John Melchinger The Marketing Coach

Marketing Technique

John Melchinger--The Marketing Coach™

Situational Expertise

Expertise means certain topics in which you have both knowledge and experience. In marketing, especially professional practice promotions, it is best expressed as situations in which you can best solve problems, i.e., client situations. This way, you can achieve name plus idea recognition. Your name alone will not usually merit recognition, but when someone is thinking of a situation they need to deal with (a usual psychological stimulus) and your name is attached to that situation as an expert problem solver, your name will come to them.

Typical Topic	"Expertise"
Business Continuation These are typical "situations" that planners tend to state in their own jargon, rather than in terms their clients can understand.	Father-Son transfers of business ownership (or Parent-Child) Getting out of the business at least what you put into it…not just getting out When your children are in it for the long haul, too Parity planning for the child who should not inherit your business Guaranteeing who your partners will be when your current partner steps out of the picture Guaranteeing the value you receive for your business
Estate Planning	Imminent death planning Disposition of wealth and distribution of inheritances Practicing Due Care in the purchase of life insurance Helping clients achieve four primary outcomes: control what you own while you are alive replace income lost while you are too sick or hurt to work give your property to whom you want, how you want, when you want pay only the minimum necessary taxes and clearing costs through it all
Retirement Planning	Retiring with grace, dignity and . . . enough money Assuring that you don’t outlive your retirement funds Keeping your money even if you lose your good health Making sure there’s enough left for someone you love Receiving and investing lump sum distributions safely. . . without heartache or heartbreak

I think you’ll get the idea about expertise and jargon from these few examples.
To come up with the right descriptions of your expertise to acquire name plus idea recognition in your marketplace, first decide the client situations you are most capable of solving problems in. To do this, review your best cases over the past few years and describe the client situation and/or objective you brought relief or satisfaction to.

Did you help a father settle how to bring his son or daughter into the business over a few years of the child’s learning how while the parent funds it?

Establish an ESOP for an owner to sell the business to employees over time because the employees cannot currently afford to buy and are not really sure they want to buy it?

Show a terminally ill client how to settle his affairs and purchase another $100,000 life insurance without fraud, lying or risk?

Show a benevolent client how to help a favorite charity and buy immortality on the installment plan?

Just relax, put your feet up with a list of your favorite cases, and slowly think through—from their point of view—what problems you solved for your clients. From that result you can craft the wording for your situational expertise.