to make the connection.

A final word

Take an honest look at your website and other two-dimensional communications. Do they look like they were conjured up by a copycat who tried to make the whole world happy by taking an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach? If so, beautify, simplify, and fearlessly and creatively engage only your true target audience.

However, if you choose to do that, keep the following advice from two iconic advertising executives in mind:

“Tell the truth but make the truth fascinating.”

—David Ogilvy

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

—Leo Burnett

You have a unique and personal story to tell. Tell it beautifully, simply, and creatively.

Scott MacKillop is Strategic Advisor at GeoWealth Management, LLC. He is an ambassador for the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard and a 48-year veteran of the financial services industry. For more articles by Scott please visit: https://geowealth.com/from-the-desk-of-scott-mackillop/ Scott can be reached at [email protected].

---

A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: To learn more about this and other topics, check out our videos.

More Behavioral Finance Topics >