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Helen
Marie had spent over a decade building a high-end financial
planning practice serving corporate executives in the
northeast. Her two sons joined her firm with the intention
of taking over the day-to-day business operations. Helen
Marie and her eldest son, Phil, had been working together
for several years before they signed up for the Effort-Less
Advisor Coaching Program.
Helen
Marie’s vision was to become a financially independent
advisor who spent most of her time traveling. She only
wanted to work in her “endorphin zone” with
people she loves.
Phil
explains, “We initially wanted to review and tighten
up all of our business systems. We chose Steve’s
coaching program because he is an expert in our type of
high-end financial advisory business. We wanted to create
a consistent, predictable way to attract, convert and
serve profitable clients that we enjoyed. We thought we
were doing a great job for our clients, but we had no
system to generate quality clients, on purpose. Steve’s
systematic approach to our business changed all that.”
THE
MARKET INSIGHT
The
research interview process validated that Phil and Helen
Marie were pretty much on target with their original business
model. They had the expertise and were providing the services
that their targeted executives wanted and needed. The
problem was that not enough people knew who they helped
and how they helped them. .
They
began conducting research interviews. “I did most
of the interviews to bond with our practice’s best
clients and centers of influence.” Phil says, “I
learned that we were offering the right services to the
right people. Once we understood what our clients wanted
and liked about us, we were able to package our services
more effectively to tell our story. We prepared a beautiful
presentation that explains what we do, who we do it for
and how our clients benefit from our services. By documenting
our processes and fees we turned our intangible services
into tangible benefits. That gave me 100% confidence to
go out and get more clients in our niche.”
Phil
always suspected that referrals were the best way to develop
new clients. But they found out that successful prospects
in their target niche were very competitive. Says Phil,
“We discovered that it’s all business when they
meet with other executives. And many of our clients are
dispersed around the country. So, especially in these
trying times there isn’t a lot of personal discussions
or potential for referrals.”
THE
RICH NICHE
So,
Phil and Helen Marie listened to their clients. They shifted
their marketing focus towards the Human Resources Department
of one of the companies that they identified as a “rich
niche”. “We’re not giving up on turning
our clients into marketing apostles but we believe our
business will grow faster through centers of influence
in the Human Resources Department.”
As
a result of their new activity and focus, they started
a discussion with the Head of Human Resources in their
targeted company. Through the process they learned in
our coaching program, they converted this important center
of influence into a client. “Now that we have gotten
100% clear on this target niche, we want to drill down
into the organization to figure out who I need to develop
relationships with,” says Phil.
THE
NEW CENTER OF INFLUENCE
Their
new client arranged a research interview with his key
employee, the head of executive compensation. “The
outcome from the interview was unbelievable.”
“We
had spoken with this person periodically over the past
few years because we had clients who she worked with.
We were eager to build a stronger relationship. We knew
that a lot of advisors were trying to work with the gate
keepers at this company. We felt it was important for
her to see us as different and better than our competition.”
Phil
asked her, “What are the major concerns that you
have in working with financial advisors to help your key
executives?” She answered that, many of the other
advisors only seem to give lip service to the planning
process. Phil explains, “She knows my competition
and she believes their level of expertise is scary. So
it’s validating our service model, in a big way.
She told me she wouldn’t use our competitors. They
are missing the key knowledge and processes they need
to add value for these lucrative clients.”
Phil
discovered that about 250 executives could qualify for
the company’s tax free financial planning allowance.
The company had a budget for comprehensive plans for their
key executives, but didn’t have anyone that they
felt comfortable referring them to. Phil had found a starving
crowd; an underserved niche and a center of influence
who had a need and a budget for his services.
Phil
explained how the earlier interviews paid off in this
meeting. “I was prepared with a very professional
presentation that explained what we did and how it helped
our executives solve their problems and achieve their
goals. I wouldn’t have had everything so well laid
out and been able to explain our services with so much
conviction and confidence, if I hadn’t done the previous
research interviews. The research interview was a perfect
forum to discuss what our shared clients’ need and
how best to provide it for them. Our services and fees
were crystal clear and exactly what the executives needed.”
THE
GREEN LIGHT
When
Phil asked for feedback, she said, “You’re doing
exactly the right thing.” He asked her for advice
on attracting more key executives who could benefit from
his firm’s services. She said, “If I were you,
I would get someone like me 25 of your company brochures
and keep me informed about the ongoing developments at
your firm.”
Phil
did his homework, targeted his niche, found a “rich
niche” that is hungry for his unique knowledge, technology
and processes. From here on he’ll need to continue
to nurture the relationship with her and most importantly,
do a great job for her referrals.
When
I asked Phil what he wanted to share with my readers,
he said, “What I really like about your coaching
program is the power of niche marketing. It’s so
smart. You are a role model for your coaching clients.
You can add so much more value if you have deep and narrow
expertise for specific groups of people. I finally realized
that my value-added proposition is my company’s superior
knowledge of our niche. I clearly see that it is better
to be focused than to try to be all things to all people.”
A
GREAT PRESENT AND A BETTER FUTURE
Phil
says, “I thought the research interviews would help
me understand my niche better. But I realized that, in
the course of doing the research interviews, you actually
transform from just subconsciously knowing what your clients
need to being able to clearly communicate and then deliver
services that your ideal prospects are happy to pay for.”
When
I asked Phil about the future, he answered, “I’m
optimistic. We are at a whole other level now from where
we were before. We know what we are doing, we have great
processes and a model that ideally suits our best clients,
and we’ve never had any complaints. Why wouldn’t
they want to recommend people to us?”
Phil
knows that his services solve a specific problem for his
clients and his new center of influence. She wants to
make sure the benefits she offers do not get wasted. Her
internal motivations compel her to recommend him to her
key executives. That’s what effort-less marketing
is all about; harnessing your niches’ inner motivations.
“I
feel like I have achieved a major milestone. If this relationship
evolves, even to a small level, it could have a big impact
on our business. And that is just one rich niche.”
I
asked Phil about his quality of life. He said, “We’re
spending more quality time with our families and our clients.
I’m not really working less but I’m more enthused
about the hours that I work. I’m really very motivated
to work with the clients that I know are going to be “A”
clients. With clients like that I don’t need to work
less, I want to work more.”
Now
things are actually moving faster than they expected.
Helen-Marie just returned from a two week trip to Australia
with her granddaughter. So her dream of traveling and
working only with great clients is coming true. Phil is
effectively running the company and his brother is taking
a more active role than ever before.
“We
feel better about the future and happy about the present.
There are a lot of positives for all of us. We wish the
markets were doing better but the good news is I’m
actually making more money than I did last year. And that’s
something to feel good about.”
By
focusing on solving problems and meeting the needs of
a niche rather than simply selling products, Phil and
Helen Marie’s business is booming in a difficult
market.
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