Will You Be Synonymous … or Anonymous? Why You Should Name Your Company After Yourself
By Peter Montoya
The Biggest Naming Mistake
If you're like most advisors, you're set on giving your company a grandiose thirdparty name, like “Regal Financial Planning” or “Pinnacle Financial Group.” This is the worst decision you can make. The reason is simple: people don't refer their friends to a company, they refer them to you, a person. If you distance yourself from your clients, they're more likely to think of someone else when making that referral.
Instead, always use your name when naming your company. Does that seem small-time? Ask Raymond James, Charles Schwab, H.D Vest …and think of Merrill Lynch, Salomon Smith Barney, A.G. Edwards and other firms among the “biggest names” in our industry. They all use the names of their founders. Even at the corporate level, people want to know who started a company, why, and the values and beliefs that came from the founder of the business.
Take a few words to talk about your involvement in your community – or if you’re not involved, your outlook on the way that your profession serves your community. Reflect on the remarkable level of trust and faith people place in a financial advisor, and how your work is a kind of pledge to the families, couples and individuals in your city or region. Or, talk briefly about a moment you had when you realized the gravity and essentiality of your work. Tell your prospects you enjoy listening to them and learning about their lives, and welcoming the chance to serve in a steward, fiduciary or advisory capacity.
The Four Naming Scenarios
1. Sole practitioner. If you're working alone as a CPA, financial advisor, estate planning attorney, etc., simply name your company after yourself, using your first and last name. “Victor Williamson” or “Debra Laufer” or any other name will work.
2. Partnership. There are two kinds of partnerships: business partnerships and marketing partnerships. Business partners share all the business expenses of the office, but may not co-market. Marketing partners market themselves as a team to their prospects, sharing marketing costs but not necessarily business costs. You and your colleague must meet 3 requirements to be marketing partners:
If you fit these requirements, you are marketing partners and you should name your practice using both your last names,like a law firm does.
3. Rep for a large company. If you work for a wirehouse or other large firm, you are still the most important product. Use your first and last name on your business cards and other materials, so prospects know that the service starts with you, not your firm.
4. A growing independent firm. If you're trying to build your own firm with junior advisors working under you, you should still use your first and last name as the company name. “John Fischer” is fine, but the critical issue is the recognition and trust attached to your name. Charles Schwab is a great example. His name has become a valued brand.
Naming your company is a crucial and simple matter. Don't adopt some vague name that makes you sound like a mutual fund. You're a person providing personal service. Don't hide your humanity - in this business, it's a key to effective marketing and branding.
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Peter Montoya is Marketing columnist for TodaysAdvisor and www.todaysadvisor.com. He is president of Peter Montoya Inc., The Financial Services Marketing Firm. He has trained thousands of financial advisors in branding and marketing, and he has authored two influential guidebooks, The Brand Called You and The Personal Marketing Phenomenon. To inquire about Peter’s training and Peter Montoya Inc.’s services, call 888-730-5300 or visit www.petermontoya.com.
Branding Communications It's What's For Dinner
By Peter Haines
When I was growing up and Mom put dinner on the table, I always wondered what was for dessert. (That says something about food quality in our house. Mom, bless her boil-in-a-bag heart, is not a foodie.)
The same goes for some folks in the marketing business-- they’re always looking for dessert before the main course. That is, they want to get right to the tactics (an event; radio ad; newsletter) before they spend time thinking about what they should say in the first place.
So, what’s for dinner? Brand communications.
Like marketing, branding has many definitions. Here’s my favorite:
The distillation of all product information and consumer perceptions into a vivid expression that reflects the unique relationship between the consumer and a particular product or service. It is the absolute, rock-bottom truth; its reason for being; its fingerprint.
Okay, theory is great but how do you put it into practice?
First, understand you’re already branding and marketing to your clients and prospects. (Did I just hear a sharp intake of breath from you?) Well—
• The business cards you carry—how did you decide on your company logo, the card’s color and font size/style?
• The office’s reception area—how is it decorated? What style is the furniture and what artwork do you have on the walls? (And, of course, what reading materials are available?)
• What do your presentations look like? What are the slide background, font size and style?
Let’s all join in on the stalker’s theme song from The Police, “Every Breath You Take,” and you’ll understand why Sting should have been in marketing, Come on, everybody together in a nice 3/4 beat….
There’s branding communications for you—every breath, move, step and bond all have marketing implications for you and you firm.
Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a teeny bit but every touch point your clients and prospects have with you is a chance to reinforce, ignore or, worst case, contradict your brand communications.
Let’s take a tour of a company I knew some years ago and see what has changed since they got marketing religion:
• The “integrated” practice areas all had different presentation “looks and feels” and no one document looked like it came from the same company.
◦ Today, the company has templates for Word documents and PowerPoint presentations based on its stationery.
◦ Today, the company provides Style Guides for employees to understand how it wants everything to look.
◦ Today, every marketing piece looks and feels the same, from brochures and overview sheets to the web site and business cards.
• The partners and department heads all emphasized different points about the company when talking to a prospect.
◦ Today, the company has a unique positioning articulated to all employees and everyone carries a laminated card providing a “value proposition”/elevator pitch that describes the company’s target audience and core competencies.
Here’s an exercise I want everyone to do. It’s okay. I’ll wait a few seconds. Ready? I want everyone to act like one of your prospects and come with me.
1. We’re at the front door of your firm.
a. Is there signage and how does it look? (branding)
b. Does the logo treatment reflect your company’s brand personality, e.g., conservative or edgy, techno-geek or Luddite?
2. We’re inside the reception area.
a. Are marketing materials or article reprints available for me to peruse (branding) or are you like a doctor’s office with three-year-old Redbook magazines on the table?
3. We’re in your conference room.
a. Is there a (branded) pad of paper and/or a pen for me to use? Or are you’re giving me a Staples pad and a Bic pen?
b. Does the presentation have a logo on it that reflects your front-door signage and what’s on the business card you gave me? (branding)
c. Is the presentation style consistent with the introductory letter I received recently inviting me to see you? (branding) Or do you come off like Cicero in a letter but act like Pee-Wee Herman in person?
4. We’re looking at your web site in the conference room.
a. Does your web site look and feel like the rest of your firm? (branding) Or are you a conservative firm but have lots of whizzing colors and flash animation bouncing the landscape?
b. Does it have the same visual cues (logo, font and colors) you have included in your presentation and stationery? (branding) Or does your brother-in-law host and design your site to his specifications?
5. We’re finishing up the meeting and I’m given some materials to look at later.
a. Do they all look like they came from the same firm? Or am I looking at every author’s own version of what they want to be?
Are you with me on this visit? It’s all about brand communications but it’s also about doing it consistently. In “Caddyshack,” Chevy Chase said to an aspiring golfer, “Be the ball.” Here in financial services, I say, “Be the brand.”
I hope you enjoyed the tour. Stay tuned.
Peter Haines is a contributing writer and marketing columnist for TodaysAdvisor and is the Director of Marketing for Lenox Advisors (www.lenoxadvisors.com) Prior to Lenox, he worked for advertising agencies Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather (where he won the David Ogilvy Award with Team Jaguar) and McCann-Erickson. He also has entrepreneurial spirit, having run his own marketing communications firm. Peter’s experience includes leading marketing efforts for such blue-chip financial services clients as American Express, Salomon Smith Barney, First Union Securities, CIBC World Markets, Barclays Capital and Freddie Mac. He began his marketing career as a copywriter, later transitioning to account management and new business development. He is an Ambassador for the Advertising Education Foundation, offering branding, marketing and strategic communications presentations to college students
About Lenox Advisors:
Lenox Advisors is a single-source wealth management firm for successful executives, affluent individuals, business owners, professional athletes and entertainers, Lenox Advisors provides oversight and strategic management of every aspect of clients` financial lives, from asset management to financial planning; from risk management and insurance to estate and retirement planning. Lenox Advisors advises not only individuals but also corporate clients, from small firms to global businesses. Designing competitive, flexible benefit packages is a top priority for successful businesses — and because compensation and benefits often comprise a significant portion of the net worth of affluent individuals — corporate services is a top priority at Lenox Advisors. In fact, Lenox Advisors is the firm recommended by Fortune 500 businesses to provide benefits consulting to their senior executives.