Finding Your Natural Market Offering

“We often don’t even talk about investments until the end of the annual review, and sometimes not at all.”

Many advisors and firms are uncertain about where their value lies—what differentiates and elevates them in the eyes of their natural market—and yet, we so commonly hear statements like this about how they communicate with their clients. So let’s start there. 

Your title may be “Investment Advisor” or “Portfolio Manager,” but if the majority of your client conversations are spent on topics other than investing, that’s a telltale sign you’re doing something much more.

Think about a recent review meeting with the type of client you would love to have more of, and list out the topics that came up. Did you discuss family, retirement, lifestyle, fears, aspirations, insurance, succession or tax? Are there some topics that come up more than others, or areas you seem to be able to provide the most direction?

The odds are that each topic is dominating the conversation because it matters to your natural market, and because your clients believe you have some insight or utility on the matter. So as you consider how to position yourself for the ideal client, you would do well to keep those concepts front and center.

You may not realize it, but your natural market offering is something you already do. The next step is to start talking about it.