Written by: Adrian Patty | XY Advisor
For many advisers the concept of working in only one niche market, rather than being a jack-of-all-trades, flies in the face of reason. Why limit yourself and why not try to service as many people as you can?
But this expectation is changing as more and more advisers discover that specialising is the best way to add value and strengthen their businesses.
When Steve Salvia from Blackwing Profit Consulting joined us for XYLive recently, he talked about some practical ways advisers can face their fear of nicheing head on.
The big challenge
As we all know, our industry is always changing and Steve told XYLive that advisers are facing some big challenges to their businesses. First he said that there was a general lack of clarity about ideal client markets, with too many advisers trying to be everything to everyone.
Advisers are also juggling a large number of balls and are often not working from a place of genius.
Steve said that advisers should be focusing on what produces the most income and then look to offload the rest. Implementing a niching strategy is always a way to overcome these obstacles.
But before starting down this path, Steve told listeners they should take a critical look at their business model and ask themselves whether it is sustainable, scaleable and saleable?
He said advisers must ensure that their businesses are attracting the right people and that they are able convert “like a banshee.” After all there is no point getting potential clients through the door if you can’t get them to buy into what you’re offering. Being able to follow through with good delivery is also essential.
Finally, Steve told listeners to always keep their eyes on their networks – after all building referrals through alliances, partnerships and clients is essential if you want to get scale.
How to find your niche
Once you feel comfortable that your model is hitting the right mark and your systems and processes are in place, Steve said advisers could consider starting the nicheing journey.
Here are Steve’s top tips for finding your target market:
Building your niche proposition
Once you have honed in on your niche, Steve said advisers should begin to create a product offer specifically designed for their target market.
While there is always the temptation to give up when building something new, Steve urged listeners to stick with their new proposition for at least a year. In this time advisers should hone and revise it, but not throw it in if they think that it isn’t working.
Steve suggested that advisers create a marketing message catered specifically to the target market. A great tip he offered listeners was using social media and suggested joining LinkedIn groups and getting amongst the conversation as a way to promote the message.
And don’t forget about your alliance partnerships. In Steve’s case he said that he created a hub of alliance with partners like accountants, mortgage brokers and graphic designers. He became the central point for referrals in the hub and was able to charge a flat fee for cross-referring in his niche area.
The biggest take away from Steve’s appearance on XYLive was that while nicheing is the way of the future for advice practices, it is important that advisers take it slowly. He said that you can’t’ stop what you’re doing and start nicheing, but the message that resonated is if you work at it over time you will see success and grow your expertise at the same time.
Steve's been kind enough to share one of his tools to help with the nicheing process which can be accessed HERE