How will your firm go to market?  How will you position yourself for success in a crowded field?  How will you define your target market?  Hopefully these are questions which were assessed prior to launching your practice.   Unfortunately, you would not be alone if these considerations were not addressed.  Too many advisors who choose the path of independence make the mistake of believing that once they hang their shingle and launch a website former clients and prospects will beat a path to their door.  While one would certainly hope that this would come to pass, hope is not a strategy for success in a competitive market. 

The good news is that it’s never to late to develop a go-to-market strategy.   Having a plan for launching or growing a financial services practice does not require a tremendous investment of time or resources, nor do you have to be a marketing expert to chart a course for success.   The process begins with identifying how you want to position your firm within the market, relative to your competitors.  Identifying the firm’s investment philosophy, product offering, client-service approach, pricing methodology and value proposition are important components to consider when developing a positioning statement.  With a tight concept of how you would like to position the firm, it is time to define the target segments that your firm would like to pursue.  To be effective, you will need to get creative and look beyond the pat answers of “mass affluents” or “high net worth individuals.”  Factoring in investible assets and establishing account minimums are certainly important, but do not represent a complete set of descriptors.  Geography, individual investors versus small business owners or endowments and trusts, occupational focus or lifestage specialization all represent opportunities for enriching your target audience definition.  Why is this important?  Simply put, because it will allow you to focus your practice development resource investment in an efficient manner.  You simply cannot afford to be all things to all people.  

Armed with a clear vision of how the firm will position itself and the types of investors that the firm will pursue for its client acquisition strategy it is now time to develop a communications plan to “get the message out.”  Begin by establishing a “brand voice” that reinforces the firm’s position and follow that up by developing investor oriented content which reflects the tonality desired in this area.  Creating differentiated custom content which resonates with your target audience may be the single most important element of your practice development plan.  The next step involves sharing your message with your staff, alliance partners, clients and prospects alike.  This can be done by leveraging a variety of communication channels; website, blog posts, social networking, email campaigns, newsletters, webinars, live events and so on.   Remember to establish metrics for evaluating the success of your efforts in this area.  Client satisfaction, retention, leads captured, prospect conversion rates and the like are viable benchmarks that you may want to consider when monitoring performance. 

“Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -Henry Ford 

With your go-to-market approach thought out and your goals for success identified, you can launch your practice development initiative with confidence, knowing that you have greatly improved your chances for success.   Interested in a complimentary Advisor Marketing consultation to discuss your go-to-market approach?  Contact Cliff Campeau, Partner, Evolutionize, LLC at cliffc@evolutionizeMYpractice.com.