Like it or not, the financial planning industry is a commodity: All firms share the same stock market, the same insurance carriers, and basic services. It doesn’t get easier when it comes to the needs of clients because they want the same thing too: protection and growth. It’s hard to separate yourself from your competitors, and creating an irrefutable, authentic brand is vital…but why do so few have one?
When choosing an advisory, people want to know why they should choose one over the other. People retire once and they may switch financial advisors one or two times, maybe. They want to know if they can trust the person handling their money and if there’s something special about them.
All firms have the same generic answers: We care about our clients. We’re Full-Service and we also handle tax and estate planning. Well, so does everyone else! You need to stand out in the marketplace and tell everyone what’s so different about you and why you’re the better choice.
Your advisory’s brand and your personal brand are critically important to make you stand out in the crowded field. Are you an educator in your community? Are you the person the local news station turns to when they have questions about the latest tax plan out of Washington? It’s important to figure out what it is about you that makes you your own brand.
Distinguishing your brand can be difficult to figure out, and it takes years to cultivate. It takes strict discipline, not just in your advertising, but in every area of your business: Your staff needs to live and breathe your brand, it needs to live on your stationary, it should be reflected in your emails and face-to-face conversations.
Simplicity Lone Beacon takes the time to work with our advisors to help figure out what makes them unique and what they do better than anyone else. We help drill down on what your brand can be and incorporate it into everything we do, from building your website to seminar advertising and everything in-between. Building a brand isn’t easy, but Simplicity Lone Beacon can help.
