Happy weekend! I hope you’ve got some fun things planned so that you can enjoy the success you’ve been building in your practice.
I’m doing a quick blog post today about branding. Why do most financial advisors look the same? Same websites, same presentations, same business model, same ordinary brand. Well, it’s because most advisors have experienced a similar practice evolvement. Wirehouse to broker dealer to RIA, or something similar.
Branding is not a familiar topic to most advisors and since they have typically stuck to a “compliance friendly” website or message, many are not aware of how important it is to step outside the box. Not only that, they’re not aware that they CAN do this. Branding your practice helps you pre-sell your services!
Out of the box branding
When considering how to look at your brand and come up with ways to position your firm so that you stand apart from the competition, think out of the box and figure out how you can be unique in your competitive space.
Become well-known with your brand
Is there something you do that is different from other advisors? If so, this could be a brandable program. For example, let’s say you work with women clients and you have a step-by-step process that you follow with them, this could be a trademarked or service marked program. In other words a program that you can name, register, and differentiate your firm. Here’s an example of a firm with a branded process for helping women: Women’s Worth
http://womans-worth.com/scottsdale/
What can you brand?
I can hear you now. “Well that might be possible for a creative financial advisor, but I’m not creative and I can’t figure this out on my own.” That’s why advisors hire me to help think through this topic.
Not ready to work with me yet? Here’s how to begin brainstorming about how to brand your practice, on your own. Are there a few things you may already be doing that you can brand?
Do you have a special technique for doing any of the following?
- Intake process
- Investment philosophy
- Program for a selective niche client
- Financial Planning process
- Retirement income planning process
If so, you can brand it!
Examples of financial advisor branded programs:
- Retirement Funding Score™ – explains in numeric form how close clients are to funding their retirement needs.
- Wealth Building Process™ – explains how to build wealth through the financial planning process.
- Retirement Lifestyle Protection Planning® – takes clients through a process to protect all aspects of income and prevent risks from decreasing assets.
- Lifestyle Protection Program® – similar to above.
Don’t forget to protect your brand
Add TM or SM to the end of your program’s name. Once registered, add ® symbol.
Design a brochure or page on your website and discuss your program
Don’t keep what you do differently a secret. Once you brand your program, talk about it. Don’t worry about your competitors. They already know what you’re doing. If you protect your brand, no one else can steal it.
Branding what you’re already doing can give you a differentiator so that you’re not like all the other financial advisors out there. It gives you talking points for discussion during prospective client first meetings. It helps you sell what you do, whether it’s financial planning, investment management, or wealth management. I encourage you to step out of the box and brand your practice!
