Why are you the best kept secret?

Are you good at what you do? Are you a knowledgeable advisor who cares about your clients? Are you an advisor who wishes to attract more of the “right” clients? You are not alone! We’ve helped many advisors with coaching and brand strategies and when we first meet a client, we often hear them say “Why are we the best kept secret?”

Here are some of the reasons you may fall into this category and some suggestions for avoiding this obstacle for the future.

Reasons you’re a Secret

• You are too busy working in your business and not on your business
• You do not wish to come across as a “pushy sales person”
• You are not a self-promoting individual
• Sales are marketing are not a part of your skills set
• You are not sure how to differentiate yourself or communicate your uniqueness
• Your marketing material and strategies are not in line with who you are
• You are not sure how to effectively explain how you do what you do
• Your clients haven’t been asked to refer you and don’t know how

Your Anti-Secret Strategy

You may have all the best systems in place for a great business, however if you are not out there, in the market, proactively bringing in the right clients, you will remain a secret.

A common issue we see is that, at a certain point in an advisors career they may have low confidence.

• Having a coach in your corner to listen to your concerns and get you back on your feet is a critical first step. Many successful advisors understand that in order to be successful it’s important too have mentors and coaches to help the advisor maintain their focus.
• Determine who you do your best work with. Your ideal clients should be clients who you feel comfortable with and they most appreciate your value. These are the people to focus on.
• Determine the personality of your business. If your firm was a person, how would you describe it? This is critical in determining the foundation of building your own unique brand. Look for 3 to 6 key words that will describe your business. Use these words in your slogan, introduction talk and in your marketing materials. These key words will fuel your clients to describe who you are and how you help to others.
• Create a compelling theme for your firm. For example, we have one client that uses a telescope held by a tripod. They use this to communicate what they do. They have 3 integrated services shown by the 3 legs of the tripod, representing balance and stability. The telescope communicates client focus, in the right direction. A strong theme like this gives you the confidence to best communicate what you do.
• Make a list of touch points or marketing tactics that need to implemented, to bring in new clients, keep them loyal and educate them to refer like minded prospects. We have 9 categories of touch points that are customized for each client. This is a serious and crucial part of running a business.

Here are a few touch point strategies we create to help our clients avoid the “secret virus”.

• Have a logo, slogan, descriptor and an image that work together to communicate a compelling unique story around your business.
• Have a step by step process that clearly and simply explains how you look after your clients. The most important part of creating a process is to make sure it is on brand, expands on your compelling story and differentiates you from the competition.
• If you have employees, create a marketing team and review your marketing actions, budget and results on a regular basis. If you can’t do this, hire a professional business coach or brand strategy service to help. Then you can focus on what you do best. Make sure when you do hire, that these people understand your industry. Otherwise, you may be wasting your time on educating them. Many marketing firms take a retail approach, which is very different from the advice industry, which is relationship driven.

Once you put your Anti-Secret Strategy into action you will have the tools to create improved exposure for your company and put the secrets in the past!