The problem in financial services is that we have continually demonstrated the wrong thing.  We have shown performance charts, mountain charts, diversification presentations, sales literature, and fancy brochures but they are not demonstrations, they are all selling tools and at times, not to be trusted, hence, for internal use only.

So what do you demonstrate?  What is a concrete, discernable and trustworthy demonstration that helps sell your services? Until Supernova, they were difficult to find, if ever found. But now….

Every Supernova FA or team has a powerful tool to demonstrate value to clients, prospects and centers of influence.  It is the surprisingly simple Supernova folder system.

No…not the folder system from the dawn of manila folders; the bulging and beat-up pale yellowish tan flimsy paper ones. Not those folded, creased, and bent out of shape, bad boys.  No….not those.  It is the Supernova, hardboard, professional folders that every Supernova FA knows about.

Your Supernova folders are a demonstration of a trustworthy business model of superior client service. Both the FA folder and the clients’ folders are a visible and sensory demonstration of what is different and value-added in your practice.  They demonstrate your commitment to client relationship, client care and continued, regular conversation and follow through.

Not to use the folders is to give up one of your most meaningful and proven sales tools. The power of a demonstration to attract your clients and prospects to your upgraded and client-focused Supernova practice can turn your practice green.

That is one of the reasons we use folders for everyone…clients, prospects, centers of influence and mastermind groups. Yes, they keep your business organized and efficient. They make your day automated and manageable.  Sorry for the poor attempt at humor, but the folders are no laughing matter (unless you still use the old manila ones).  Never forget the power of a demonstration to effectively market your Supernova practice.  Green is Good.  You will grow more, be more professional with the Supernova folder system.

Supernova’s acquisition strategy encompasses seven elements that will make your business grow and flourish in any market. In the following stages you will study and implement these techniques into your practice.

The first element is the 90-day free look. Supernova originally suggested you have a 90-prospect pipeline which is a good idea, but for some FA’s, not what they needed. One FA who misheard Rob’s coaching turned 90-propects into a 90-day free trial you gave to a prospect so they could take you for a ‘test ride’ if they were still uncertain about making a commitment. It was so successful we incorporated it into our program.

The second element is networking with six Center’s of Influence. These are people in your community, a niche or even a very good client that are willing to refer business to you on a regular basis without being asked. Each advisor on your team should have six COI’s that they meet with regularly. We will get into the details as to how to identify, approach, and meet with them in a separate stage.

The third element is a four-person Mastermind Group. Your Mastermind Group isn’t to be confused with the much larger advisory board. This group is made up of like-minded people that you become very close and support the growth of your practice

The fourth element is membership on two community or nonprofit boards. You will pick these based on your interests and your client’s interests.

The fifth element is the development of two niches. These can be natural or target niches. You define your idea client and create a niche from there.

The sixth element is growing your social network. Linked In, a business website, Facebook and Twitter, and Instagram are all opportunities for building your market and becoming known and trusted in your community.

The seventh element is using the Introduction technique to ask clients about recommending you to their friends and business associates

How was this term Niche Mastermind created?   Let me tell you a story: I was coaching an FA that wanted to know more about setting up a Mastermind group.  After we finished he went to his CPA to say he was setting up a Mastermind Group, and ask if he’d like to join.

The CPA said, “I don’t want to join yours but you may want to join ours. We have a group focused on helping physicians sell their practices to hospitals. In our group we have a realtor, business broker, myself who does the business valuation as the CPA and an attorney to write up the papers. What we need now is a financial person to deal with the proceeds of these business sales. The average sale is $5 million. What do you think?”

The FA was clearly thrilled! He couldn’t wait to tell me all about it. He said it wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t asked the CPA about the Mastermind Group. I realized this whole group was a mastermind group focused on a niche! I thought, wow, what a great idea, now let’s formalize it. I had never seen the two strategies put together to complement each other. A great marketing breakthrough.

Where do you starts?  Mastermind or Niche?  I think you start with the niche and build from there. Once you have identified your niches you can start to build upon them by putting together a niche mastermind group for each niche. This is defined as a group of professionals who serve the different needs of a particular client. An example of this is a small business who is looking to sell or a group of doctors who are selling themselves to a hospital. You can be a huge help. Your niche mastermind group might include all the specialties needed to serve the client who is selling their business. It consists of a business broker to auction off the group to the highest bidder, a lawyer to draw up the papers, a CPA to take care of the taxes, the FA to do the planning and investing, and the realtor to sell the building.

Virtually any niche can have a Mastermind Group serving it!  Public companies such as Roche, Lilly, Abbott, Proctor and Gamble, UBS and other private small business are all good examples.

By coincidence I was introduced to Mike Razor, a local CPA, to discuss the selling of a friend’s small business. He started the meeting telling me about his Mastermind group that helps with the sale of businesses. He had a similar group to the previous story plus two consultants that help people get ready for the sale of their businesses (they help clean up businesses to make them as attractive and profitable as it should be before they put them on the market) They have a CPA, attorney, financial advisor and a business broker. After hearing Mike’s story, I decided to add this to my coaching sessions. I believe every team should have a mastermind group devoted to helping small businesses with their liquidity event.

If you had a niche at an aerospace company, such as Boeing, you could put together a group that works in that industry including a automation specialty company, an architect that designs buildings for Boeing, the relocation expert for Boeing, a former Naval admiral, an airline CEO, and the CEO of Boeing’s metal refinishing provider. You would be the benefits and planning expert for the executive suite. Your group of experts would all be able to address all aspects of the business and problem solve for each other.

What differentiates a Niche Mastermind group from enthusiastically endorsed providers?   Your mastermind group participants are going to bond and connect enough to trust each other. There is an implied (or written) acknowledged code of conduct addressing confidentiality or nondisclosure. There will be an appointed leader who will do outreach to prospective members and create a means for group members to communicate. They will choose a meeting place and time and remind the others. You may require members to contribute dollars into a common pool that is used to cover everything from administration to software to the facilities for the group meetings. If you have a formal name It may require registering it in the state you are in. And you should have a process to add and remove members.

Exercise

  1. Form a group of professionals to service a niche.
  2. Identify the niche
  3. Identify who would be a good fit
  4. Identify who of those that are a good fit would bring their energy to the group
  5. Set the group and give it one year to see if you can function as a unit

 

In coaching we always ask the question, ‘what are your niches?’.  An FA might say, business men or retirees.  But that isn’t specific enough! A niche is a highly specialized group of people working in the same industry, career, interest or commonality.

Narrow that down even more. If you said ‘Doctors’ define what specialty, if you said CPAs, identify a firm(s) or by age, seniority or years to retire.  If your niche is retired people, ask yourself ‘retired from what? ‘ One of my FAs specializes in widows of HNW individuals.

To take it a step further, there are two kinds of niches, natural niches and target niches. Natural niches are where you came from before you were an advisor. You may have started out as a CPA, insurance agent or played professional sports. That would be your natural niche. You will know your clients’ and prospects’ ‘language’ in that field and how to advise them with the uniqueness of their business. You know where to find them, how to approach them and important industry conventions they might attend. If for example, you came from Proctor and Gamble you might be targeting executives and board members or a specialty like scientists or researchers. This can really be all you need to do in your practice. You do well with that group because you came from the culture. You speak the language, you understand the people and you certainly understand the benefit. You know their benefit program as well as their HR director. You are an authority they can trust.

Target niches are those people that have something in common. They might be a yacht club, bicycling group or, as in the example above, widows. It could also be people interested in supporting a nonprofit like the opera or symphony. Always pick a target niche based on your interests. If you aren’t into sailing then the local sailing club would be a bad fit. You want to make sure that the niche you choose will generate the kind of clients that meet your minimum. If it does and you enjoy it, then that is your target group.

Usually FAs have found clients throughout their career that will fit into a niche category without even realizing it! Now is the time to understand who you have and how to duplicate those people. Be sure and take the time to understand the mechanics of any niche you choose. If you decide you want to target cardiologists interview one or two of them to understand their needs and concerns and how you can help them. You also need to know how to fit into their schedule a monthly update meeting, how they save for retirement, their investment style and all the other nuances of their business.

Once you have identified your niches you can start purposefully developing them by approaching a client that is already in the niche and ask for a few minutes of their time. You let them know you are interested in having more clients like them. Here are some sample reasons.

You then say, “Does it make sense to you to add more (business owners) to my practice?”  More than likely, he/she will say yes.

That is when you ask the key question: “If you were me, how would you go about adding more (business owners) to my practice?”

Then you keep quiet and listen.  Let the business owner, in this case, tell you how to get in front of other business owners.

If the business owner has no ideas you say, “Thanks for thinking about it.  Never forget, I am never too busy to help people like you.”  The worst outcome is that you have planted the seed that you would like to have more business owners in your practice.

It also helps to become known and trusted in your community. Your reputation will grow as you infiltrate your niche and become the specialist they all want to talk to.

TO SUMMARIZE:

EXERCISE

Take a minute now to write down 2 -3 niches you identify for yourself:

Write down your natural niches:

Write down your current or potential target niches:

Now look at your current clients and see how many fit into these categories. Do you have a mishmash of clients or are you focusing on specific commonalities? Which of these niches to you want to develop more?

 

 

 

 

The term ‘Mastermind Group’ was first coined by Napoleon Hill in his book, Think and Grow Rich. It refers to a group of four peers who meet on a regular basis to exchange ideas and contacts with the purpose of helping each other be successful through everyone’s unique perspective, knowledge and diverse experiences and contacts.
For your Supernova Mastermind Group you can create a group where each member is from different industries or you can create a niche mastermind where the four people are uniquely qualified in one industry. The Mastermind Group serves as a four-member support team and resource for growing your business through the different perspectives, unique knowledge and diverse experiences and contacts of your peers that are in industries different than yours.

How do you go about putting together a Mastermind Group? You first choose one person that is a close friend and has similar aspirations to your own. He or she is someone you would invite over for a Sunday barbeque and that your families enjoy spending time together. He or she could be a neighbor, former classmate or colleague. The two of you choose a third person and then the three of you choose a fourth. It is important you choose people who are comfortable sharing their feelings and concerns with a group. Commitment to confidentiality is also very important.

It is a good idea to formalize some rules for your group and have these guidelines written up and signed by everyone. They can include confidentiality of information presented, required participation, the meeting place, follow through on goals you set, open and truthful sharing and having an assigned ‘leader’ to keep everyone on task. It is important to have a regular meeting time and place that everyone can put on his or her calendar. It also can be important to touch base between meetings to make sure everyone is following up on the actions discussed at the meeting.

The structure for meetings is based on personal preference. However, these are a few of the suggestions that have proven to work over time.

1. A 90-minute monthly meeting with everyone sharing. First 15 minutes would provide an opportunity to check in by sharing successes or wins during the last month and a brief recap of their progress. Then each member would have 15 minutes to share their goals/challenges and get feedback and suggestions from the group. This would be an opportunity to bring up important business issues and get advice and support that would help you move forward. The last 15 minutes would allow each member to state his or her commitment and actions that they will take that month to move toward their goals. This kind of structure would require a moderator to make sure everyone was heard.

2. A 90-minute monthly meeting with one person presenting. Each person would have 5 – 15 minutes to check in and update everyone on his or her progress for that month. Then the balance of the time is spent on one person who presents their project/business and gets feedback on it. In this scenario, each person takes turns being the focus of attention for the rest of the session thus every four months each individual would have a turn to present.
3. Yearly the group goes to an out-of-town location for 2-3 days and combines regular sessions with a guest speaker and other activities like golf or tennis.

Similar to a peer advisory board, there is a synergy of energy, commitment and excitement that participants bring to a Mastermind Group. However, a Mastermind Group can be more effective because of its size. It takes courage to participate but the rewards are many. Participants find they raise the bar by challenging each other to create and implement goals and support each other with total honesty, respect and compassion. They are each other’s devil’s advocate and a catalyst for growth. Many high-powered business associations such as YPO use this technique to their advantage. The time is right for financial advisors to get in the game and leverage this technique to their advantage.

We will discuss niches in the next step but briefly a Niche Mastermind Group focuses on providing an all-encompassing service to similar clients. For example, my CPA is in a Mastermind Group that consists of a banker, a business broker and a venture fund capitalist. If you are seeking a way to purchase, sell or fund a business the four of them could do it for you. Another FA we worked with is in a Mastermind group specializing on doctors selling their practice. They have a person to do the business evaluation, a lawyer who draws up the papers for the sale, a realtor that is involved in the sale of their present location and a CPA who specialized in helping doctors with tax issues associated with the sale of a practice. The FA’s role was to be the expert on what to do with the proceeds of the sale.

TO SUMMARIZE:
• Choose the first person to be in your group
• The two of you choose a third and fourth person
• Write out some guidelines for the group
• Meet monthly with an agenda

If you need help read Chapter 7 in The Supernova Multiplier

EXERCISE

If you don’t already have a Mastermind Group start assembling one by writing down what you would like to get out of one and choose one candidate to approach. The two on you can work on the rest together!

Ask yourself these questions: Do we communicate well? Are we both in a position to help each other professionally? What will the guidelines be for our meetings?

Are you thinking about creating or joining a Mastermind Group?

There’s no better referral source than a Mastermind Group because all of your introductions will be high-quality and the probability of closing them is going to be dramatically higher. These referrals are going to be a great fit because the members of this group know you the best. Every person in your group is going to have very high credibility. These are the best of the best. And like a good wine, this will just get better over the years.

An example of that in action is from an advisor we have worked with over the years:

“This is an excellent way to make deep friendships, but it can be hard for people because they’re so busy. It’s not golf; you really get a chance to share business challenges with each other and help each other to solve them and create that third mind. We are very selective about who we choose to bring into our small group. It’s important to get it right the first time. You want people who are like-minded with positive energy and a positive attitude about helping each other build their businesses. If there’s not that collaborative process, I don’t think it works. In one group I have been in for twenty-five years, we still answer the 3 questions:  1. What’s new; 2. What do I have to give; and 3. What do I need?”

There are a variety of ways to organize your group, but the constants I’ve found that balance everything are structure, leadership, people willing to share their goals and their obstacles to reaching those goals, a confidential climate, and an 85% attendance minimum. You should also have unanimous acceptance of new members, and you have to be consistent about firing people. That doesn’t mean that that person can’t continue to be a friend or a COI but they just can’t be part of the Mastermind Group.

My friend Bill Cates has six overarching principles that will guide you through the process:

  1. The concept of the mastermind is that third mind. It’s hard to solve problems and come up with solutions in a vacuum. It can happen sometimes. Sometimes just walking down the road we have an “ah ha moment.” What I’ve learned is that if we have a problem, an issue, there’s a good chance there are other people who’ve had the same problem, same issue. We just need to find out who they are and we need to tap into that. That’s the power of broad networking and making sure we know a lot of people in our industry and outside of our industry as well. We get an industry-think sometimes that we have to be careful about. For me, I have three Mastermind Groups. One group I’ve had for a long time.
  2. The whole idea is to share an idea, something that’s working.We have different agendas different times it seems, but the basic principle in most meetings is to bring an idea that’s working for us that we share with others. We talk to each other and review each other about that idea. How can I make that idea apply to my business? Sometimes someone will say X and it triggers Y in our brain. We don’t know why it triggers another idea. It relates somehow and we make that investment in time worthwhile.
  3. We bring a challenge. One of the keys of a good functional Mastermind Group is the willingness to put our ego at the door and not try to be there to impress everybody and to come with a challenge.
  4. Come open-minded and with a little bit of vulnerability and be willing to take on other thinking and not “pooh-pooh” somebody’s idea too quickly. One of the things I’ve also learned that’s helped me with the mastermind is that if somebody is having success with something—let’s say they’re doing Supernova. I see someone’s having success with Supernova but I can’t seem to make it work. I’m struggling to making this happen. What’s the difference in George having success and me not? It’s my beliefs, my belief system. I’ve got a limited belief; a mistaken
    assumption somewhere along the way that’s keeping me from somehow engaging in a process that other people have proven to work. That’s the mindset we need to bring to the Mastermind. We have limiting thinking.
  5. Remember, we all have blind spots. One guy in my Mastermind Group calls it a scotoma (that’s the medical word for a blind spot). Another guy says, “it’s hard to see the picture when you’re in the frame.” It’s the value over time of these other people that builds these trusting relationships where you know each member of the group has your best interest at heart. Any kind of critique, constructive criticism or questioning of your assumptions is coming from the place of wanting you to be successful. That takes time to develop. Time is a critical element. Then we can start to see those blind spots that maybe we kind of sensed were there but didn’t really know. We don’t know what we don’t know. That’s one of the powers of the groups, to find those blind spots and dissolve those things away for each other. Pretty much every Mastermind Group I’ve gotten into has started purely on the business level, but has always gotten to the point where we started to talk about other stuff in our life. It’s all blended anyway.
  6. That being said, some incredible friendships build from these things as well. I have one group, we meet quarterly for a full day; we used to meet monthly; we’re local. I have two other groups that meet twice a year and we’re in different parts of the country so we rotate around where we meet. Those usually are day-and-a-half meetings to get a lot of good work done. Whenever someone thinks they’re the smartest person in the room, they always discount the advice from other people. There are probably some people reading this nodding their head because they know somebody like that. Other people are wondering if they suffer from that phenomenon. You have to all be committed to each other’s growth. You have to be committed to leaving your ego aside and not trying to impress each other. Some of that slips in, I get that. We’re sharing wins with each other, but it has to come from that place of caring about helping the other person and also looking to get help.

Read more about Mastermind groups and other acquisition techniques in “The Supernova Multiplier” by Rob Knapp.

By Curtis Brown

Focus your prospecting efforts on specific niche markets to acquire more clients.

Do you want to master 20 different markets or just a few? You can’t be an expert in everything nor can you be all things to all people. You may have started in the business accepting any client that was living, breathing, and had a pulse. Sound familiar? Many of us started that way. Over time, the business began to control us rather than the other way around. Perhaps you have fallen into the trap of being a jack of all trades and a master of none. Maybe you haven’t really thought much about the value of establishing a specific niche market or a means to differentiate yourself. It’s not enough to have impeccable product knowledge or excellent relationship skills in today’s competitive environment. You need to have intimate knowledge of the client segments you are going after. Having an area of specialization might be a means to differentiate yourself from everyone else and demonstrate your unique value. We live in a world of mass commoditization of products and services. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd. It requires a change in how we go after and establish new markets and acquire new clients.

What’s a Niche Market?

A niche market is defined as concentrating your marketing efforts on the specific needs of a segment or subset of the population. The needs of this segment are either not being met or are being poorly met by other service providers. This is where your background and experience can add value. It’s not enough to just focus on CPAs, Attorneys, or Business Owners, for example. You must drill down on specific subsets in these categories. Some advisors make the decision to focus on a company by getting familiar with the Human Resources department. They then get an understanding of the benefits offered to employees, stock plans, stock options, 401k’s, and deferred compensation plans. They read trade journals, research reports and position themselves as experts on the companies benefits. You must spend time educating yourself on employee or executive needs and have a clear understanding of their business. This will enable you to add value beyond the recommendation of a product or service.

How to Identify Pain Points? 

What are the pain points of a business owner, for example? You must be prepared to ask some fundamental questions. How is the cash-flow currently being managed? Is there some seasonality to the business when cash-flow is strongest? Are there retention strategies to keep key employees? I’m sure you can identify more questions to ask and then think about the potential solutions in your repertoire of services. By asking the appropriate questions you are beginning to understand the “pain points” of the business. “Pain Points” are areas that frustrate the client or buyer. Your goal is to eliminate the pain. Recall the feeling after leaving a prospect meeting and you didn’t quite connect on an emotional level. Perhaps you didn’t uncover any significant pain points during your discussion. By establishing yourself as a solutions provider you will gain the confidence of those in your niche and obtain quality referrals.

Become an Expert in a Niche

How do you move beyond a superficial understanding of your niche market to more of an expert? You must invest the time by interviewing people that work in or serve these niche markets. You must read industry trade journals and publications. Attendance at industry-specific conferences will enable you to keep current with what’s being discussed in your niche market as well as meet important connections. Immerse yourself and get educated on the markets you decide to pursue. Some sample journals that are industry specific are Tech Crunch for technology-related businesses and Business Management Daily that discusses issues relating to the small business owner. Additionally, review the attached web publication to see a list of journals under each market niche. ((https://www.webwire.com/IndustryList.asp) For those of you interested in pursuing the non-profit sector, here’s a list of trade journals you might find useful. (https://www.nonprofitexpert.com/publications/)

Develop Centers of Influence

Once you have reached a so-called expert or very knowledgeable status in terms of your level of understanding of this niche, you can now focus on developing centers of influence that can support your efforts in cultivating your market. A center of influence moves in the prospect or client circles you are going after. They can make valuable personal introductions to the prospects you want to meet.  We all need allies of support. Staying current and up to date on your market(s) can eventually provide huge rewards.

Specialize in a Specific Niche

I work with a Financial Advisor in the southwest who specializes in pensions and retirement plan services for businesses. The team receives referrals from CPAs, attorneys, and pension consultants. They have defined their expertise and value proposition as “providing strategic wellness solutions for their clients”. Other members of the team are developing an expertise in the philanthropic services area. The team subscribes to several online trade journals and stays close to the heartbeat of change and industry challenges in their niche markets. The results have been phenomenal with new assets, clients, and referrals.

Do Your Homework

To develop your niche market, do your homework and get immersed in the needs of your market. Review trade journals and publications that are specific to your niche. Identify and review blogs and vlogs. Conduct a Google search and undercover useful market intelligence that will help you expand your brand identity and engagement in these markets. Brainstorm with a client or center of influence. Be conversant on issues that the prospect in this niche might find helpful, such as social media marketing, business strategy, and human resources. These are areas that you can opine on that add value. Find the “pain points” and you will be on your way to more success in your client acquisition efforts.

referral_minute-130x150Rob Knapp interviews Bill Cates, author of the Referral Minute Newsletter.
Bill has revolutionized the way financial professionals generate an abundance of high-quality referrals. You can visit him at http://www.referralcoach.com
 

 
 
 
 
 

“Asking for Introductions” – an Interview with Rob Knapp and Bill Cates

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