Tip of the Month Newsletter September, 2006 In this issue: How to Distinguish Yourself in a Crowded Market The unexpected bonus in saying "Thank You" Helping Your Colleagues with a New Special Report Time Away From the Office Referral Mastery Workshops How to Distinguish Yourself in a Crowded Market As companies and advisors offer a broader range of services, it becomes ever more difficult for consumers to distinguish between financial advisors. In this crowded market, "Why should a prospect do business with you rather than the qualified advisor next door?" You are in trouble if your answer to that question is "I am a qualified professional who truly cares for my clients and I give great advice and service." That is NOT ENOUGH. First, every advisor in the industry believes that about himself or herself. Second, how does a prospect know for sure about "your great service" if they have not yet experienced it? From a marketing perspective, it is imperative to demonstrate your distinctiveness BEFORE prospects decide to commit. If prospects are unable to easily see your competitive advantage IN ADVANCE, you are in a weak marketing position, with high client acquisition costs, longer selling cycles, and a lower than average closing ratio. The critical question to answer is "What can clients get from me that they can't get from other competent FA’s?" If you can't demonstrate that answer in tangible ways, then there is no logical reason for someone to switch and do business with you. This is especially true for higher net worth prospects because they already have advisors clamoring for their business. Without something distinctive, you are stuck on a high cost marketing treadmill - investing large amounts of time and money to get in front of enough prospects until you find someone who is upset with their current advisor. Finding prospects this way is getting more and more expensive. One reason is that competitive pressures have forced firms and advisors to provide a fuller range of service to their higher net worth clients. How do you distinguish yourself in a fiercely competitive marketplace? As we work with advisors to uncover highly profitable target markets and build strong positions there, we have seen our clients distinguish themselves in the following ways: Personal Style: Some advisors take advantage of their powerful personalities (or create a distinctive style) and then combine that with clever marketing to create a personal "Brand of Me". They typically provide a solid service and then add special personal touches such as unique client appreciation activities or special client events. They create their own band of followers over time. Distinctive Process: Some of our clients create a distinctive process that either goes greater in depth on key issues or is far more comprehensive than what most people experience. Distinctive Expertise: Some of our clients focus on developing distinctive expertise in solving the needs of a specific group of people and then creating marketing tools which demonstrate that unique competence. In each of these cases, our clients are able to tangibly demonstrate their distinctiveness during the sales process -BEFORE a prospect makes a decision. If you want to assess the effectiveness of your marketing program, just e-mail us and ask for our free Marketing Effectiveness Checklist at info@referralmastery.com If you feel it is the right time in your career to find a more profitable niche or to build a stronger position that will pay off for years, e-mail me at mike@referralmastery.com or call 800-865-2867. I will send you an information packet on how we have helped others do that so you can see how the process works. Back to top Helping Your Colleagues with a New Special Report You have taken a step toward developing your referral capabilities by subscribing to this Referral Tip Series. You know colleagues who need or want to generate more and better referrals. We are about to publish a new special report "5 Critical Principles to Generate More and Better Referrals" In the 18 years we have been helping advisors dramatically increase referrals, we know there are 5 critical principles which much be embraced if you want to drive your business growth through referrals. This special report will detail the 5 critical principles to significantly increasing both the quantity and quality of referrals. We will be happy to send it to your colleagues FREE. Just e-mail me their name, e-mail address, and phone number. If you want to receive a copy as well just say so in your e-mail. Your step of providing them assess to the special report may provide the insights they need to get on the path to dramatically increasing their referral effectiveness. Sharing a helpful resource is one characteristic of a true professional. Back to top Update from the Field David Ross of Nashville alerted me to the unexpected bonus that can result from a thoughtful "Thank You" strategy. David is an experienced advisor who has tripled his assets under management and tripled his insurance production since beginning the Referral Mastery Coaching Program two years ago. One part of The Referral Mastery System is developing a process to say "Thank You" for referrals. Step Three of our 4-Step Thank You process is to provide a gift. In our work together, I shared with David how I use books as "Thank You" gifts. I have given hundreds of books away in recent years. Last year, David read a book that moved him emotionally and he decided to give this as part of his Thank You process. A dentist client of his had introduced him to some other dentists who also became clients and David sent him a copy of this book. David was not surprised when the dentist called him back after reading the book to thank David. The surprise came when David went for his dental checkup. There in the waiting room was a copy of the book with the following note from the dentist to his patients: Buy this book. Read this book. Call my financial advisor David. And David’s number was on the inside cover! Upon hearing that story, I immediately ordered the book and have since ordered several copies to give away as well. If you want to know the book that caused David’s dentist to respond so powerfully, just e-mail me at info@referralmastery.com I like to give away books for many reasons. First and most importantly, I want to give something that will contribute to a person’s life - on an on-going basis. If I am on target with my book choice, the book will continue to contribute for many years. It also provides a way to have an on-going dialogue with a referral source about something that is important to them. I have sent books for children who are ill and books for children who have made sports teams. I have sent cook books and golf books. And I have sent many professional development and leadership books. Time Away From the Office I will be out of the country from September 19 until October 7. While my voice mail and e-mail will be active, I will have very limited access to either. I want to hear from you. This is to let you know that your message may not get a response until I return. Back to top Referral Mastery Workshops Managers and Meeting Planners: I feel honored to be conducting workshops at the National FPA Conference, at the Securities Industries Association Small Firms Conference, at the LPL Financial Institutions National Conference, at the Financial Network Regional Conference, for Sun Life Financial Distributors, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. I want to welcome our new partner Sun Life Financial Distributors and express particular appreciation to our long time partner OppenheimerFunds. If your company has an upcoming meeting or training conference, I would appreciate your sending me the contact information on the person who is setting the conference agenda. As my way of saying thank you, I will send you one of our business-building CD’s. These normally sell for $28. I will send it to you free just to say, "Thank you" (If your tip helps create a positive result, I will also send you our full $500 Referral Mastery Business Development Toolkit for free.) Back to top To our Jewish friends, we wish you a happy and healthy new year.