Archive for May, 2010

Niche Marketing can be Scary!

 Niche marketing is probably the number 1 most important factor in accelerating your ability to achieve success.  I realized the benefits when I built my own financial advisory practice, from day one everything I did was built around the needs and issues of wise women in Newport Beach, my target market. This targeted approach allowed me to build a successful financial advisory practice in less time and with less effort.  As a business coach for female advisors I am now once again experiencing those same benefits.

 I have been coaching financial advisors for years, this was a good niche for me but it was not my ultimate goal or dream.  I recently launched my new coaching practice Your Pink Office designed specifically for the female advisor and I am once again reminded of the incredible benefits that come from focusing on a market that you are truly passionate about.

 Since I launched my new website I have experienced a steady flow of new business coming in the door.  I get random emails from female advisors asking about my services.    I see new names pop up on my screen indicating women have visited my site and downloaded my free audio.  I am receiving more referrals from existing clients and resurrecting former clients. But it’s not just the flow of new business it’s the focus I have, the energy I feel that makes my business exciting again.  By narrowing my market I am now learning about so many new opportunities within the female advisory world that can enhance my business as well as the value I bring to my clients.

 So why didn’t I do this sooner?  I had the dream, the idea for some time; I even had the website built a year ago.  It wasn’t until my coaches (two fabulous women) heard my passion and enthusiasm around working with the female advisor that they asked “Adri, why aren’t you doing this NOW?”  I didn’t have an answer.  So with their help I rekindled my dream and began refocusing my efforts on what I know is my true calling.

 I know niche marketing can be scary; you worry that you will lose out on more business than you will gain, but this can’t be further from the truth.  Through all of my personal experiences as well as working with thousands of financial advisors I have yet to see that happen.  In fact the opposite has always proven true.  If you truly want to succeed, succeed in a way that brings you monetary, emotional and personal satisfaction.  If you want to create a practice that attracts more ideal clients effortlessly, niche marketing must become your total focus and driving force.

I spent last weekend curled up on the sofa with ice packs soothing a pulled muscle in my back.  My husband thinks it’s because I exercise too much, I’m not sure that was the case  but I will admit that I tend to push the limits in most everything I do.  Whether it be having a second helping of a delicious dessert, walking that extra mile  just to see that beautiful view or even over indulging during an evening with great friends and good wine, I find the consequences are well worth it.  I think I will always push myself a little too far, that has what has helped me achieve a life filled with incredible experiences and a multitude of accomplishments.  Certainly I could play it a little safer and eliminate some of the physical consequences but then I would have to forfeit my desire to embrace the world, revel in new experiences, challenge my mind and body to reach new places and see new things.  Hmmmmm, play it safe or experience life, there is no debate in my book.

It is this same attitude or approach to life which made the corporate world more challenging for me.  Like most entrepreneurs, I’m a bit claustrophobic, I don’t work well in a box, I abhor limits and boundaries and flinch when faced with a policy manual.  Entrepreneurs’ get energized by ideas, are motivated by success, and inspired by challenges.  A good entrepreneur is willing to take the risk recognizing and accepting the potential consequences.   If you have your own business or are building a practice as a female financial advisor you can either play it safe and blend into the crowd, making a comfortable living and just plugging along OR you can take a few chances, stir the pot.  Perhaps it’s time to start challenging your business, challenging yourself to try something new in order to achieve and experience more.

As an advisor it doesn’t take much to make a difference much less be different.  Being more personal with clients, adding more authenticity to your marketing or just speaking from the heart when making recommendations.  Just by eliminating all the financial services jargon from your conversations can make all the difference in the results you achieve.  The risk???? The risks have more to do with being scrutinized by your peers rather than losing a client.  And if truth be told by being more personal you will generate more trust, develop stronger relationships all of which results in more business with less effort.    Take a chance, push yourself out of that SAFE zone I think you will find that the risks of upsetting the financial apple cart will be well worth it both in terms of your business and personal success. As a female advisor maybe it’s time to shake things up.

Years ago when I was struggling with young kids, a challenging husband (my current husband is a saint) and a stressful job as a financial advisor my father kept telling me “Adri, you have to put the gas mask on first”.  I knew what he was saying and I started to listen.  When you board an airplane and they explain the safety measures they always tell the parents to put your gas mask on first so that you can continue to be available to help your children, if you sacrifice yourself your children will also suffer.  That same concept applies in the real world or at least in the world of a working mom.  With the encouragement of my father I started to realize that taking care of me, being good to myself was not selfish it was a very responsible act in order to be the best mother I could.  What I didn’t realize was the positive impact it had on growing my business and achieving success.

This afternoon I had a coaching session with a young woman; she is a wealth manager and is the primary wage earner in her family.  She has a supportive husband and two children entering their teenage years.  She is bright, intelligent and incredibly capable as a wealth manager but she struggles with balance.  She loves her husband, she loves her children but she has difficulty shedding the scripts that have influenced who she is today, but today is different.

Her parents were immigrants; their strong work ethic paved the way for this young woman to be anything she chooses, I’m sure they hoped she wouldn’t have to work as hard to succeed.  As a financial advisor she was trained at Lehman Brothers notorious for their stringent methods and long hours.  More recently she was an advisor at a major institution which was an elevated Lehman environment.  If you think about it, all the major influences in her life promoted long tedious work hours necessary for success or so they wanted you to think.  What she has trouble grasping is that today is different and she is different.

The beauty of being a wealth advisor is that you can truly build your business around who you are, in fact the more you do just that you will feel more energized, more focused and success will come easier.  This is a tough concept to accept when all you have been taught is that the only way to succeed is to work with no rest until success becomes evident, even if that means sacrificing your health and family.   There is a great book (I have the CD) called The Power of Full Engagement.  This book gives many examples of people who were run down in their jobs and struggling with performance.  Once they started adding more self time, exercise and focusing on the things that are truly important to them the business results followed.  Even if you look at sports, any good athlete knows that you can’t continue to work the same muscle over and over again; it needs time to heal and repair in order to build, apply that same concept to your BRAIN.

I will continue to work with this client, I am determined to find a way for her to realize that no job is worth the sacrifice of not seeing your children perform in a play, miss an important baseball game  much less spending a romantic weekend away with your husband.  No job is worth that.  Sure in order to create more balance you may buck the system, you may encounter mild repercussions to your independent ways but the benefits will surpass the hurdles.  You can NEVER go back and spend time with your kids; sometimes the damage done to your relationship is irreversible.  The job will not be there for you when you are sad, suffering or aging, your family will.

The Wall Street Journal had a great article this morning that EVERY female financial advisor should read. It validates everything I do and why I opened Your Pink Office for the female advisor. Sharon Hadary, the writer is convinced as I that women’s success is based on two very fundamental issues. The first is our own self –limiting view of ourselves, our businesses and the opportunities available to us.  But equally problematic are the stereotypes, perceptions and expectations of the business world. For female financial advisors it is the male oriented financial services industry that they must contend with.

In addition, Hadary states that Women Learn from Women:  The problem in the financial services industry as with most male dominated industries is that our number are too low and even lower are those that have succeeded.  Those women that have succeeded in their role as a financial advisor often had to make tremendous sacrifices, both personally, emotionally, even physically to gain the respect and recognition they deserved, not exactly a path I want to follow.  Success is most often measured by the size of the paycheck and the big corner office, yet many women become financial advisors for reasons other than a big paycheck.

What many female financial advisors don’t yet realize is that they can have both.  As a female financial advisor you can be driven by a purpose AND have the big paycheck and corner office and that is a wonderful thing. In fact more often than not it is when we stay true to our purpose; stay focused on what is important to us that we are better able to achieve the success both personally, emotionally as well as monetarily.  The reality is that in business the role models have been men, the training is designed around what works best for the men, the way success is measured is based on what is important to men.  As women we must define our own measures of success, build out the business model that works best for women and begin working with and focusing on training, coaching and organizations that are filled with women.  This alone helps us improve our self-image, provides more opportunities as well as the advice and guidance we need to achieve success as women in business.

WSJ  “Why Are Women-Owned Firms Smaller Than Men-Owned Ones?” Monday May 17 Section R.

Yesterday I was working with a very bright, beautiful woman working as a wealth advisor for a bank in Chicago.  As a single mom with 2 kids she is highly motivated and determined to succeed.  She does a fabulous job developing relationships and putting the client or prospective client at ease, her accent combined with her vocabluary and clear articulation creates an almost trance life feeling in the listener. At the end of each meeting it’s obvious that the prospects really like her and seem ready to move forward.  But the business is taking forever to close, the process takes forever.  Once that first meeting is over she feels as if she must start chasing the prospect sometimes almost hunting them down to get the business initiated.  So whats the problem?

Women tend to be very good at developing those relationship, there intuitive nature and soft warm voice can be a tremendous asset to developing a good relationship .  But when the time comes to getting the prospect to take action this same approach can create problems.  At the moment you begin speaking about money and finances women need to change their voice, their tone and even their body language.  It’s at this point that you must transition from that nurturer to warrior.  Now I’m not telling you to use all the “sales tricks” we have been taught for centuries. That’s not MY style and is probably uncomfortable for many of you.  But what you can start doing is putting the onus or responsibility into the prospects court.  Let me explain.

Once you have gathered the information you need, you have uncovered where there is a need, that they are qualified with $ it’s now time to get them to solidly commit to the process.  Here is a simple process that will help you do just that. 

The first step is summarize the issues focusing on the problem areas:

So Mr. Smith what I hear you saying is that your primary objective is to retire in 3-5 years, is that correct?  YES

But your not sure what it is you want to do in retirement nor do you know how much money you will need in retirement, is that correct?

You know you have been accumulating wealth towards that goal but you really don’t know if what you have accumulated is enough, is that right?

How important is this to you?  VERY

What would it feel like if you knew you could retire in 3 years and you knew exactly how much income you would have to spend?  GOOD

then what would prevent you from getting started on building your plan today? 

This is just one scenario, the key is using affirmation statements to get them to acknowledge their wants and their gaps.  The second step is putting the responsibility in their lap, instead of telling them what comes next or what you would like them to do next, let them tell you what the next step will be.  The important thing for women to remember is that when you ask an open ended question and there is silence, DONT FILL THE SILENCE.  That silence is the best indicator that you just asked a great question, a question that is forcing the prospect to actually think.  The more engaged the prospect becomes in the process the easier it will be to get them to take action.  Remember, once you have developed a good rapport with the prospect, affirm the issues and then put the ball in their court.