What’s your niche?
You’ve probably heard this question at conference tables, Zoom meetings, coaching sessions, and more. Developing a niche can help you hone in on your ideal audience and build a strategy that best serves them. The further you can refine your niche, the better you know your audience, and the more tailored and custom your services can be.
Think about it like this. If you were shopping for luxury home decor, you’re likely not going to Target to find it. Target captures a different niche than Crate and Barel or Restoration Hardware. Each of these companies isn’t trying to serve everyone; they create specific products, experience, marketing efforts, etc. to reach their target buyer.
The same is true for your financial planning practice. Our blog today was inspired by our recent webinar Defining Your Niche Market, which featured ACP member Zach Teutsch, founder of Values Added Financial. He took listeners on a journey of how his niche impacted his businesses and the incredible support ACP provided to get his business off the ground.
Why ACP?
Zach said that ACP is a terrific part of his professional life and was invaluable when creating and launching his business back in 2018. As a new firm owner, Zach found the wealth of support, tools, resources, education, and mentorship to be critical to his successful launch and growth over the last several years.
The ACP System gave him a foundation to use proven and reliable systems when constructing his practice. The education and training gave him the tools to be able to run successful client meetings, scripts to demonstrate his value, and proper pricing for his services. He didn’t have to build his practice from scratch; instead he had these resources to get him off the ground.
Since he didn’t need to worry about developing systems and processes from scratch, he was able to focus on making the practice his own and finding a niche that was both inspiring and profitable. What is a niche and how did it help Zach grow? Let’s find out.
Breaking down the niche
A niche is all about intentionally focusing your business. It isn’t just about who you are, but also who you serve. Niches force you to specialize, which can broaden your skills and expertise and give you the chance to be the best at serving a specific group of people.
One thing that was helpful for Zach was knowing that he couldn’t serve everyone. Many of our ACP advisors have found this along the way. Some ACP advisors seek to build lifestyle-focused practices and that niche serves a specific audience. While not perfect for everyone, a niche gives you the freedom and flexibility to specialize in a field that excites you and provides immense value to clients.
With a niche, you are more appealing to the people you want to serve. Think about it, if you specialize in tax planning and preparation for people in the technology industry and all of your experience and online materials directly speak to that audience, you set yourself apart from other generalists out there competing for your clients.
Clients want to work with advisors they trust to have the skills, expertise, and value system that aligns with their own—that’s what makes niches so special. It allows you to be more particular about the type of clients you work with.
What makes a profitable niche?
Zach mentioned three things every niche should do.
- Build trust.
- Increase the ability to serve clients.
- Clarify marketing.
Building trust can be done in a myriad of ways. It’s a unique blend of technical skills and applications, providing high-quality and valuable work, and developing meaningful relationships—all things that ACP has in spades. From the rigorous training materials to our financial planning philosophy, ACP sets up advisors to build trust among their client base.
A strong niche also helps you better serve your clients. Through the ACP System, we teach advisors how to provide the most value in every client interaction.
ACP promotes comprehensive planning, something that Zach found incredibly helpful when fleshing out his practice. Each advisor has their natural inclinations and skills, and ACP seeks to refine those skills. For Zach, it was more experience in the insurance and tax planning side. He found by dedicating the time to become more well-versed in these areas, he accumulated the comprehensive skills needed to provide the most value to his clients.
Proper marketing can better communicate your message and attract your ideal clients. Zach found that developing a niche helped him clarify his message and make intentional updates to his website, blog, social media, newsletters, and other online mediums to reach his audience. ACP members have access to marketing support to help them effectively reach their audience.
The ACP Success Program
Zach credits so much success to the tools, resources, and the community he found through ACP. Here are the top ways he said ACP influenced his practice.
- Contributed to a successful launch
- The training helped him learn how to conduct client meetings, demonstrate value, and have complex client conversations in an approachable and clear manner.
- The ACP pricing tools, such as the fee calculator, helped him set prices right from the start. Pricing, Zach noted, is one of those elements that is crucial to get right as it is tough to change later. ACP’s customizable calculator helped him develop the right pricing strategy for his services and clients.
- Refined fundamental financial planning skills
- Zach found that ACP’s focus on comprehensive planning gave him the time to hone his tax planning skills, something that has been a huge value added for clients over the years.
- ACP plays a major role in making his work truly comprehensive.
- Promoted a strong commitment to community
- The ACP Braintrust was one of the most beneficial elements for Zach. He said that the mentorship program helped him through the most difficult part of his business and that the ongoing relationships he has developed with other ACP advisors are unmatched by any other professional organization.
ACP is committed to helping advisors build profitable practices they love. Zach certainly found that the training and mentorship through ACP helped shape his practice and gave him the tools he needed to flourish.
Are you ready to see what ACP can do for you? Visit www.acplanners.org today!