Why We Are Different
What differentiates us from our competitors is not our price, it’s not our expertise, it’s not our fancy office, it’s not how much experience we have and all the other ubiquitous factors that are presented in every attempt to successfully acquire new clients.
Although these are all factors that are important, they are not differentiators. There will always be someone willing to do it for less and there will always be someone with more expertise than you. There will always be another firm that has just a little bit more professional shine and there will always be another firm with one more year of experience. We differ in ways that we think count more than all of the above combined:
The key differences between us and our competitors is two-fold:
1. Our Sense of Self: First, we have a better sense of self than our competitors, also known as our mission statement. Every business has a mission statement but 99% of the time that’s just to say they have one. It doesn’t guide their actions or in the case of our profession specifically, the advice they provide to clients.
Our mission statement is located at the bottom of our home page and in the "About Us" tab. You may have just read it. The difference between us and them is that we operate every second of the work day with these 5 values at the forefront of our minds and embedded in our actions. We start every one of our internal meetings by reviewing them. It is our pledge of allegiance. The only way we believe we will truly deliver excellent advice to client after client is by knowing who we are as a business, what we believe in and then following through on those ideals. If you don’t believe us you’ve never met with us, because if you had you would know the pillars are constantly discussed, not on purpose, but organically because they guide everything that we do. Ask yourself, has any business you have ever encountered spent this much time discussing their mission statement? Can you even find it on their website?
2. Comphrensive Planning For a Fee: The second major differentiator, is that before we propose any financial strategy or tactic, invest clients’ money, or sell any products, we will first develop a holistic comprehensive financial plan. This plan starts with assembling and quantifying client goals, then we determine the financial resources available to meet those goals, and finally using a disciplined financial planning process with a high-end planning software, we develop a strategic holistic actionable financial plan - for which we will charge a reasonable fee.
We charge a fee for the plan because we believe it is the most important component of all the financial services we provide and we actually use the plan and it’s conclusions to determine the best possible solutions for our clients. Our competitors don’t charge a fee for the same reason a casino doesn’t charge high rollers for their hotel rooms, it’s not the best advice they’re after, it’s your investment fees. Like our competitors we also manage assets for a fee and if appropriate, sell insurance products, but only if it fits into the logical conclusions reached through the holistic planning process. Done correctly, holistic financial planning using state of the art technology correctly answers client questions that frequently require sophisticated numerical analysis and thoughtful consideration, not superficial answers reached with very little thought and our clients know the difference. We would rather a client walk away from a small financial planning fee than create a highly profitable (for us) investment plan that simply doesn’t fit their needs. After all, that wouldn’t be congruent with our final pillar, which specifically states that “we will put our clients’ interests ahead of our own 100% of the time, without exception”.