Today, with digital communication in full swing, nearly all prospective clients are a lot more ‘savvy’ than has always been the case. In fact, instead of a canned sales pitch or fancy pitch book, they want to know what value you and your firm will add to their financial journey.
With this in mind, it is long overdue to ditch the pitch. I mean, have you EVER witnessed a future client get genuinely excited to listen to your pithy 20-30-second elevator speech? Once you’re referred or introduced to someone more formally, a far more professional and practical approach is to provide them with a framework of value – the actual benefits of working with your firm. This is where a capability deck comes into play.
Advisors who’ve built billion-dollar businesses consistently tell me their capability decks are the single most crucial marketing asset their teams have built. A well-crafted capability deck isn’t just a presentation tool but it’s also a dynamic document that serves multiple purposes in a variety of situations – communicating your firm’s unique value proposition clearly and consistently.
Why a Capability Deck vs a Pitch Book?
The term ‘pitch book’ conjures images of aggressive selling and transactional relationships. In contrast, a capability deck showcases the depth and breadth of your firm’s expertise and the value it delivers to others. It’s less about selling and more about educating and engaging – an approach that more closely aligns with the evolving preferences of clients seeking trusted holistic advice rather than just a financial salesperson.
A capability deck goes beyond traditional pitch books by focusing more on the outcomes clients can expect and your firm's unique processes. It communicates your business philosophy, the client needs your firm addresses, and the comprehensive solutions you provide – and not just products and services but also your intellectual process tailored for the kinds of clients your firm is built to serve. Most importantly, it reinforces your firm’s value with existing clients and extends your brand to prospective clients and centers of influence. Capabilities decks can be used in several ways and for a variety of purposes including:
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Fostering client engagement during client meetings to consistently reinforce the value your firm provides. It’s a powerful reminder of the comprehensive services offered and how they align with clients' evolving needs; ensuring they fully understand and appreciate the depth of your firm's expertise.
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Empowering client advocacy and introductions from your most loyal clients by arming them with the tools to share your story and act as advocates for your business. By giving them the language to effectively introduce your services to their friends, colleagues, and neighbors, you can turn satisfied clients into proactive brand ambassadors.
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Delivering prospective client education rather than giving a traditional sales pitch. A capabilities deck helps prospective clients grasp the breadth of your services and your unique value, fostering greater trust and confidence, and helping prospects to make more informed decisions about working with your firm.
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Strengthening team recruitment and training by showcasing your firm’s culture, values, and development opportunities to attract top talent. It also serves as a comprehensive onboarding guide to your firm’s mission, values, and processes – ensuring all team members are aligned and communicating consistently with clients.
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Cultivating stronger professional relationships through educating trusted advisors and centers of influence on how your services complement and integrate with theirs within a wealth advisory context. This fosters stronger collaborative relationships, enhances referral opportunities, and ensures they can position your firm effectively to their clients.
8 Essential Capability Deck Components
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Why You Do What You Do – drawing inspiration from Simon Sinek's book Start with Why, it's essential to share your firm's mission and values by explaining the purpose that drives your business and why you’re passionate about your work. It sets the stage for building relationships based on trust and shared values, and resonates deeply with clients and team members. Consider playing Sinek's famous Ted Talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action at your next team meeting to reinforce this concept and ensure everyone is aligned with the firm's purpose.
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Who Your Firm Is Built to Serve – It’s crucial to clearly define your target market if you want to attract the right clients. Whether you focus on high-net-worth individuals, business owners, or retirees, being explicit about who your firm is built to serve helps sharpen your messaging and services. Remember, you can’t focus everywhere. By saying no, you create space to attract more clients who are a true fit. Clear messaging around your ideal client profile naturally draws in those who resonate with your firm's strengths.
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Known Needs of Your Clients – Address the explicit needs of your target clients (e.g., income planning for retirees, tax strategies for business owners, trust and estate planning for HNW clients). This demonstrates your understanding of their concerns and positions your firm as a capable partner.
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Unknown Needs of Your Clients – By highlighting potential challenges or needs that clients may not have yet considered (such as the implications of sudden wealth, the complexities of intergenerational wealth transfer, or understanding the intricacies of a company's stock option policy or retirement plan) you position your firm as a proactive and insightful subject matter expert. When prospective clients see you understand these nuanced needs and know how to address them effectively, they’ll be more attracted to your firm.
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Solutions You Provide to Your Clients – Your firm's solutions aren’t limited to just products and services; they also include your unique process, as Dan Sullivan at the Strategic Coach would say. Your intellectual process is about delivering value through a distinct approach tailored to each client's needs. Whether investment management, risk assessment, or legacy planning, your capability deck should comprehensively detail these integrated offerings and highlight how your unique methodologies set your firm apart. Show how you’ll grow with them as their needs evolve – understanding where they’re headed and what they’ll need in the future.
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Your Unique, Client-Outcome-Oriented Wealth Management Process – Describe the methodologies and processes your firm uses to achieve client outcomes. This might include your approach to financial planning, investment management, or any proprietary processes that set you apart from your competitors.
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Your Team of Trusted Professionals (Internal and External) – Introduce your team, highlighting their expertise and roles. If you collaborate with external professionals (e.g., tax advisors, estate attorneys), include them to better showcase your holistic, integrated approach to wealth management. Establishing a network of other trusted advisors for your clients to tap into demonstrates your ability to collaborate and provide better value to clients.
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What Clients Should Expect If They Work with You – End with an overview of the client journey (i.e., what it’s like to become a client, the onboarding process, and how you continue to serve them over time). This helps provide greater clarity, set future expectations, and reinforce trust.
How to Build an Effective Capability Deck
Creating a compelling capability deck takes careful planning and a deep understanding of your organizational strengths and client needs. Make sure to:
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Identify your audience and tailor the content of your deck accordingly. While the core message remains the same, the emphasis may shift depending on whether you’re speaking to existing clients, potential clients, or referral partners.
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Keep it client-centric by always focusing on the client’s perspective (i.e., less ‘we’ and more ‘you’). Highlight how your services meet their needs, solve their problems, and enhance their financial well-being. Speak about benefits and not features, if you know what I mean.
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Use clear, concise, and compelling language, and avoid jargon or technical language that may confuse or alienate your audience. Simple, relatable language will communicate your value proposition far more effectively.
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Include many visuals such as charts, graphs, and infographics to make your content more engaging and easily understood. Visual aids can help break down complex concepts and keep your audience engaged.
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Regularly update your deck to ensure it evolves as your firm grows and market conditions change. This will keep your deck relevant and practical.
AI-Generated Presentation Resources
AI-powered tools can simplify and streamline the design process and enhance the overall quality to create a visually compelling capability deck. Check out the following resources and web pages to learn how:
Beautiful.ai is an AI-powered presentation tool that helps you create professional-looking slides quickly with automated design features.
Designs.ai offers an AI presentation maker that helps generate PowerPoint slides with easy-to-use templates and customization options.
Tome is an AI-powered presentation tool that enables dynamic content creation with text prompts and integrates various media formats.
Canva provides AI-driven features to create presentations with a wide range of templates, images, and icons.
SlidesAI converts text into presentation slides using AI; automating the formatting and layout process.
Microsoft PowerPoint Designer is an AI feature within PowerPoint that provides design suggestions based on your content.
Prezi delivers an AI-powered platform to create engaging, interactive presentations with a zoomable canvas for dynamic storytelling.
I highly recommend two firms if you’re looking for good partners to build your capability deck. First, contact Maribeth Kuzmeski, founder and owner of Red Zone Marketing. Their firm specializes in strategies for Standing Out to achieve measurable new business growth for entrepreneurial-minded financial services firms. Maribeth is a PhD (“in other words, she knows her marketing stuff”) and is an actual marketing strategist, advisor to the financial services industry, and bestselling author of nine books.
Second, RRD can create unique and relevant content and beautiful capability decks that resonate with existing clients and prospective clients. Their process and pricing are seamless and transparent. What sets them apart is their institutional approach for the entrepreneurial advisor who must be wise about investments in marketing. Their agency approach is tailored for the small business owner.
A strong capability deck will be essential to differentiating your firm amidst a crowded marketplace. More than just a sales tool, these decks are comprehensive documents that communicate your unique value proposition to clients, prospects, team members, and referral partners.
Focusing on education and partnering, rather than sales and transactions, is an opportunity to foster deeper trust and longer-term relationships – ultimately driving business growth and success. So, ditch the pitch and embrace the capability deck. It’s a simple step that can ignite your ability to engage more meaningfully and build a strong foundation for sustainable growth.
Coaching Questions
- What capability deck do you use today, and how could you build a better process to enhance and update yours throughout the year?
- In what ways could evolving client needs and preferences shape what you need to include in you’re the capability deck?
- Where do you invest your marketing dollars today, and how could you invest in building a more robust and useful capability deck to create better unified communication within the team and with clients and grow our business?
About ClientWise LLC
ClientWise is the premier business and executive coaching firm working exclusively with financial professionals. We specialize in helping clients optimize growth and maximize revenue by engaging as a knowledgeable partner in accomplishing specific and significant business results. Our full-service coaching program empowers financial advisors, wholesalers, managers and executives to enhance performance through customized, action-oriented solutions based on each client’s specific vision and situation.
Our certified coaches are members of the International Coach Federation (ICF). They adhere to ICF’s strict code of ethics and have the experience and insight to work with you on the unique challenges and opportunities you face each day.
Drawing from an in-depth knowledge of the financial industry, ClientWise’s mission is to professionally develop industry leaders and consistently raise the bar for industry service, commitment and integrity. Simply put, our singular focus is to help you get clear, get focused, and get results.