Benefits of Narrow Mindedness

Perhaps your practice has discovered a niche market, or you may be considering one that is attractive to you. Here are the benefits and some pitfalls to be aware of in order to accomplish your goals by narrowing your focus to a niche market segment.

Determining profitability

Make sure the niche is truly profitable and sustainable. A few large cases may be an anomaly. Do an exhaustive study of the demographics to determine how capable and accessible the prospects are for profitability. Let's say you like to do business with people your age and gender. Will the clients in that niche have assets and income capable of sustaining your practice at the level that you would like to achieve? It may require a large client base and heavy work schedule to build that growing client base over time. An older clientele is more resistant as many have relationships with advisors, so growing with clients could be a great path if you feel you have the time and resources to whether lean times.

Marketing is an issue with any niche. How do you connect? Social Media has become cluttered and people don't like being ambushed by a friendship to business process. It seems sneaky and insincere, so it may not work well with your chosen niche. High net worth clients, for example, are not social media types. Consider getting involved in community or philanthropic organization to network and find commonality with these prospects.

Questions to answer before targeting a specific market:

1) is the niche accessible through marketing or is it a referral only niche?

2) Does the niche have the capacity to pay you well?

3) Does the niche have specific needs that you can address with your products and services?

4) Will your solutions be well received?

Narrowing the path

A niche market can be lucrative, but it's also a narrow path to take. Premium finance life insurance, for example, is for a small demographic, but the case sizes can be huge. High net worth, high income and insurability are criteria. Tough, but not impossible.

Going down any marketing path is time consuming and expensive. Best to locate and define the niche and demographics, along with identifying net worth and income criteria. Assess the time frame to closing business. Consider experimenting with the niche without going all in prematurely. There are no absolute rules to niche marketing just like other general practices. The only real rule is to be flexible.

Kim Magdalein is an advisor with 30 years of speaking and writing experience about prospecting and marketing in the industry. As co-founder of Seminars for Less nearly 20 years ago, Kim is a leader in seminar marketing, assisting financial advisors and insurance agents. Contact Kim at https://www.seminarsforless.com/