What is the one common problem your niche all shares?

Take a moment to think about your answer because it will dictate how you differentiate yourself to clients and prospects.

Answering this question is a challenge because clients often have many different problems. They need to organize their finances; they want to delegate their finances to someone they trust; they want to pay less in taxes; they need to know they have enough money to retire.

But these are common problems that most people are looking to solve. And they are problems that most financial advisors solve. They don’t help you stand out as an expert in your niche. They don’t help you become uncomparable. 

Ask yourself: “What is the one unique problem everyone in my niche faces—the one that is the most painful and urgent for them to solve? The one that makes them seek out my services in the first place?”

To discover this one problem, ask yourself these questions:

• What keeps your niche up at night?

• What situation is your niche facing in the 90 days before they hire a financial advisor?

• What hurdle do they need to overcome to reach the outcome they hope to achieve (e.g., financial independence, financial stability, retirement)?

Here are some problems a niche may face:

• Irregular income leading to a lack of financial security despite having a successful career (salespeople, business owners, the self-employed)

• Intense career burnout driving a desire to retire from their career ASAP (e.g., health care professionals, tech employees, attorneys)

• A significant windfall creating tax implications (e.g., selling a business, being an employee of a company that experienced an IPO, selling investment real estate)

• Being solely responsible for a significant amount of wealth for the first time and not knowing where to start (inheritors, widows, divorcees)

The problem you identify needs to be top of mind for the niche. It needs to be distinct to the niche and not a problem most people face (e.g., planning for retirement). It needs to be painful. And it is best if the problem needs to be urgently solved (though this is often not the case).

You want to avoid the following types of problems:

• Aspirational goals. While I don’t believe in marketing on fear, clients hire you to solve a problem. “Having more money than I’ll ever need and wanting to optimize my wealth” is not a problem most people feel an urgent need to solve. Instead, turn the perspective around to solve a problem, such as “Make sure your kids don’t squander your hard-earned wealth after you are gone.”

• Organizational problems. Unless you will position yourself as the Marie Kondo of wealth management, getting organized doesn’t drive most people to take action in hiring a financial advisor. Organization is an unforeseen benefit they end up enjoying, but it isn’t compelling enough for most people to seek out financial advice.

• Retirement planning. Literally, everyone has this problem except for the top 1%. If you help plan for retirement, you need a unique slant specific to your niche. For example, planning for retirement by navigating the complex Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Or planning for retirement when you are single and have no spousal or family support system.

Here are some examples of messages that highlight the one problem each of these niches faces:

• Helping the Self-Employed Stabilize Volatile Income

• Helping Health Care Workers Quit Their Jobs and Live Their Lives

• Helping Real Estate Investors Make Tax-Smart Decisions on When and How to Sell Property

• Helping Single Women Know They Are Taking Care of Themselves Financially

Of course, your clients will have more than one problem. Self-employed people have issues beyond volatile income. They also have insurance issues and retirement savings issues. But your overall marketing message does not need to say everything you do. That will just confuse your niche. Your message only needs to state the one problem that has nagged at your prospect the most.

Final Thoughts

You need a distinct, clear message to be an uncomparable financial advisor. And that message should focus on the one primary problem you solve for your niche. It will require some time on your part to come up with the one problem that resonates with prospects. But expressing the problem that keeps your prospects up at night will help them realize that you are the financial advisor to help them overcome their problem and succeed.

About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing consulting firm that positions Registered Investment Advisors and their employees as experts in a niche, making them uncomparable to other advisors. Over the past 16 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide. This article is an excerpt from her upcoming book, due out in 2023.