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Building a Brand: Three Doors Down

Most advisors are much better at sales than marketing, and those who don’t know the difference need the most help.

Building a brand starts with knowing the core competencies of the advisor and their team and then creating awareness in the market — which, of course, assumes that the advisor has built something prospects want.

For plan advisors, there are three levels that go into building a holistic brand.

BD/RIA

The first level of branding starts with an advisor’s broker dealer or RIA. A BD’s brand, which has been built with the investment of millions, if not billions, of dollars of advertising and marketing, will get an advisor through the first door — that is, if that brand resonates with the prospect or if their prior experiences with the firm were positive.

Trusted Advisor

So now you’re through door #1 and have met with the prospect. Next, you want to be considered as one of a few to be their trusted advisor. That invitation will come based on the brand of your team, which is less about mass marketing and more about capabilities. If you make it to the second door, don’t blow if by focusing on fees, funds and fiduciary. Anyone with a slick investment or benchmarking report can look like an expert. Talk about experiences and results, mention high-profile clients or, better yet, companies just like theirs,especially if you focus on that industry. What can your team do that others cannot?

Leadership

So now you are one of two or three advisors left standing, which means you are knocking at the final door. This brand level is about the individual advisor. It’s more about relationships, stewardship and leadership than measurable qualities. Do you share the same values? Would the client be okay if you were stuck with them at the airport during a five-hour flight delay? If you get uncomfortable at this level and slip back into reciting stats about the team or highlighting the brand of your BD, you have already lost.

Arguably the greatest branding campaign was waged by Apple in 1996, when Steve Jobs returned and the company was about to go bankrupt. Take a look at their “Think Different” commercial. Do you see any products mentioned? And when you build a brand whose core values resonate with prospects and clients, you can sell them almost anything … even an $800 phone.

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