Answer this question in a clear, concise manner and you have taken an important step on the path to developing a marketing plan that will help boost your FA firm’s client acquisition efforts.  Identifying your target audience, clearly delineating what your firm does and articulating how you do it in a clear, compelling manner are necessary ingredients in the planning process.  No one would argue that.  However, to distinguish your firm from the dizzying array of choices available to an investor, an advisor must effectively address the question of “why” someone would hire your firm.  

It is not as easy as one might think.  The obvious explanations will immediately come to mind and will likely encompass your firm’s investment philosophy, product and service offering, fiduciary obligation, charging practices, custodial relationships and the like.  Descriptive?  Yes.  Defining?  Potentially.  Differentiating?  No.  What an investor ultimately wants to know is whether you will be accessible, attentive to their needs, cognitive of their goals and concerns, responsive in bad times and good, candid and straight forward, proactive, empathetic and ever watchful over their portfolio while providing a guiding hand in working with them toward the attainment of their financial goals.   An investor wants to discern whether or not there is a basis for a trusting relationship with your firm.    

“I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.”  ~Alan Greenspan 

Crafting your response to the question of “why” provides an excellent opportunity to address these issues directly and in a tone which is consistent with the firm’s brand voice.  The process will yield a set of distinct value propositions which will reinforce and drive the firm’s positioning and serve as the basis for its communications efforts.  In our experience, the time invested on this one item will yield a significant return on marketing investment (ROMI).    

If you have marketing plan and would like a second opinion or are interested in exploring the benefits of an advisor marketing plan for your firm, please contact Cliff Campeau, Partner at Evolutionize for a complimentary consultation; cliffc@evolutionizmypractice.com.