For his firm he is not so concerned about focusing on just women.  He believes the great attention on this approach is a bit of a smoke screen created by our industry.  He said, “80 to 85 percent of our clients are married.”  Even later in life when women become single because of death or divorce, they still have children that are involved.

Darlene Murphy, president of Wellesley Investment Advisors, Inc., agreed.  Regarding working with couples, she said, “We still have clients where they are in the old-school mode, but more and more our clients are coming to us as equals with the financial decisions made in the family.”

When it comes to communicating with clients, she believes that whatever the age, it depends on what they want.  For example, an 80-year old might want to text.  And in times like these, she admits clients are communicating more frequently.

For Randy Conner, president of Churchill Management Group, he is focusing on building relationships – especially with the markets out of control.  He said, “We are really focused on having them believe these periods are normal.”  He wants his clients to stay to the plan, as opposed to abandoning it.

Fascinate People
“You have to have a point of difference.  Otherwise you become a commodity,” said Sally Hogshead, founder and CEO of Fascinate, Inc.  For people to pay more, you have to be highly differentiated.  To do this, she said, “You don’t have to change who you are.  You just have to become more of who you are.”  She cautioned the attendees that otherwise they are at risk of being forgotten or ignored.

To create a fascination advantage, one has to tap into the personal brand and then over deliver on it.

Have A Niche
For many advisors, they struggle over the decision of whether to focus on one group of prospects or to try and work with a wider group.  Lindsay Troxell, a senior business solutions relationship consultant at TD Ameritrade Institutional thinks advisors should shoot fish in a barrel instead of casting a wide net.

She explained that the demographics explain who to focus on, while the psychographics answer why they choose you and why they seek your services.

Before choosing a target market, an advisor should test it for viability.  Troxell believes that those steps should include things like knowing the size of the market and the competition.  She recommended interviewing centers of influence (COIs) to learn about a niche’s needs.

If you focus on more than one niche, she advises looking for some similarities.  Try to streamline the service offering.  You want to make sure there is some common thread.