When your answer is about service or the care you take and how you are holistic and client-focused, you haven’t answered the question – what do you stand for? – because a bazillion advisors all stand for great service and client-first.
When you are what everyone else is, there isn’t anything for me to get excited about or build on.
One of a kind or one of a million?
We are all competing for people’s attention, time, and business.
North Face, Marmot, Helly Hansen don’t stand for anything, do they? They can’t because they stand for precisely the same thing. Puma or Adidas or NIKE? They all want to stand for winning, but comparatively speaking, they are the same.
I know I harp on this a lot, but service and experience aren’t what I’m getting here. I’m getting at the consequences. The impact you want to have. The worldview you want to shift.
Another way to consider this would be to ask yourself this question – Why would one of your clients tell you they feel lucky to know you? It won’t be what you do because they can get that anywhere. It will be something they now think or believe they didn’t consider before.
What will you teach them? What will you get them to buy into?
What will you recruit them to stand for too?
A brand that stands for what all brands stand for stands for nothing much, competes on efficiency and cost savings, and spends a lot of time shouting into the void.
Hoping.
Hoping that somewhere, somehow, the signal will get through. Good luck with that.
Alternatively, you could be the one person who proudly champions an idea and course of action and let people come and find you.
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