Do you often wonder, “why my client is not happy in spite of putting in my best?”

At times there are evident circumstances when you have not been able to deliver results and stand up to his expectations, but at times the client simply wants to switch to another advisor without any visible reason, leaving you wonder what went wrong.

The gap between what you are offering and what he is looking forward to, is the answer to your question.

The clients have various reasons to do so, which we do not recognize. The most common causes are listed as follows:

Mistakes: If you have committed mistakes in handling your clients' investments, it goes against professional standards. You tend to forget or overlook things about the client which might not be material for you but he is sensitive to. Even if you rectify the mistakes, repeated errors create a negative image of yours in the mind of your client. The investor entrusts you with his personal data and improper handling of the same leads to loss of trust.

Lack of like mindedness: The client is looking to hear what he believes in. A mismatch in personality can also lead to loss of clientele. The client might have a conservative approach and you are the one who believes in maximum wealth creation by investing in equities for a long term. Or because dissimilar outlook, you two are not able to strike a conversation. Your ideals do not match and therefore the client walks away.

Not sounding concerned: If you seem to place your product before the customer's goals, even if the product is best suited for him, he would stop believing in you. Your words should be carefully chosen and should convey that you are genuinely interested in his needs and goals. You should be all ears when he speaks. At any point you should not give the impression of diverting from your basic goal: Customer Satisfaction.

Overcommitment: Customers do not like advisors who overcommit and then underperform. Since no one knows for sure how will the investments fare, it is better to play safe. You can use historical performance as an illustration to market the product, you can narrate the strong fundamentals. But promising a certain percentage of future returns even when the markets are going good can put you in a fix if the winds change their direction.

Performance: This is an obvious reason for a dissatisfied client. The client would not want his portfolio to be a consistent underperformer. There are bad times in the market and all portfolios are bound to fall, though at different accelerations and there are good times, when the portfolios are supposed to rise. If the client is not able to make money even in good times, then there is a problem with his portfolio. So, you should stick to fundamentals of good investment while devising his portfolio.

Promptness: When the markets fall, your clients lose money and they are bound to panic. They need their advisor the most at this point, and the advisor doesn't respond to his calls or mails. At times, the advisors are so busy with their newer clients, that they lose touch with the existing ones. They do not call and are late in responding to calls or forget to call back at all. There are situations when you are targeting a lead, and he told you he would call back and doesn't call or call back too late at his ease. You don't feel too good about it, your client is also in a similar situation. So always be prompt in responding to your clients, make it a point to respond to calls or mails within a fixed time, say 2 hours. You will build a genuine image of yours in the mind of the client.

Communication Gap: This is another prominent cause which diverts the clients from you. You are trying to convey something and the client receives something else. You do not understand what the client wants and devise a plan which is totally of track. Quality and Quantity of communication matters in advisory role. You must make sure that he receives what you intend to give and vice versa. The client may not tell you directly but you have to understand from his gestures, you have to read his mind to be his perfect advisor.

A financial advisor is a friend for life. Your relationship with the client can last a lifetime if you do it right, try to avoid the mistakes as narrated above while dealing with your clients. Your client can take losses but he certainly can't take negligence, lack of responsiveness and communication and inefficiency on your part.

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Out of India's total perimeter of 15,200 km, almost half is bordered by the sea, and our country has a number of beautiful beaches and landscapes, yet Goa is the boss, when it comes to beachside New Year's celebration. Ever wondered why? It is because of the unique feel good factor it extends to the visitors, which none does. Goa's culture encompasses it's clubs, clean beaches, the latest fashion, great seafood, water sports, the sunburn festival, and collectively it draws tourists from not just India but from the world into 'the Goan spirit'. This feel good factor or the Goan spirit is the Unique Selling Proposition of Goa.

Simply put, your USP is a set of your unique characteristics which places you one step up from your peers.

When you meet a prospective client for the first time, how do you introduce yourself?

Hi, I am ABC, I am a financial advisor
Or
Hi, I am ABC, I am a Wealth creator. I advise and help people achieve their financial goals

The latter creates an impact and an impression that you are someone who is different from the rest and can help the audience achieve their financial goals.

There are people and companies who create a USP, by offering their products and services at cheaper prices; for them price is a factor which creates their USP. Amazon and Flipkart can compete by selling cheaper products in the Big Billion Days or the Great Indian Festival, but an advisor cannot sell his services at cheaper prices, you have to think out of the box and create a USP, which will help you stand out of the crowd.

Why should you create a USP?
The answer to this is a question: Why should someone do business with you?

This means that there should be something irresistible in you, so that your clients are drawn towards you and not your competitors. You must dispense an aura which makes your client call you for his financial planning and not the advisor who lives in his society. For creating such a situation, you must must identify, develop and propagate yourself as a package that makes you different from others.

How to create a USP?
Now, since you are ready with creating your USP, you must keep in mind the following two tips:

• The Unique proposition is not for you, it is meant to appeal to the clients, so whatever you come up with should eventually be for client's benefit.
• In our business, since everyone is selling the same product, you might not have something unique but can definitely differentiate the ordinary to make it extraordinary.

To build your USP, you may proceed as follows:

Identify your strengths and best qualities: Every individual is unique, you have to explore and bring out that exclusivity from within. It is observed that this unique factor is guided by your special qualities, interests and passion. List down the facts that describe you. It can be your education, certifications, background, hobbies, experience, interests, personality traits, etc.

Club your qualities to arrive at your USP: Clubbing together your qualities will give you that simple dominant factor that makes your clients wanting to be your clients. It may be a result 10 other attributes, but it is this one special combination which makes you distinct from the others. If you are someone who likes to socialise, one who is inquisitive and likes to gain knowledge from various sources and share his knowledge on random subjects with random people and the icing on the cake in you have a diploma in wealth management, then these attributes of yours can bring out your USP as you are the one who has deep subject knowledge and is good at explaining the technicalities of financial products to people.

Reality Check: After coming up with a USP, check if you will be able to live with it? It should not be old and it should not be changed. You cannot cannot come up with a new USP with every change in the financial industry. Having said that, your USP must fit in with every new aspect of your profession. If you are banking on technology, then continuously updating technology should be the constant factor. You must analyse if the USP that you have selected is the best for you. Before finalizing the USP, you may do a self check, or consult your friends and acquaintances, or check with your clients, to gauge its sustainability.

Communicating your USP: Although you might not directly narrate to your clients that this is my USP, yet it should be communicated to them, through your actions. Your marketing techniques should always revolve around your USP, your banners, your logo, your tagline, your introduction, your expressions, should always revolve around your USP. You must have seen the Ad of Chings, their tag line is Desi Chinese, and their commercials are based on the same theme. The Ad makes it crystal clear that they offer Chinese food items, yet the spices and flavours are Indian.

So, once are set with your Unique Selling Proposition, go ahead and make the world follow you.

"In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different" - Coco Chanel

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A niche market is a small segment of the total population which is the targeted market of a particular product. Niche marketing aims at directing marketing efforts towards this specific niche, and becoming a specialist who caters to the needs of this market.

At times, the niche does not exist, it has to be created. This is done by creating needs for a particular product or service which a particular set of people may require.

Let's take an example of a website iimiitmatrimony.com. There are various matrimonial websites catering to a mass and providing filtering options on the basis of caste, income, region, religion, height, weight, etc. An IIM graduate, who is a member of this website, and is looking for a like-minded match for himself, has to choose his soulmate out of Lakhs of ladies, and 99% of them don't match his requirements. iimiitmatrimony.com is a website, which has identified this segment, it's specific requirements, and is focused on catering to iim and iit graduates only. The website has created a demand for itself and members of this segment want to get themselves registered because it caters to them only and no one else. And by registering here, they will get options, who are from a similar educational background, similar requirements and mindsets.

Niche market may not necessarily be the elite segment, or the rich people, it just refers to a small and specific community of people.

Businesses all over the world have recognised the importance of niche marketing. Even big companies are coming up with products that target a niche. Eg Tata is targeting a niche segment of green tea drinkers under the Tetley brand.

Like in any other business, Niche marketing is becoming popular in the financial advisory segment as well. There is a plethora of financial advisors selling similar products. In order to stand out of the crowd, the IFA has to decide if he wants to be a small fish in a big pond or a shark in a small pond?

Due to the ever increasing competition, it is important for the financial advisor to differentiate himself from others. Not only is niche marketing crucial for the success of an advisor, it makes the life of the advisor easy. The advisor has to concentrate on a particular set of people with similar demographics and life goals. He will be familiar with the common issues being faced by them, and thus he can use similar marketing strategies and offer them a specific set of specialised products and services. It will bring down the cost of the advisor, he'll be able to build his brand in the niche and he'll be viewed as a specialist in the niche.

Word of mouth is the advisor's biggest source of new clients. It is generally seen that when an advisor is able to satisfy a customer, he gets references from him and in turn is able to build a significant client base in his circle.

Lets say you have a number of clients working in MNCs in Pune. Since you have advised some people from this segment, you must be acquainted with some basic facts about them: that they are a set of people in the age group of 25-35 years; that they have a long list of goals to achieve; they have a regular and increasing flow of income but generally do not have a huge saving; and that they are generally extravagant in their lifestyle. This segment will not be able to invest a lump sum amount and would be more comfortable if you align one SIP for each goal. You will be able to get further references in this segment because of your existing clientele. If you bank upon your experience and knowledge and brush your skills further in this sector, you would become a specialist for this segment of people. You would become an expert advisor for the Pune MNC employees. Similarly, you can pick any niche which you feel, you are good at. You can be an expert for doctors, or teachers, or HNIs, or Army officers, or any other group which you have developed some experience in or are peculiarly interested in.

Catering to a niche is useful for the client as well. The client has to invest, he has a specific set of issues, goals and aspirations, and you are an advisor who caters to a segment, which he also belongs to. You are aware of this segment's whereabouts, it's issues and aspirations and people from this segment know you well and trust your services. So, you will be the client's obvious choice since you are a specialist in his segment. Niche marketing creates an equilibrium between the client's demands and advisor's supply solutions.

The key to success is to focus on a limited number of people and then to develop superb expertise with those people. How to find your niche is what you want to know. Though there is no fixed process of finding a niche, but we can generalize some steps which may be helpful to you in finding your niche:

• Find the target set of people: You must figure out whom you want to serve. Try to identify your target customer base on the basis of geography, educational background, social community, profession, etc. This will depend on the kind of people you can understand and relate to, for the simple reason that you practically can't please everybody.

• Define your USP: Since you are not trying to please the whole world, you have to define why you are trying to please the specific niche. Your USP lies in your experience, your passion, and the things that you are good at. Your virtues will define why you are the most suitable person for a particular segment of people. Your uniqueness will not let your client's go anywhere else.

• Customer's View: Get the customer's viewpoint; you should know exactly what does the client require. You shall interview or engage in casual conversations with your prospective customers and try to gain maximum knowledge on their custom needs, goals and problems faced.

• Incorporate: Incorporate the insights of these conversations and your USP to arrive at your specialised strategies and product offerings and you are good to go and enter the niche market.

Catering to a niche is not a one time task. Your style and strategies need to be evolving with the changing needs of the customers. You have to keep adding the finishing touches as and when required. Since people tend to lose grip whenever something new hits the market, try keeping the grip intact by keeping the novelty of your offerings and your charisma unbroken and always presenting something new to appeal to the eyes of the audience.

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"All of your customers are Partners in your mission"

It is a warm sunny Saturday afternoon, you are relaxing and fishing on a sea coast in Kerala. What would you be looking forward to? Obviously a big fish in your net. So that you can pose with your achievement, and one catch will be enough for very long. But what if you do not get the big fish, what if you get a number of poor sardines in your net? Will you ignore them and throw them back into the waters and keeping on waiting for a big shark. Or will you take the sardines back home and provide for the day's dinner. Your position as a financial advisor is similar, you may be looking forward to a big client, but you must not ignore the smaller ones who can provide you your livelihood.

In simple words, each client deserves your best. When it comes to service, the quality should be same for the richest person in the city as well as for a retired government employee. When the client is on the hot seat, he should be pampered, he should feel special, he should feel his needs are at the top, and when he steps out of your office, he must be under a spell of delight that you have cast upon him. And this applies to each client who enters, it must be a part of your business protocol.

The concept is similar to a lumpsum investment and an SIP. We all know a lump sum investment is lucrative, the amount is generally big, you get a big upfront brokerage, yet a large number of SIPs is the bread and butter of our business. You will not let go an SIP in quest of a lumpsum.

Did you know that the small sweet candies being sold for a rupee are growing at 1.5 times the overall FMCG industry. DS group's candy Pulse reached Rs 100 crore within eight months of its launch, which is equal to the record of Coca-cola's diet drink Zero, which is priced at almost 30-35 times more than Pulse. (Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/food/ds-groups-pulse-candy-hits-rs-100-crore-in-8-months-equals-coke-zeros-record/articleshow/51890893.cms) Such is the power of Small.

It must be arising in your mind that how can I treat a customer who gives me an investment of Rs 25 Lacs per annum in the same manner as a customer who gives me an investment of Rs 25,000 per annum. Yes, in business you have to differentiate, you have to please the former because his investment alone has a significant impact on your income. And his satisfaction is your priority to maintain a long term relationship with him. You may categorize clients on the basis of their investment. You might have Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze category clients. You may be gifting a silver coin and a box of dry fruits to the Platinum Category, yet you cannot miss sending a Diwali wish to the bronze category customers. You may be meeting the Platinum or Gold category once a fortnight, but you shall not be not responding to a call from the Bronze category.

Why is it important to be dedicated to all your Clients?

Referrals: Small clients can get you big referrals. You never know a small hardware dealer may be friends with the biggest business tycoon. The CEO of an industry may not have the time to go about telling people the extraordinary treatment you offered to him, but a small shopkeeper will definitely talk about your responsiveness, the quality of your service and the best investment products you chose for him, to his acquaintances.

Reputation: A happy customer might tell a friend, but an unhappy one will tell the world.
People like to talk about negatives more than positives. An unhappy client may tell 10 other people about their sad story, or he may even share his experience on social media. This has a risk of damaging your reputation and you may loose other present or prospective clients.

Large number of smalls make it big: The ocean is made of small drops. A large number of small clients will help you make a triple or a quadruple number of client base attached to your name and can raise your AUA from double digits to triple digits.

Today they are small, tomorrow they might be big: No one knew Sachin Bansal & Binny Bansal 10 years back, today they run the biggest e-commerce success of India 'Flipkart'. So, the small retailer you are dealing with today, may be the CEO of a company tomorrow. Your service will make him loyal towards you and he might be at the top of your Platinum Category customers five years later.

Customer satisfaction plays an important role in the success of your business and none of your customers should be left unsatisfied.