How to Distinguish Yourself from the Competition as a Plan Advisor

Most of the advisors may do very little to distinguish themselves from the competition. By making yourself stand out from the crowd, you stand a far better chance of winning the business. This can be done by bringing their attention to things other plan advisors are not, like lower cost investment alternatives, issues with fiduciary liability, and using things like benchmarking statistics to illustrate how their plan stacks up against their peers.

I’ve also heard so many bland “elevator speeches” that sound just like everyone else’s. It’s important to keep in mind the goal of the elevator speech. It’s not to close the sale, get an appointment or even look professional (although those are all certainly important). The goal is simply to get them to say, “Tell me more”. It’s to open a dialogue.

Finally, you need to be sure you’re in the right place at the right time. This can be done with a good drip campaign. We did an analysis of our own database going back several years and found that over any 12-month period, roughly 5% of all plans change hands. If you choose 200 plans in your area, “drip” on them once a month with a mailing and a phone call, by the end of the year (statistically speaking) roughly 10 of them will change hands and at least a couple are bound to fall in your lap. With recent concerns about fiduciary liability, it’s predicted that the number is now much higher than 5%.