One of the foundations of a successful referral strategy is a compelling story — about how your ideal clients benefit from your unique services. It should be a story that you and clients can tell to others, says Kirk Lowe, chief branding tactician with Tactibrand Inc. in Oshawa.


What is your story and how should you relate it to others? Lowe offers this advice:

> Find some quiet time
Get away from the day-to-day hustle and bustle to think about your business.

“The first thing is to quiet your mind,” Lowe says. It’s very difficult in the midst of the “rat race” to find the ideal mental state to think carefully about your business and what you stand for.

Whether it’s closing the office door and letting the phone go to voicemail or getting out of the office altogether, find a quiet space where you can think without distractions.

> Ask yourself four questions
Think carefully about the service you provide and how it brings value to clients. First, Lowe says, define the product or service you offer.

Then, ask yourself:

How is my business unique?

How does it add value?

Does the service match the personality of my ideal client?

Can I actually deliver this product or service properly and on an ongoing basis?

> Ditch the clichés
Your story must be unique to stand out from that of other advisory firms. But your idea of “unique” may, in fact, be commonplace.

Advisors often use the same terminology, Lowe says, when trying to define how their businesses are different from others.

When describing your business, avoid overused words and phrases such as: “trustworthy,” “friendly,” “personal service,” “caring,” “high integrity,” “comprehensive,” “integrated” and “peace of mind.”

Remember: you are trying to express qualities that make you unlike all others.

> Commit the time
Coming up with a way to describe your business accurately while using original words is not easy. It takes mental effort and time to really get to the heart of what your business stands for, and to express that without using clichés.

“To get it done right would take be between 10 hours and 20 hours” Lowe says. “If you work with a branding professional, you can cut that down to three or four hours of your time.”

> Branch out
Once you know your story, integrate it into your overall marketing strategy.

First, come up with a tagline, Lowe says. Next, think of how you would explain your story on the homepage of a website. Third, craft an “elevator pitch” or value proposition, through which you could explain your story in 30 seconds.

Finally, figure out how best to describe your process if someone asks for more details.

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