Advisor Stories: Value messaging with Spurstone

Transcript: I am Shauna Mace, 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. Let's take a look at an example of an advisory firm with strong value messaging. This is Spur Stone, an RE, a firm based in Connecticut with just over $90 million in assets under management as of the end of 2021. Spur Stone became an REA in 2016 and has been a client of SEI since shortly thereafter. According to the firm in 2021, they grew by $20 million in new assets under management and look to continue to grow by finding and adding value through their focus on executives and through their exclusive 10 x executive wealth audit as part of their proprietary audit. If they cannot find 10 times the one time thousand dollars audit fee and savings and value, they will return the fee as Tim Gola, one of the founders shared.

If you don't value what you do, how will your clients listen to my conversation with Tim featured in the Value Messaging course? In this lesson, we're going to take a look at how they are communicating their value effectively on their website. When we look at their website, this is what we call above the fold. The first thing you see without scrolling down, most made your buying decisions start online. By the time you're talking to a prospect, even a referral, they're likely 50% or more through their buying decision, and they've most likely started on your website. In general, when a new visitor lands on your website, you have about 10 to 20 seconds to engage them. Something has to resonate either what you do, how you do it, or that you do it for people like them. Your website is often your first impression, and it can make or break your chances of getting an initial conversation and converting them into a client.

The content above the full matters a lot. There are a few things that Spur Stone is doing really well above the fold. What do you see that's working here? First, they're not overwhelming visitors with information or text. They're using a hero image that supports their ideal client persona, any guests who they serve. Second, they're highlighting front and center, the most visited page on an advisor's website, the team or about Us page. Finally, they're providing clear CTAs or calls to action. Three, to be exact specifically, I love that they offer a call to action that's targeting their ideal client persona executives. They're already trying to deliver relevant value through a 10 x executive wealth audit. If didn't click on one of the three calls to actions, you've likely scrolled, and this is what you'll find next just below the fold. This is a great example of succinctly highlighting all the key components of strong value messaging.

It's clear who they serve, executives, what they provide. They help build and provide lasting wealth, how they do it through high impact guidance, authentic partnership, and their proven five step, 10 x executive wealth plan. They even provide validation. They have a proven process and have consulted over 1000 executive compensation and wealth plans. It's differentiated. They're using their niche and experience to stand out as expert financial professionals for executives. Their look and feel also stands out from many advisor websites. There's no generic stock images and their website is orange and blue, bright and modern. We are always looking for strategic partnerships and integrations with third parties. To add value to your advisory business, if you use any of s e's technologies, custodial or investment services, you have access to S e's. Full list of strategic partnerships. Access an overview of our strategic partnership program from any page in the Growth lab. If you are inspired to build or update your website and messaging after seeing this example, check out our list of marketing partners. There are a few who may be able to help by completing the value messaging framework. In the next lesson, you'll be well positioned to update your messaging on your own or with a marketing partner. Get started developing effective messaging using the value messaging framework tool in the next lesson. See you there.