Development of Marketing Materials and Sales Presentations

Since APG has a vast client network, we are in a visionary position to see what kind of marketing and sales materials resonate and give Plan Sponsors that ultimate comfort and trust level to engage a new advisor relationship. We help our advisor partners with the development of the bigger picture marketing materials, as well as the granular components of sales materials, presentation logistics and strategy.

From the global marketing perspective, APG assists our advisor partners to help understand what is the right recipe of marketing ingredients to promote brand- ing; incorporate thematic issues; demonstrate core competencies; illustrate a value proposition and deliver concise messaging. Examples of these key elements may be: the branding of the advisory firm as education specialists; promotion of a high degree of technical acumen as a core competency; demonstration of a specific process driven structure as a value proposition and a concise message of limiting fiduciary liability. These melded components form not only a successful story, but embody comfort and trust!

As all advisors well know, even the best marketing materials do not ultimately win business alone. This level of sales success is won at the point of sale. Therefore, the sales presentation materials as well as the presentation itself will typically be the deciding factor. The specific components of the sales presentation must be logically positioned, clear and concise and feel comprehensive.

Beyond the obvious introduction of background and credentials, the service deliverable message can widely vary. APG has found the most successful layout of the presentation describing the service model, is to start with the concept of the advisor is truly the plan consultant. This establishes an immediate value proposition, alpha relationship and creditability. The actual sales materials should be logically and concisely presented. This allows the Plan Sponsor to understand the service model, the core competency and ultimately the value proposition. These key com- ponents would typically be a description of the governance process. Each section should describe the service team involved as well as any differentiators. A thorough description regarding the measurement and effectiveness of the education campaign should be addressed as well.

Lastly, APG is intimately involved with the logistics and analysis of the physical presentation itself. As we know, even with the best presentation materials, the Plan Sponsor often decides by virtue of the actual presentation. Therefore, APG has in-depth discussions with our advisor partners regarding the Plan Sponsor back- grounds, degree of sophistication and ultimately the goals and objectives of the target audience. This information allows the team to correctly analyze, strategize and convey the right message to win the business. This comprehensive commitment and process leads to the ultimate definition of a successful outcome!