Lesson 1 | Key Components of Strong Messaging

Transcript: Welcome to the first lesson in the Value Messaging course. In this lesson, you will learn why impactful messaging matters to your business and the key components of strong messaging. Each lesson in the Growth Lab is short and interactive. We will help you start to take action right away. This lesson's about 10 minutes long. There's a quick assessment at the end which will help you understand how your current messaging measures up against the best practices outlined in this lesson. To make the most of the lesson, make sure you have the value messaging scorecard on hand, either electronically or in hard copy. You can access the scorecard in the value messaging course page on the Growth Lab. I'm Shauna Mays, head of Practice Management at SEI, our mission Simple. It's to help you and your team grow. At SEI, we're focused on creating better and braver futures together.

Welcome to lesson one. Let's get started. We know that what and how you communicate matters. In a 2019 Y charts investors communications study, they found that 85% of the more than 650 respondents reported that their advisor's frequency and style of communications impacted their willingness to refer and to stay with their financial advisor. In short, communications impacts referrals and retention. Let's take a deeper dive on the impact of communications and growth. According to Investment News 2020 Pricing and Profitability study, which surveyed about 250 advisory firms with the medium assets under management of around $300 million and about $2 million in revenue. Of those firms, 75% of organic growth came from referrals. What does this have to do with messaging? Highly referable firms discuss their ideal clients, their needs and what differentiates them often and with their teams. We found that in our own research in our REFERABILITY Index white paper.

Furthermore, advisors make the same promises according to 60% of the almost 600 high net worth investors surveyed in 2014 by BNY Mellon Pershing. Why does this matter today? The buying process starts online. A prospect is likely more than 50% through their decision-making process before they meet with you. Clearly highlighting your differentiators or uniques as Gino Wickman refers to them in his book, traction can help you stand out and increase your chances of getting a first meeting. What about retention? 85% of the investors surveyed in the Y chart study agreed that frequency and style of communications impacted their decision to stay. Your women and second generation clients are especially at a high risk of leaving what and how you communicate can help you retain your clients, especially those less traditionally sticky clients like women and younger generations, or your client's, children, grandchildren.

In the next lesson, we're going to walk through an exercise to help you build your value messaging, but before we do, it's important that you understand what drives strong value messaging, and we'll share some examples of an advisor who has figured it out in another lesson. So there are some key components of strong value messaging. Value messaging that's strong is clear. Clear means it's clear to the reader who, what, why, and how. Who is who you serve, specifically your ideal client. If you need help developing a refining your ideal client profile, check out the persona course in the Growth Lab. When you define who you serve, you can hone in on their specific needs, which can help make your messaging even more relevant. What are the services you provide in the expertise you and your team have? Specifically in your messaging, you want to focus on how what you do helps to address your ideal client's needs.

It's also important to identify your uniques, which we'll cover in more detail shortly. Why? What's in it for them specifically, what is the impact of working with you? We know from investor research that investors value both financial and emotional outcomes. It's important to address both in your value messaging. Case in point, according to A DFA 2017 Global Investor Insights study, the top attributes investors consider most important in an advisor relationship is investment returns in client service experience. The same study reports that investors', top measures of value received from their advisor was sense of security, piece of mind, and a knowledge of my personal financial situation. As you can see, what investors think is important versus what they value may be different. This is another reason to hone in on your ideal client. When you identify a distinct group of people, you can provide more specifics on services, approach and impact.

It's hard to meet everyone's needs based on a number of research reports as well as experience. There are some general themes that are important to highlight, which many investors value. Many investors value a one-stop shop, which offers more than just investment advice. Consumer behavior and expectations continue to evolve based on their experience within and outside of the financial service industry. Thanks to companies like Amazon and Netflix, consumers also value a personalized experience and communications. This is especially true for women and younger generations. They also value peace of mind and confidence in their situation, and finally, they value meeting their goals. To clearly articulate your value, you need to explain how you do what you do. You could do this like Spur Stone, an advisory firm, an SEI client since 2016, who we feature in the next lesson. They highlight their value through their proprietary process on their website, on their homepage of their website.

Spur Stone showcases their five step 10 x executive wealth plan, which is a process they use with executives, their ideal client. Or you may provide an overview of what it means to be a client at your firm. The point is to demystify how you will fulfill your promises. Be transparent, set clear expectations, and don't leave your prospects and clients guessing what you'll do for them. Strong value messaging is distinctive. It clearly offers and articulates your uniques, the differentiated and relevant value you provide versus other advisors. Why you? For many advisors, identifying your uniques can be hard. There is enormous competition and a lot of planning and investment work has become commoditized. Here are some places to look where you may have differentiation. This can be one of the hardest things to do, is to identify what helps you stand out. Is it who you serve?

Especially if you're the only one serving a specific niche or client profile in your geographic area. This is a compelling reason to continue to refine your ideal client persona. If you need help, again, check out the Ideal Client Profile course in the Growth Lab. Do you stand out because of a professional specialization or expertise? Do you have unique experience based on your past certifications or designations that add value to your unique ideal clients? Maybe you have an estate attorney on staff, or you specialize in a planning topic such as tax or life planning for your ideal client, and finally, you may be your best. Don't underestimate the power of simply showing up as yourself. There is only one you out there. What's your story? What are your values? This is a service industry. Relationships and trust matter a lot. Often when I work with advisors to help them stand out authentically, it comes down to leaning into their own.

Why? Shared experiences, values, and mission can lead to powerful connections. A very talented and experienced financial service brand marketer once told me, advisors really need to be honest and candid with themselves first, and then others. What do they do that really sets them apart? Creating holistic financial plans is not a differentiator. I challenge you to be brave enough to push yourself, show some vulnerability, make a promise that you truly believe in, and then deliver on it. If you still aren't sure what makes you unique, ask for input. Ask your team clients you want to replicate. Ask other trusted outsiders from their perspective. What do you do differently? Ask them, what do I do differently? Why did you choose to work with us? What do you value most in our relationship? If you find that you don't really have any compelling uniques, that's okay. It's an opportunity.

What can you do that your ideal clients really value? Is there a gap in your market? Strong value messaging is consistent. You'll find the same key messaging in a firm's marketing on their website, social media profiles, and in conversations across all team members and even their professional partners and clients, if they're very consistent. Download the value messaging implementation checklist to ensure you're consistently updating and implementing your messaging. We'll talk more about that in the coach and close video if you want your key messages to stick in someone's memory. Repetition is key, which is why it's important to consistently say the same things over and over again. Add visuals to support your key messaging on your website and social media profiles or in your marketing to further enhance its sticking in others' minds. Finally, strong messaging is validated. Words are free. Evidence isn't by showing, not just telling you bring power to your promises.

As you'll see in the value messaging framework exercise, you want to amplify the impact of what you say with evidence. Now that you know the components of strong value messaging, it's time to put your messaging to the test. Use the messaging scorecard tool, which is available in the value messaging course to assess your messaging. How do you score? Where are there opportunities to improve your messaging? Head to the next lesson in the SEI Growth Lab value messaging course. To see strong value messaging in action on an advisor's website, hear how Spur Stone a RIA based in Connecticut developed and implemented their value messaging. Or you can skip to lesson three to learn how to use the value messaging framework worksheet and begin to develop your value messaging.