3. You must distinguish yourself on an individual/team level. This is called individual/team differentiation.

I was conducting a session for a large group of advisors affiliated with a well-known independent broker-dealer and again was asked in advance by the vice president of the firm not to spend too much time talking about the competition. "The most important thing is for our advisors to understand that they need to articulate their value," he said. "I want you to teach them how to do this, so don't worry about spending much time talking about what makes us different from some of the other competitors."

It didn't crystallize for them until we did a follow-up program that understanding the competition, in fact, was very important. I began asking the advisors during that next session such questions as, "What makes you different from the advisor at XYZ Capital Management Inc.?" They all fumbled for answers.

The advisors needed the verbiage to explain the answer to this question with confidence. Nine out of ten times, when I ask this question of advisors they will say the idea of talking about the competition is a good dialogue to have with their team members and associates as well as with colleagues with whom they have developed strategic relationships because they need the competitive knowledge when talking to prospects. Unless they attend a session like this (or others in a workshop environment), they usually don't realize the importance of it.

Before you can answer all the questions about what makes you different from other financial advisors and their practices, you obviously need to know who they are and a little bit about them, for example:

Who are your direct and indirect competitors?

Who are your remote competitors (outside your immediate circle)?

Which ones will be the most important in your profession five years from now?

Which minor competitors could become immediate threats?

If you work with endowments and foundations, for instance, your competition might be small to mid-sized national consulting firms. If you know other professionals managing money or providing other services to your clients, they are a competitor and should be plotted on your own radar screen.