One of the three ways to define your market is to focus on your neighborhood or area of the city. (Photo: Shutterstock)

“I’ll take anyone.”  In their quest to grow, some financial advisors throw exclusivity out the window.  Their only criteria is “If they’ve got a pulse” and “If they can fog a mirror.”  But if you are going to differentiate yourself in your market, the first step is defining it.

3 possible markets

There are three basic choices open to you as you define your market:

1. Look within walking distance of your office: Where you work sounds like the easiest.  Your market is the downtown area of your city, within a chosen radius around your office.

Years ago, some firms assigned their business product salespeople a certain part of Manhattan bounded by certain streets.  They called on all the law firms or professional offices in those high-rise buildings.  If your market is the area around your office, you can walk around, getting to know the local merchants.

Become their customer.  Join the Chamber or get active in the business improvement district organization.  Join a private club.  Your prospecting and business entertainment is within walking distance.  Clients can easily meet at your office for the same reason.

2. Look near your home: Where you live makes sense too.  Assuming you work 40-50 hours a week and a week has 168 hours, you are spending 70% of the week away from your office.  If you are building a clientele within the general public, you are surrounded by them at home.

You have neighbors, local merchants.  You know people from religious services.  Your children go to the local school.  You play golf nearby.  If a New York Times article figured the average American knows 600 people, most of yours are probably near your home.  If you live in a well-to-do area with plenty of double income couples, your natural market is pretty big.

3. Find a niche market. Let’s say you were an attorney and now you are an advisor.  You know plenty of lawyers.  You speak their language.  Or you are a military veteran.  You belong to the local organizations like the VFW and the American Legion.  As a graduate of West Point, you are active in the alumni association.

Or maybe you discovered earlier in your career you hit it off with doctors.  They started referring clients because you understand the economics of running a family medical office.  Or you might own a horse.  You and your children compete at horse shows.  You know plenty of other horse owners, trainers and horse farm owners.  It’s a shame to let these connections go to waste.

How to find prospects

We all want current clients to send their friends our way.  It’s a lot easier if you can tell them who you want to meet and find other ways to raise your visibility.

If your market is the first option, “Within walking distance of your office,” the first step to defining your market is researching the landscape.  What are the local businesses on the main streets?  Who owns them?  Most states have a Secretary of State website with a Department of Corporations section.  This section usually includes a scanner to determine who owns a local business.  Enter the name, get the profile, and find the owners.  It’s usually free.

Walk into those big buildings.  There’s usually a directory.  What businesses are there?  See a law firm?  They probably have a website listing the lawyers.  Any professionals in the building?  They are usually listed by name.

Your membership in the Chamber of Commerce will get you access to local business owners too.  You attend their meetings, of course.  This gives you a big enough base to do some LinkedIn research and determine who knows who.

Maybe you chose “Near where you live” as your market.  This research can be a lot easier because you know these people already.  Identify them by pretending you were planning a Christmas party with unlimited capacity, inviting everyone you know.

List some categories of where you know people from:  the gym, a religious institution, local school, homeowners’ association, golf club and neighbors. These are silos. Start listing everyone you know in each silo. These aren’t strangers.  The easiest way to bring up business might be to sit down with each one casually and ask about what they do for a living.  Mention your assumptions.  People love talking about themselves.

Assume they know a bit about you too.  Fill in more details.  Instead of pressing for business that second, ask who they know with specific needs you explain in detail.  It might be them.

If you think finding a niche market suits you best, you’ve got to populate that niche with names, identify every organization affiliated with that niche and raise your visibility.  This means joining professional organizations.  Become a sponsor, so it gets your name and logo out there.  Attend every meeting and event you can.  Wear tactfully branded gear, like a ball cap.  Look for speaking opportunities.

You have a large universe of prospects within your niche. If you are a military veteran, you might have researched certified government contractors with an emphasis on local ones that are owned by a fellow veteran.  You show those names to current clients within your niche.  Learn who knows who.  LinkedIn can make some of this research an activity for a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Each strategy conveys a degree of exclusivity.  You are “the agent or advisor everyone uses” in your local parish or the country club.  You respect client confidentiality, but word gets around.  You are the local guy local business owners think of first, because you are right down the street.  You’re the fellow vet who attends all the meetings and helps out other vets.  You have a niche.

Note:  When using websites for prospecting research, always read and respect the legal and privacy notices on websites.  Only use the sites for the purpose originally intended by the site and get permission from your office or compliance manager before undertaking Internet research projects.

Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” can be found on Amazon.

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