When I first started my own business development coaching practice, I started with a broad target market. My next step was to narrow my target market down a bit to focus on business leaders and entrepreneurs. My final iteration was to narrow my niche down to financial services professionals. This process was huge for me, and I would like to share with you how to take the principals I used and apply them to your own business to help you excel at your own game.

Like me, most people start out in the general branding, general networking, general everything mode. Over time they learn what (and who) they want to focus on, and narrow their niche until their focus is on their ideal client, without wasting energy on attracting prospects who do not fit that profile.

Want to fast track the process of taking your own game to the next level? The first set of core points I will focus on are: branding, networking, and follow through.

1/ The key to excelling at your branding is to be clear, confident, and consistent about your specialization. Say your ideal client is women business owners; that would mean you would ideally only market to, network with, and meet with prospects who fit this profile. Many financial services professionals who are not yet confident and consistent in their strategy (and expected results from that strategy) often stray outside their ideal client profile with their marketing efforts.

Some people are confused by this advice and worry about narrowing their niche too much. They may push back with that mantra that “all business is good business.” While that can be true at the very beginning of your business when you’re looking to generate any kind of revenue to support yourself while you’re getting up to speed, it can get more complicated as you advance in your practice and strategy. If someone outside your target market is attracted to working with you, you can feel free to meet with them to determine if working together is a fit and won’t take you off course with your business model. It’s important to stay true to your focus throughout your branding and marketing strategy, such as accepting speaking engagements that get you in front of your target audience (and declining those that aren’t in alignment). If you’re ready to truly excel at your own game, you must maintain focus in your branding and marketing.

2/ The key to excelling at networking is relatively simple: spend time in the pond where you most want to catch a fish. Say you want to target executives, then you would only want to network at events designed for executives and not attend others outside this area of focus. This will considerably free up your time to focus on what you can do to get yourself in front of solely your ideal client. This is as much about being in front of the right people as not being in front of others who aren’t a good fit. Spend your networking time with those you want to serve, and not people who are outside your target market. I invite you to ask yourself: how much of your networking time are you spending in front of your target market, and how much is spent in front of other people who don’t fit that profile? Now is the time to optimize your strategy for success!

3/ The key to excelling at follow through is to take the lead in following up with prospects — immediately. Don’t assume that if someone says they’ll call you that they will. Regardless of whether or not someone said they would call you, I recommend getting their business card and information and that you take the lead to reach out to engage initially. To be honest, if I had waited for everyone to call me who said they would call me, I’d be out of business!Everyone you meet is busy and may or may not remember to reach out, regardless of how interested they initially indicated. (Many people have a limiting belief about taking the lead to follow up that they will look desperate or that it’s not good business practice, though it’s actually the opposite.) It’s crucial that you take the lead with your ideal client and prospects if you want to take your game up to the next level.

Does the idea of sharpening the saw and improving your game resonate with you? If so, I would love to speak with you. I invite you to reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com

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In prospect conversations as well as conversations with professional referral sources, many financial services professionals focus on all they have to offer to their potential clients. The flip side of knowing your full, expanded value, however — knowing what your ideal client stands to lose by not hiring you — can be just as important. This will be extremely helpful for any prospect conversations, and I’ll walk you through several questions to guide the process (get a refresher on how to have a more effective prospect conversation here).

During this conversation, it should be your goal to learn what they need to live the life they want, whatever it includes. The answers to each of the questions below depend on the individual, and it is up to you to tease out an ideal client’s goals (and the flipside of not achieving them) during a potential sales conversation.

#1: What is the financial impact to your ideal client of not engaging your services?

One reason many people look to a financial advisor for support is for clarity on their entire financial situation and future. They often want guidance with services like a financial plan, a retirement plan, a 529 plan, etc. If they don’t move forward with you, there’s a good likelihood they won’t move forward with clarity around how to achieve these goals.

#2: What is the impact on their health and wellbeing if they do not hire you?

If they do not hire you and do not put their financial plan in place, your ideal client will not achieve a sense of relief or feel clear and confident that they are on their desired path. The impact to their health and wellbeing could be enhanced levels of stress and worry over their financial future.

#3: How might your ideal clients’ relationships be negatively affected by not hiring you?

This question might be answered in a variety of ways. A potential ideal client who does not hire you may need to retire later than they might otherwise, take fewer vacations, not buy a vacation house, or be contributing enough to their 529 plan because they lack a certain level of financial security they would like. Feeling a sense of stress over these factors could lead to relationships feeling more intense, less connected, and clearly less enjoyable!

#4: What is the cost to their overall potential of not hiring you?

The overall potential of not hiring you combines all of the above answers, plus there is a great likelihood that if they do not engage your services, their current reality will not change at all. This is a simple yet profound truth, and introducing it (tactfully, of course!) can be a gamechanger in a prospect conversation.

Are you ready to enhance your results in prospect conversations? I would love to talk with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com

Think fast! What do you bring to the table that no one else does? And do you confidently communicate that value in critical interactions?

Confidently and effectively communicating your value to clients is crucial to ensure that they trust you and your recommendations. Without this, you are likely missing out on business through failed conversion conversations and not upselling current clients. It is also important to communicate confidently and effectively so that when you speak with professional referral sources they see your full and unique value for their clients as well.

It is entirely possible to be a rockstar on the technical side of things but have a hard time attracting new clients if these critical communication skills are lacking. Fortunately, these skills (as well as sales skills, or improving mindset) can be learned and mastered with the right guidance and support!

Now I invite you to look inward and consider how your interactions typically go. When you meet with clients or prospects, do you feel confident about the value you bring to the table? (If you don’t know that you are confident during these interactions, this is a sign that you probably aren’t.)

If you’re not sure, whether or not this is an area that needs improvement for your overall game, here is a list of signs and signals that you are not effectively and confidently communicating your value: 

• You feel inadequate and/or nervous before prospect or client meetings
• You do not feel comfortable asking for the business
• You reinvent the wheel each time because you don’t have a clear process for how you describe your services (or maybe you’re not clear on it yourself!)
• You do not feel comfortable asking for referrals
• You have a low conversion rate for ideal client prospect conversations
• You do not feel confident making recommendations to clients

One thing that separates the good from the great performers is that when they discover an area where they do not currently excel, they work to improve it. If the above points resonate with you, this is a great opportunity to improve on your skillset. I would love to talk with you about how we can work together to help you communicate more effectively and confidently to ultimately see the results you want in your financial services practice. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com

Take a few moments and imagine what your practice and professional life would be like if you could focus only on high-level tasks. Would your work day feel different? What would your bottom line look like if you could focus exclusively on your highest revenue-generating tasks?

Rather than being the stuff of mere daydreams, that vision can become a reality (or at least, your reality can move closer to that vision!) with the right strategic adjustments to your overall organizational structure. The most important step is to create an efficient system for delegating tasks you don’t need to touch.

I have many clients who are very successful, but still have room for improvement in this area. For example, I have a client who consistently nets seven figures, although to achieve that level of prosperity he frequently works late into the evening. If you have the desire or goal to maintain balance between your professional and personal realms, one of the crucial pieces to have in place is a well-trained, solid team to whom you can delegate consistently, swiftly, and efficiently.

How to Start

First, look for what you know you should not be touching and wish you could start delegating today. To help you expand this list, consider how you spend your time outside of meeting with clients, prospects and professional referral sources. This will help you put together the job responsibilities of the person you might need to bring on board next.

For example, answering phones, booking and rescheduling appointments, and managing the office should be delegated to an administrative staff person. Handling client requests and client operations should be delegated to a client services team member. For some (though not all) financial services professionals, investment strategy is something else that is appealing to delegate.

It may be clear to you that you need an additional person (whether it be a full or part time employee) if you have enough of a gap in certain areas where you can delegate, or on the other hand, you might be able to delegate more than you think to your existing team members. Another option is to delegate special projects to consultants when needed.

What Holds Some People Back From Delegating

Let’s be honest – most front runners get to be as successful as they are because they know exactly how things should be done, and won’t settle for anything less than perfection. While I can certainly appreciate that, it’s still possible to maintain high expectations by hiring someone who is qualified to deliver in exactly the way you want to reflect the level of client service you desire.

Holding tight control and refusing to delegate low-level tasks ultimately handicaps an advisor, and can impede the overall growth of an organization. I often hear resistance to delegating due to fear that someone else will not be able to handle the responsibilities or deliver in a desirable way. Fortunately, this can be resolved through management and proper training from the beginning. (Of course there will be a training period required – not just giving a new staff member a list of tasks, but circling back, answering questions, and ultimately maintaining responsibility for training to be implemented in the way you want.)

Another reason behind resistance to delegating is not wanting to spend additional time or money on training and hiring additional staff, especially to hand off something they feel they already do well. To that, I often ask: “what’s the value of your time compared to what you would pay someone to cover the lower level tasks?” By holding onto tasks you don’t need to be touching, your ability to grow or have more time off, etc, is limited. Done properly, delegating low level tasks frees you up for more high value work, and should ultimately make your business more profitable and support you in your intent to live a more balanced life.

Where in your practice would it be a breakthrough to not only be caught up, but be ahead of the game?

Do you spend your valuable time on marketing tasks that you could easily delegate? This might include writing your email newsletter, crafting content for and managing your own website, or getting bogged down by planning client events. These tasks can be easily delegated to someone already on your team, or someone you choose to bring in for sole purpose of managing these.

Are you cleaning your own office, or making trips to buy supplies? Do you have a backlog of operational tasks which, let’s be honest, you might never have the time for? Administrative tasks are another common time suck, but are often relatively simple to delegate to another staff member.

If you’re feeling excited and ready to delegate some of your tasks but aren’t sure how to take the first steps, I can help. I’ll help you first determine what makes sense to delegate and the criteria you’re looking for in someone to handle these details, and help you map out the best system for making the most of your time, as well as your staff’s time. Have questions? I would love to speak with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com

A client of mine is extremely successful and will hit the milestone of netting over one million in revenue this year. Do you want to know what makes him so successful?

He doesn’t have a complicated marketing strategy or even a social media campaign. He sticks to the basics. For him, that translates into actions like consistent calls to his clients to check in and maintain rapport, handwritten thank-you notes to both clients and referral sources, and quarterly client events. He also joined a club to meet others who share his cultural heritage so that when he meets people they already have something in common and are part of the same “tribe.”

As you can see, what he does to grow his practice is not rocket science. He continues to stay in touch with his clients and as a result the business he’s doing with them is naturally enhanced as they send him referrals and his business grows organically. This is a great example of successful “client touch,” which at its core is about client service.

Yes, he does use other marketing strategies, but he gets most of his top referrals from his clients and professional referral sources. He has nurtured relationships with the allied professionals of his top clients, which means they are working with other affluent clients and other potential ideal clients, so that the referrals he gets from these allied professionals are in line with his ideal client profile.

There are many takeaways from this brief client story. We all know it can be easy to get caught up in the idea that there’s always a newer, shinier, more exciting approach than the basics — but done consistently and correctly, the basics work! It’s also crucial to have a clear and consistent plan for staying in touch with your clients and professional referral sources to support those relationships in flourishing and bearing fruit in the form of referrals.

I often have new clients who come to me with the idea that they will need to take sophisticated strategic action in order to produce results, though starting with basic foundational strategies, like those of the client highlighted in this post, are often the right place to start.

Do you stick with the basics? Are there some areas that could use more attention? I would love to talk with you about how to amplify your results and support your true vision for yourself and your practice. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com.

Most people encounter resistance to change at some level, but how much it hurts us (and potentially our business outcomes) depends on the individual. Before you think to yourself, this doesn’t apply to me, resistance to change can be present even when you are clear on the benefits of a given change.

To give you an example, I have had a number of clients who tell me that they want to focus on “affluent women” as their ideal client profile, though experience hesitancy to sharing their specific, narrowed focus with clients and professional referral sources, as well as in declaring that niche in their marketing collateral. They voice a desire in narrowing their niche in their marketing efforts, but are afraid of missing other opportunities outside of their niche.

Would you like to know if resistance to change is affecting your marketing plan and business results? I invite you to ask yourself these questions:

• Are you clear about your ideal client and what needs to happen to attract the number of those ideal clients that you truly want?
• Are you clear on what you need to do differently in order to support that goal of attracting this new ideal client?
• Are you willing to do what you know you need to do differently in order to attract this new ideal client?

These questions get to the heart of the challenges that people go through as they attempt to shift direction in their marketing efforts or business focus. This resistance to change can ultimately affect the results of your marketing efforts in myriad ways.

For one, successful professionals are often so busy that they do not (or cannot) carve out the time to fully think through the process, let alone act on it in a consistent way. Unfortunately, simply having a desire to change doesn’t produce new results on its own. (If only, right?)

In order to successfully make a change of substantial scale, such as the types of changes often required in order to optimize a marketing plan, your entire mindset needs to be aligned with why and how you’ll do it before any follow through can be effective. Oftentimes it takes outside input and guidance to maintain accountability and sustained effort in order to follow through and complete transitions successfully.

Another example I’d like to share with you involves a previous client who belonged to a formal networking group. The networking group was made up of very nice people who occasionally referred her business, but not her ideal clients. Despite this reality, she did not want to stop going, because she was getting some personal needs met since she enjoyed interacting with the members of the networking group. However through our work together she realized that this was marketing time and money being spent in the wrong pond. She stopped attending the networking group, though continued friendships with several of the members.

Say you’ve been interested in narrowing your niche, but have not fully completed the transition and continue networking with people outside of your ideal client group. Lackluster results might leave you thinking that narrowing your focus doesn’t work, though in a situation like this, the undesired outcome would more likely be a result of not having gone far enough to think through how your marketing efforts need to reinforce and set you up for your desired results.

If you’re shifting gears from a generalist focus to a narrowed focus around your ideal client, it might take some time to build momentum as you shift gears — though that rate at which you make the transition is up to you. It could be fast, or never happen at all depending on how quickly you are able to change the avenues through which you attract your ideal clients.

Think about this scenario and being faced with two choices. You’ve decided you would like to work with, say, affluent women, and are considering where your marketing efforts should go. You have a certain budget of time and money for marketing no matter which choice you make.

In one scenario, you spend the amount of money and energy with a general marketing focus, haphazardly mentioning your ideal client to professional referral sources, and perhaps hoping that affluent women magically appear on your doorstep. In the other, you can easily spend your marketing time, energy, and dollars in the pond where you actually want to catch a fish. In this scenario you would network where affluent women would show up like a country club or luxury travel destinations, with those professional referral sources who also work with affluent women to let them know about your specialty, and advertise in publications that affluent women might read, etc. It’s pretty obvious which scenario will produce better results, right?

If you’re ready to optimize your marketing efforts and want support making the transition quickly and successfully, I can help. Reach out to me today and we can discuss a support structure for your desired results: susan@susandanzig.com.

Have you ever made a plan but had trouble following through with it? You’re not alone. What I have found is that it is incredibly hard to change our behavior on our own. We often need something new – whether a new structure, a new system, a new employee or a new person’s influence, etc – to change an existing pattern and drive the new desired action. Most people are not successful in creating a new vision or venture without bringing in fresh thinking to the equation.

I’d like to share a client story to share with you more about how an outside perspective can be game-changing. When I first met this client, he was vacillating about engaging with me for coaching. He was already a very seasoned advisor with a successful business, and was looking to attract a younger advisor to support his succession plan with his financial advisory practice, as he wanted to start a new company with a different focus.

During our conversation, he realized that there were more factors to take into consideration to exit his existing financial services practice than he had previously realized were necessary. He gained clarity around what needed to happen for him to fulfill his intentions and the necessary implementation and accountability structure for those desired results to unfold.

Through our conversations he began to realize the value of an outside expert who could be objective about feedback and input during the transitional period of his succession plan. This is critical because oftentimes left to our own devices, we have our same thoughts about what should happen and how it should happen. When you bring in an outside objective expert into the equation, fresh thinking and solutions often occur and results tend to unfold more quickly, successfully, and with significantly less stress. 

Along with fresh thinking, oftentimes we tend to think if we have a plan we can move forward and implement easily and quickly. In my experience, multiple factors can get in the way and slow the process, for example, one’s business already being busy and taking up the time and energy needed to implement a new plan. Other priorities get in the way and it’s easy to fail to honor the time we need to actually make change happen.

Over many years in this business, I’ve witnessed human behavior on a large scale, and seen what works and what doesn’t. I bring a vast amount of experience to the table with my clients. While they’ve had their own personal experience, and might have heard of situations colleagues have gone through, they typically haven’t seen the diversity that I have in this realm.

Are you ready to finally move past your obstacles and fulfill your goals? Are you ready see the results you’ve always wanted to unfold in your practice? I can help you find solutions, and create the results you want to see. Reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com. I would love to speak with you and determine what will best enhance your game.

Are you skeptical if social media can really help your business? A client of mine first came to me with the social media presence of a generalist (her title on LinkedIn was simply “Financial Advisor”), though she wanted to specifically attract Business Professionals as her ideal clients. Once we worked together to clarify her brand (including defining her niche and ideal client), she changed it to “Financial Advisor for Business Professionals.” With that clarified branding she began reaching out to Business Professionals on LinkedIn, and began to develop clients and professional referral sources through that marketing channel!

To help you with your social media efforts, I’ve put together a list of common mistakes to avoid with your social media campaign. First, as I mentioned in my previous post on identifying weaknesses in branding, it is important to be consistent across different platforms. Your social media presence and messaging should reflect your branding clearly.

I also know how impactful this can be from my personal experience. Due to my defined niche and clear branding on LinkedIn, relevant referral partners, speaking opportunities, and even prospects reach out to me. It is important to be as clear as possible about your branding so that you more readily attract and gain notice from potential clients when they are looking for someone to meet their financial services needs.

Another pitfall to avoid is not giving your social media efforts consistent attention. Unfortunately, posting “once in a while” will not support an effective marketing strategy. Do you find yourself going through periods of consistent posting, only to let it fall flat a few weeks (or posts) later? If it’s not your expertise, it might be time to consider delegating it to someone else who can give it more focus, whether someone on your existing team or someone who can take this on for you on a part-time or consulting basis.

It is also crucial to stay organized so that you know what you have and are not reinventing the wheel each time you want to post something. Once you have, say, a blog post written, you might use that later for a speaking engagement, or break it down into a newsletter topic. Another reason staying organized is important is so that you can track which topics your community is most interested in.

A client of mine asked me if blog posts are really that valuable, and I told him that it’s about the overall marketing plan, with each piece working together. Rather than thinking of it simply as a blog post, you might think about it as building up your content library. If your clients want more education and you have a post written on that topic, you can simply send it out to them. Furthermore, if a client knows someone who might benefit, they can also share it.

If you would like to make sure that your marketing plan is solid and avoid these common mistakes, reach out to me today: susan@susandanzig.com

When I first begin to work with a client, one of the things we do is take a comprehensive look at all of their existing marketing plan, including their branding. Correcting weaknesses in branding can be a relatively quick and painless process with the right guidance, though left uncorrected, they can be damaging to your results.

Here are the most common mistakes I see in branding:

1. Failing to define a niche
2. Being inconsistent in messaging across all marketing channels
3. Not implementing your branding in alignment with the ideal clients you say you want to work with

One of biggest mistakes people make in marketing and branding is failing to define a niche and failing to define their ideal client. This often happens because though financial advisors may want to work with their ideal clients, they leave the door open to work with anyone which can ultimately dilute their brand.

Providing clarity about what you offer is crucial because it differentiates you from other financial services providers. If your marketing isn’t clear about who you are and what you uniquely provide, potential clients have no idea that they should be calling you instead of other financial advisors in town. If you do have a niche, on the other hand, you can laser focus your marketing efforts to your ideal clients rather than wasting time and money marketing to the wrong people. For example, if your niche was tech executives, you might join special discussion groups on LinkedIn, become known in the groups over time, and ultimately attract business that way. Someone without a defined niche may instead join several groups, and have much more trouble explaining value in the services they offer.

Another common mistake is being inconsistent with messaging across marketing channels. It is important that you have one main message that is communicated across all platforms to attract your ideal client. Yes, your social media campaign will be worded slightly differently than your brochure, or a presentation you give in a professional setting, but the messaging should all be consistent. Having a personalized marketing plan is a great way to organize your thinking around your marketing efforts (for more on how to make one, click here).

A final common mistake I often see is not implementing your branding in alignment with the ideal clients you want to work with. Say you narrowed your niche from a general focus to working with women entrepreneurs, but you find yourself showing up to networking groups with women and men, and repeating the same marketing you used previously as a generalist. It is important to rethink your strategy in terms of desired branding, and then fully commit to that plan.

If you’d like to make sure none of these weaknesses are hiding in your marketing and branding implementation plan, email me today: susan@susandanzig.com. I would love to speak with you and help you do a comprehensive evaluation of your marketing efforts.

When you think about growing and expanding your business, what comes to mind? I’d bet that what comes to mind first is something along the lines of marketing, narrowing your niche to attract more of your ideal clients, strategic planning, or something similar. If so, I invite you to back up a few steps — and I’ll explain why.

1: Start with self care

If you have a goal to grow and expand your business, I recommend starting by taking stock of your self care. To be in a better place to grow and expand, it helps significantly to be in a good place physically, mentally, and emotionally. Feeling grounded and well rested provides the foundation for energy, motivation, and drive. From there, the idea of growth and expansion is more likely to sound exciting or empowering. On the other hand, without that foundation of wellbeing in place, it might sound exhausting and difficult. (Check out this previous post for more on how self care supports your professional wellbeing.)

2: Set goals that actually inspire you

Once you have your self care foundation in place, the next step is to strike a healthy balance between setting “realistic” goals and setting bold goals that truly inspire you. I prefer a mix of both, realistic goals I can celebrate once achieved, and inspired goals for that motivating magic that comes from imagining what it would feel like to achieve the outrageous. (Read this previous post for more on goal setting.)

If you’d like to deepen your knowledge about setting inspiring goals outside of the more common SMART goal paradigm, I highly recommend this book: “The Desire Map: Guide to Creating Goals With Soul” by Danielle LaPorte. It’s a must-read for any motivated go-getter! In it, LaPorte explains that goals we set should be experiential (what we want to experience), rather than around measurable results (what the goal would provide for you).

3: Use your strategic plan to put it all into action

Once you have your self care foundation and inspired goals set, it’s time to use your strategic plan to put it all into action! I recommend setting time aside so that you can map out what you want to create and think through how you’ll actually make it all happen.

If you want to ensure you are organized to grow, expand, and thrive – I would love to speak with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com