Should advisors seek to specialize in a target market, or should they focus first on building their roster of cases and clients to find the road to success? MDRT members participating in a Target Marketing Task Force discussed whether there is a right time to find a niche.

Participants:

Saad Anthony Baksh, BSc, 16-year MDRT member from Marabella, Trinidad and Tobago
Herman Colin, LUTCF, CLI, 17-year MDRT member from State of Mexico, Mexico
Howard Allen Hopkinson II, FSS, FSCP, nine-year MDRT member from Henderson, Nevada, USA
Paula Cherie Jones, five-year MDRT member from Christchurch, New Zealand
Ann Baker Ronn, CLU, ChFC, 26-year MDRT member from Houston, Texas, USA
Micheline Varas, RHU, 23-year MDRT member from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Ronn: One of my markets for disability insurance is young physicians. I get referrals from them because they ask one another for introductions to professionals. If I could start my career all over again, I would target young physicians. When we’re new advisors, we tend to work with whoever we can and through that process, we can find a niche market or a category of people who we really enjoy working with. It would be ideal, I think, to do that from the beginning, however, maybe it is not that simple.

Varas: I think many begin working within a particular arena and gradually shift, developing relationships with others with whom they have more commonalities and interest, both from a business and personal perspective, often without even realizing their market has changed to a particular niche. Thereafter, they look more closely to that niche, specializing within it as they become more experienced.

Colin: I would like to answer this question with a brief story. There was a young man in his early 20s whose father was an advisor to a soccer team. This young man worked very hard selling different products, but he was earning a very low income with everything he tried to sell. For some reason, he decided to become an insurance advisor, and his only contacts were the players on the soccer team. From his first year as an insurance advisor, he only sold to soccer players. Soon, he started to stand out as an expert in this niche and eventually became the advisor who sold the most premiums in all of Mexico. Eighty to 90% of his sales are to soccer players, and he has never abandoned that niche. There are many detractors who claim that the only reason he makes a lot of money is because he has those soccer contacts. However, he responds, “Why would I change my niche if it has provided me with tons of opportunities to reach the level I desire? Why would I choose another path full of obstacles that is harder to travel if this path is the one I love, and I can achieve the success I seek?” So, I think this is a good example of someone who was able to carve out a niche for himself regardless of his experience.

Baksh: I think the answer varies depending on the background of the person. I’ve been in management 11 years, recruiting and selecting advisors, and I understand your point very well. I once hired a university student, a 22-year-old graduate. At that age, he did not have any sort of target market, because generally people gravitate toward those they grew up with or who are familiar to them. So, this guy’s target market would’ve been his fellow students and classmates who also just graduated, even though they belong to different enterprises or professions. I also hired a gentleman who was an engineer in his mid-50s. His target market at that age would’ve been engineers. So, I guess the answer varies by the background and the age of the individual. We have the criteria where you have to be over 25 to be hired. The reason is exactly what this question suggests — that they have target markets available. However, we are multi-product agents, so for us to have a target market, we might be shooting ourselves in the foot. Everybody owns a car and has a home that we will want to insure. We may target market at times, but we also want to be available for the masses. We need to be there for all of our clients from different backgrounds.

Varas: Do you consider your 22-year-old recruit to be target marketing? Should his comfort zone be in dealing with those with whom he graduated. Maybe by default that’s a target market. It may not be precise enough to be a niche, but maybe the answer to this question is based more on an interpretation of what is the definition of a target market.

Baksh: Yes, to me, being a target market specialist means you pinpointed a particular profession or people with a particular background, which is why I responded the way I did. Young professionals might be a bit vague to be a target market because that can include doctors, lawyers and accountants. That’s my opinion.

Hopkinson: A young advisor could think they might not have the right education or the right mindset to actually deal with these professionals. We’re in a relationship business. You go in; you get involved; you get educated; you get connected to the people; and it’s about time in the business. A lot of these prospects aren’t going to do business with you right away, even if you’re extremely educated and professional. They want to see who you are and what you know. So, if you’ve been in that target market for a couple of years, and you’re involved in the associations, you know the people, and you’re connected, then jump in. Worst-case scenario is if it doesn’t work, you’re going to move to another target market and a different direction. So, face your fears, jump in.

Jones: I think it can be a matter of understanding why they’re targeting the market. Young advisors might want to target doctors or whoever, but is that who they’re actually going to feel comfortable working with? An advisor could feel like a target market is something they want to try, and it might take a while. Like you said, just try something and maybe they’ll find a market that they love and enjoy.

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Is there a right time to specialize?