Singing Your Praises

When the word marketing comes to mind, do you equate it with prospecting? Prospecting is only part of marketing your firm, says Shirley Hanson, a Principal at Hanson Marketing Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which offers marketing plan services to financial advisers. Delivering a consistent message about your firm across all channels—the community, prospects, and current clients—is critical to long-term success, she says.

Marketing professionals often talk about the importance of “building your brand.” However, what is it and why do you need to know about it? Branding is simply creating a positive association with your product (and, for most advisers, that is you) that is then remembered by clients and prospects. “Branding is not a logo or an ad,” says Dan McGee, Vice President, Managing Director – Retirement and Investor Services Distribution, at The Principal Financial Group, “it is how you service and how you position your firm.”

That, of course, is the essence of what helps you stand out from your competition—even when you may appear to be offering identical products and services. Jeff Justi, a pension consultant with Leavitt Pacific Insurance Brokers, is working on refining the message he and his company are delivering to the marketplace. Although the firm does a lot of ongoing communication and in-person visits to the current client base, Justi says his 45-person company has hired a firm to examine Leavitt Pacific’s branding. “We are learning to define who we are in relation to the client,” he says.

The first step is to focus on how you differ from others that do—or appear to do—the same thing you do.

McGee says that advisers should ask themselves: “What do you want plan sponsors to think about when they think of you? How do you want to present yourself to the community?”

Each adviser group has a different message, and a different way it approaches the client and plan, he comments. One might be focused on retirement planning for participants, another is focused on general ERISA plan administration, one is a retail-driven practice, one a benefits generalist, and still another might be a deferred compensation and executive benefit specialist that writes the 401(k) if asked. For example, although Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Devenir is a defined contribution adviser, the firm’s primary focus is on the health benefit accounts area—e.g., health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement accounts (HRAs)—says President Eric Remjeske. However, for many, “the battleground for adviser differentiation is the participant experience,’ says McGee.

One way to start this process is to conduct an honest assessment of what makes you unique, your strengths, and why your current clients hire and trust you. Think about the last three assignments you won: Why did you win them? How did you stand out from the competition? Or you can ask your current clients to evaluate your services. Ask them to rank your firm/you in terms of fulfilling those expectations. You’ll not only find out how you’re doing (in their eyes), you also may discover the things your clients feel are most important.

“Twist” Ties

One error Hanson sees across advisers is a lack of focus. “As an adviser, you have to match the problem with the solution,” she says. Hanson says every adviser should be asking the wedge question: “What gets your target prospects so frustrated that they have to make a change? What keeps them up at night?” she asks. “If you don’t touch them at the wedge issue, you are missing an opportunity.”

Advisers see a wealth of opportunities, but do not know how to narrow those opportunities. One way to do this is to define clearly your target market. In defining his target market, and his desire for his firm to be known as 401(k) plan specialists, Kenneth Rogers of Virginia-based Rogers Financial, recently decided to affiliate with National Retirement Partners to create a national brand for his firm and to broaden his target audience.

Once you have your audience in mind, the message needs to be articulated in a way that engages the audience. Advertising needs to be both informative and engaging, to express your voice as a business and as an individual adviser. The message needs to be consistent, McGee says. “Plan sponsors buy because you deliver direction and confidence. They want to hire someone who will help them do what they want when they want to do it.”

A key component of building a brand is making sure that your message associates your strengths with your name, or your brand. For instance, if you offer and support plans with a wide range of services, say so. If you specialize in the very small plan segment, or in working with start-up plans, put that front and center in your promotions and presentations. Make sure that plan sponsors see those messages in your logo, tag lines, communications, advertising, and brochures. It doesn’t need to be complicated (in fact, it shouldn’t be), but it should clarify not only your talents, but also what sets you apart from your competition.

Where To Turn

The easiest place to start, when looking for support in designing a marketing campaign, frequently is your broker/dealer. “We have a pretty good process in place,” says Tim Nihill, Manager, Retirement, at Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Massachusetts. Commonwealth offers a consultative approach and works with advisers to help them develop their practices and business plans. “We ask the adviser: What are the services you want to offer? What market are you targeting?” Then, he says, the firm helps advisers with all aspects of prospecting, gaining, and retaining clients.

Commonwealth, like many broker/dealers, is able to provide partnerships, resources, and marketing materials. It can put together materials for its advisers that are consistent with the look and feel of the adviser’s practice. “Advisers can get help telling their story,” Nihill comments.

An expanded array of adviser support and resources also often is available from providers as well as investment managers. The Principal Financial Group has a program to deliver such support to advisers of key distribution partners at wirehouses and independent broker/dealers. The resources are delivered through directors of business development (DBDs) who help advisers grow their businesses. McGee says these DBDs act as sales coaches, offering content around total retirement services, rollovers, retirement income, and practice management.

Delivery Mechanisms

Once you have identified what distinguishes your firm or approach and defined your target market and message, it is time to examine the tools you are using to deliver that message. Traditionally, Hanson says, one of the big problems for advisers is that they have been relying on a single marketing medium, such as seminars or direct mail. Over time, that single medium becomes ineffective, as both clients and prospects tune out your message, or mentally compartmentalize your services. Whatever vehicles you use, there should be a consistent design and they should support your message, Hanson explains.

When people think of tools to market their firm, they most commonly think of phones or referrals. However, Hanson says that tools are everything from your office, to e-mail, to a Web site, even the local Chamber of Commerce. “It is not just the tool you use, but how you use it,” she suggests. Traditionally, those tools can include a periodic newsletter, seminars or Webinars, postcards, e-mails, or letters. The tools an adviser selects often depend on the types of resources available; some advisers have a team, some are one person, but, Hanson comments, there are many ways to outsource production.

When it comes to technology, one mistake Hanson says advisers make about Web sites is that they believe the purpose is just to have one, “instead of seeing it as a cog in your marketing plan.” When developing the Web site, advisers should be focusing on what will happen when someone goes there, she suggests.

Your office is also a marketing message; where it is located and how it is decorated send a message, according to Hanson. Advisers should consider what kind of impression it makes and what people notice when they walk in.

Some of Commonwealth’s advisers have thought of interesting ways to touch HR, Nihill says, including candygrams and sending flowers. Saying their “services are refreshing,’ one group sent coffee to clients. Untraditional vehicles can get someone’s attention, but it is up to the adviser to follow through and connect the dots.

Community Involvement

You also can build up your brand by being active in the community. There are many ways to do this. One of Hanson’s clients in South Carolina is an avid biker, so he joined a local biking group and is on its board. Another is very active with the local Chamber of Commerce and local nonprofits. Making a community commitment can be a great way to develop a positive association with your name and build credibility, Hanson says. However, this type of involvement should only be done if the adviser really is interested. “If you aren’t interested, you aren’t productive or effective—which is negative,” she explains.

Building your credibility in today’s environment, where dishonest advisers (especially in the retirement arena) are drawing increased attention, is more and more important, Hanson says. This is where testimonials can be helpful, but advisers must be careful not to run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission rules pertaining to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, which has strict rules for investment adviser advertising—basically any communication addressed to more than one person—including a specific prohibition on the use of testimonials of any kind (see “Walking A Fine Line,” PLANADVISER, Fall 2006).

Another way to build credibility is to market your designations, Hanson continues. You also can tell your own story and how you came to be a financial adviser. This builds your credibility because it shows you as a person, she says, and when clients are choosing an adviser, they are deciding on the person. Alan Spierer, Senior Vice President, corporate services financial adviser at UBS in New York City, says one way his group has gained credibility in the last year was to link with a CPA association to be part of its seminar program.

Continued Contact

Whatever tools you use, make sure your message is consistent, Hanson says, and be sure to connect with the community, clients, or prospects more than once. Advisers might contact a prospect once, through any vehicle, but never go back to “touch” them again and they will never land that business. Also, do not forget about your current clients; continuing your marketing message to existing clients helps to remind them that you are a valuable resource.

“We feel that it is essential to maintain open, continuous communication and face-to-face contact with our clients,” says Doug Igel, a senior analyst with Precept Retirement Plan Services, which uses regular newsletters, legislative briefs, seminars, executive committee meetings, and client surveys to market ongoing services to current clients.

One way that Craig Dobbs, Managing Director of Investments, Citi Institutional Consulting, says he continues to stay in touch with his clients through education. “We spend a lot of time educating ourselves to educate clients,” he says. There are constant changes in the marketplace and Dobbs says that, by making his group experts on regulation, he is able to help current clients, as well as making it part of his overall marketing message to prospects.

Proper marketing not only wins you business, but also makes it easier for those who have retained your services to remember why.