“We started targeting the utility industry in 1993 during the downsizing of the telecommunications industry,” he says. “Pacific Bell had done quite a bit of hiring 30 years prior, so you had a large number of people in their 50s who were being offered retirement packages to leave the company. We became experts at their pension plans and began to understand all the nuances better than the people in their HR department. We did a lot of educational workshops, and so we became known as the people to go to.”
Sometimes you don’t have to find a niche—it finds you. That’s what happened to Benjamin Yin, principal and co-founder of Generational Financial Partners in Norcross, Ga., which caters to physicians.
“A physician approached me about disability insurance, and when I served him well, he asked me what else I did and how else I could help his family,” Yin says. “He agreed to engage our firm in comprehensive financial planning and, again, we exceeded his expectations. This one physician became my champion and started to introduce me to several of his colleagues. From there, it became a domino effect.” His firm now serves more than 200 such families, which account for 90% of his business.
“You need to have an ‘in’ rather than just picking a niche and deciding you want to work with affluent people,” he says. “Once you’re given the opportunity, you better seize it and never let it go because as soon as you get too comfortable and drop the ball, someone else will be there waiting to pounce.”
Specializing in a niche also makes it easier to market your services.
“When you want to grow faster, rather than just relying upon referrals—which takes years—one of the best ways to attract new clients is to target a specific employer or work group in your city or town,” Hanson says. “When we started, it was faster, easier and less expensive for us to market ourselves in a small environment than it was to market to the masses. We went for the utility companies because they had a large, aging workforce, exceptional retirement benefits and they paid high wages.”
“The No. 1 reason a physician chooses us as their advisor is because we work with people just like them,” Yin says. “Every marketing piece I have solidifies that point: There is no mistaking the market I serve. We speak at countless residency programs throughout the country to ensure that physicians come out of training with a solid financial foundation.”