Divorce Attorneys

Your little sister just called while you were driving in your car. For years she has been beaten, cheated on, and has now at last been abandoned by her loser, jobless, alcoholic husband. She has asked you to recommend an attorney. You knew this day would come. She and her husband are constantly moving from rental to rental, they are always blowing up at family gatherings, and they are raising a couple of brats (your nieces). Just then you pass a billboard that reads: Call Lawyers Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe – Bankruptcy, Speeding Tickets, Criminal Defense, Wills and Trusts, Personal Injury, Tax Planning, and Divorce. You think to yourself, well, I suppose they could handle things.  Then, you pass another billboard that reads: Colleen N. Army, Divorce Attorney – A Pit Bull in High Heels and Lipstick. Who are you going to check out? The lesson here is that a jack-of-all-trades is a master-of-none. When people are hiring a financial advisor, they want a trained specialist, not someone who can’t focus.

Branding your Practice

The name of our practice is Senior Partners, LLC. Our tagline is: Planning for Mature Investors. Prospective clients immediately know who we are and what we do.  Don’t name your practice something tired and nebulous like The Amalgamated Diversified Financial Planning Company or the one-size-fits-all Investments Are Us. Instead, use your own name in the name of the business, or allude to your target client, like my good friend Megan Phelps, whose practice is named Empress Investment Group. Yep, you guessed it. She works with women and wants them to feel like royalty.

Our value proposition is: Innovative financial planning for mature investors who value alternative investments, comprehensive wealth management, and a personal and intimate relationship with their advisor. We arrange our clients’ portfolios and affairs so they can generate robust income, ignore the stock market, live life again, and leave an enduring legacy. Don’t use terms like integrity, honesty, and loyalty to describe your attributes (yawn). Everybody expects and demands those kinds of things. Instead, lay out for your prospective clients exactly what you plan to do if they call you. Set an expectation in your branding and then proceed to deliver it with verve and aplomb. You need to be known for something. Now, I know that some of you are thinking, “He’s crazy. That will never work. He is leaving all kinds of business on the table because he is alienating everyone outside his client profile.” People who say something cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

Kids and their Toys

We’ve all seen kids playing together. Things start to fall apart when one kid picks up a toy and another kid realizes he has just lost the option of playing with that toy. Often, a fight ensues. The second kid snatches the toy from the first kid, and the first kid fights to get it back. We all want what we can’t have; it’s human nature. Being exclusive means setting some limits and narrowing your focus. But, it doesn’t mean you can’t take on other clients and work. Here’s a common conversation in my conference room.

Client: Noel, we love what you do for us. You have changed our lives.

Me: Thank you. You are very kind. I love working with you. I am pleased to be of some value.

Client: Say, we were wondering. Do you only work with retirees with a lot of money?

Me: Tell me what you’re getting at.

Client: Well, my brother could sure use your help.  But, he isn’t retired yet. Would you be willing to meet with him?

Me: Certainly.

Client: But, he doesn’t have as much money as we do.

Me: If he is important to you, then he is important to me. I always accept every referral from my clients.

Client: Will you call him? We can give you his contact information.

Me: When he is ready, ask him to give me a call. We will take good care of him.

Being exclusive raises your stock, identifies you as an expert or specialist, and makes you desirable. Being exclusive helps you build a unique brand. Being exclusive puts you in the position of picking and choosing which prospects you’d like to work with and what sort of work you’d like to do. Don’t be a general practitioner. Carve out a niche for yourself, and go for it!