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Your value as a financial advisor is based on your ability to leave someone’s net worth in a better position than if they had managed it themselves. Therefore, the value proposition at the heart of your business is very clear – hiring you will result in protection and/or growth, depending on the specific needs of your client.
But there’s a problem (and it's almost comical): you're not allowed to say that or even suggest it in your marketing at all.
The “powers that be” have placed compliance handcuffs on you and turned what should be a simple and clear-cut process for getting new clients into a complicated affair. How do you convey your value and convince qualified prospects that hiring you will be a worthwhile investment without breaching your compliance obligations as an advisor?
Answer: You don’t.
Coming up in the industry, you've probably been taught that the way around this obstacle is to market your business and brand. Your brand consists of intangible aspects about your business like your personality, your experience, your past successes, or even your “story” of how you became an advisor.
The idea is that your brand (as defined in these terms) has value in the eyes of your market and that your prospects are looking for this value and are ready to show their appreciation for it by rewarding you with their business. However, that’s only true if you can get them to believe in you.
But is this what really happens? Are the great lengths to which you go in your sales process to convince your prospects to believe in you in this way appreciated and rewarded?
The low sales conversion rate that most advisors experience suggests otherwise.
What happens instead is that your prospects – even the high-net-worth ones – come to you with one question: “What can you do for me?” They believe they're in a position to assess you. They’re in shopping mode.
But prospects don’t have the financial knowledge or expertise to assess you as an advisor. It’s why they're out looking for an advisor in the first place. And since you’re the specialist and they need your help, it should be you assessing them to see if their problem is worth your time.
Nevertheless, you must depend on this “value-based” marketing approach with neither certainty nor predictability – while trying to fill your pipeline with as many leads as you can, knowing that most of them will be low quality.
That’s not exactly confidence inspiring.
Is there a way to unflip the business relationship back to its proper orientation?
Stop marketing yourself
Marketing yourself (or your brand) enters you into a competition against other advisors who are all doing the same thing. You’re accepting the commoditization of the industry and turning yourself into one of many. That’s the very thing that breeds the shopping mindset your prospects bring into your sales process and undermines their perception of your value.
At the end of your long sales cycle, they say, “I’d like to think about it.”
You end up following up with them, trying to figure out if the opportunity is worth pursuing or if you’re just chasing a ghost. That’s a far cry from where you’re meant to be, as the “financial doctor” in the relationship.
Market the problem (become a trusted authority)
What's required is a marketing approach that isn’t based on your “value” at all, but on the problems that plague your market. Contrary to what you’ve been told, your ability to generate new business has never been about you or what your business does – it’s always been about your prospect’s problems and their willingness to solve them.
The more you market yourself around their problem, the more they feel that you understand them, and the more they’ll trust you to solve it for them. (After all, proceeding with the sale is an emotional decision, not a rational one.) There are no restrictions on marketing problems. Problems are evergreen and will never go away or go out of fashion.
And you’ll never run afoul of compliance, as there is nothing promised or suggestive of any kind of financial outcome with this approach. Everyone else will still be handcuffed – but not you.
To learn more about generating new business from a trusted authority-based position, rather than a commoditized value-based position, order your complimentary book and consultation below.
Ari Galper is the world’s number one authority on trust-based selling and is the most sought-after high-net worth/lead generation expert for financial advisors. His newest book, “Trust In A Split Second” has become an instant best-seller among financial advisors worldwide – you can get a Free copy of Ari’s book here and, when you click the “YES” button in the order form, you’ll also receive a complimentary “plug up the holes” lead generation consultation. Ari has been featured in CEO Magazine, Forbes, INC Magazine and the Financial Review. He is considered a contrarian in the financial services industry and in his book, everything you learned about selling will be turned upside down. No more chasing, no pressure, no closing.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.