Building Your Capabilities Brochure - AllianceBernstein

Building YourCapabilities Brochure:Defining Your Business and Engagement ModelEXECUTION GUIDE Plansponsors and referral advocates need a clearunderstanding of the value of your business—to them. Towin their business, you must present a detailed andspecific description of your business and engagement model. Thisstep-by-step guide will help you create an organizedand informative capabilities brochure.For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by,distribution or quotation to, the general public.Investment Products Offered Are Not FDIC Insured May Lose Value Are Not Bank Guaranteed

Training Curriculum Effective Plan Review AllianceBernstein Retirement FastTrack Building Your Capabilities Brochure Unique Value Proposition Becoming a Retirement Leader4%Leaders18%Evolvers78%DabblersThere are 320,000 client-facing Financial Advisors actively serving the investing public. All but a few of them collect lessthan 40% of their income from defined contribution (DC) plans. That leaves only about 4%—approximately 12,500 FinancialAdvisors—who have an active DC business. That means they receive more than 40% of their income from DC plans.Regardless of where you are on the continuum, AllianceBernstein offers the tools needed to help you further build yourretirement business and take it to the next level.For more information about any of our programs, please contact an AllianceBernstein Retirement Specialist at 800.243.6812.For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.

Building a Retirement Capabilities BrochureMany capabilities brochures are nothing more than tired pitch books—predictable laundry lists of generalized factsthat referral advocates and prospects have seen before. Here’s how to make your book different.Today, Financial Advisors/consultants (we’ll refer to themcollectively as “advisors”) are battling to keep their existingretirement plan clients and land new ones. There are simplytoo many advisors competing for too few plans. Even advisorswith hundreds of clients and well-established reputations arestruggling to acquire new business.A capabilities brochure can help you differentiate your businessand stand out from the pack. A great capabilities brochureanswers the questions a plan sponsor or prospective referraladvocate has about an advisor: the specifics of your business,the depth of your professional knowledge and its value to them.This workbook will help you establish guidelines forassembling a comprehensive, effective capabilities brochure.It will lead you, step by step, to develop a winningpresentation of your business and your value proposition.We’ve included several maps and simple diagrams that willhelp you see the flow of information you’ll want to includein your brochure, as well as the approximate number ofpages you’ll need.For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.1

The Publishing LogisticsAn effective capabilities brochure presents a step-by-step tour of the various ways you and your business delivervalue to plan sponsors. It often takes 30 or more pages to fully illustrate the value you can deliver.Many plan sponsors will need to review only particularsections of the overall capabilities document you present. Butyou’ll never be quite sure which sections they’ll zoom in on.Your goal should be to make every aspect of your business asclear and well illustrated as possible.Here’s a checklist of publishing guidelines to keep in mind asyou build your brochure:Diagrams using circles and arrows to depict your firm’s processmay seem overdone, but they may be exactly what you need toillustrate what you do. But don’t stop at simply illustrating yourapproach: use images and illustrations throughout the brochureto help convey the value you can provide. Use Beconsistent with the look and feel of your materials. Usethe same fonts and formatting throughout, and avoidfonts that are too small.a standard font like Arial or Times New Roman—onethat can be easily read. Avoidbeing too wordy: get to the point quickly. UsePowerPoint, which will also enable you to give thepresentation onscreen. Landscapeorientation is typically best for graphics. Makethe printed brochure available to plan sponsors andreferral advocates to keep. Coordinateproduction and binding with your marketingteam or colleagues. Ifyou need help with graphics and charts, contact yourAllianceBernstein Retirement Specialist.2For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.

Pre-Planning: Know Your FocusYour capabilities brochure should convey how well suited you and your business are for referral advocates and plansponsors. Define your value proposition and the target groups you want to serve. The exercises on this page willhelp clarify your target market and how you can help them.Exercise One: List the existing specialization(s) andvalue proposition of your business (no more than three).For example, you may have extensive experience doingcomprehensive reviews and evaluations of plan designand sharing alternative design/program options.Exercise Three: List other specific insights about yourtarget group.Exercise Two: List the primary concerns of the target groupyou wish to reach (no more than three). The primary issuesoften involve concerns about the costs of running the planand low participation rates.For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.3

The Six Basic QuestionsIn the following pages, you’ll answer six basic questions that will help you develop the information to include inyour brochure.Your brochure should answer these six basic questions:Map 1: What Do I Want Others to Know About1. Who is the firm?My Business?2. Who is the advisor?3. Why do plan sponsors need a professional advisor?4. What is the plan sponsor’s engagement process?5. How does the process work?6. Why does the process work that way?The first three general questions should take up less than25% of the entire presentation—a few pages. The last threequestions should contain much more detail as you expandon and explain the process.With each step of your explanation, ask yourself: “Whatdo I want Centers of Influence and plan sponsors to knowabout my business?” Make your answers informative andrelevant to your target group.Who is the firm?Slide 1: Firm timelineSlide 2: Key factsSlide 3: Global “footprint”Slide 4: ServicesWho is the advisor?Slide 5: Your biography (with photo)Slide 6: Other principals (with photos)Slide 7: Total team membersSlide 8: Other key informationWhy do plan sponsors need a professionaladvisor?Slide 9: Investment reviewsSlide 10: Fiduciary servicesSlide 11: Participant educationSlide 12: Fee reviewsSlide 13: Vendor selection assistance4For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.

Question 1: Who Is the Firm?This section should include three or four pages of relevantinformation about your firm: Ahistorical timeline KeyUse the page-description area below to create page titlesand top-line information. Use the work area to note whereand how you’ll obtain this information and any illustrationsthat will best convey it.facts such as assets under management Employees Typesand officesof services availablePage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (source/graphics)For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.5

Question 2: Who Is the Advisor?Here as well, the answer to this question should bebrief—two to four pages. Credentials are the key elementPage Description (title/brief information)6here, including years of industry experience, tenure with thefirm, current title, licenses held, additional certifications andeducation (degrees and the schools where you earned them).Work Area (source/graphics)For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.

Question 3: Why Do Plan Sponsors Need aProfessional Advisor?Allow approximately five to 10 pages to answer this keyquestion. Make the case for the complexities involved inPage Description (title/brief information)overseeing a retirement plan and the need for objectiveoutside guidance. Use graphics to illustrate the challenges oftaking on the responsibilities themselves.Work Area (source/graphics)For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.7

Question 4: What Is the Plan Sponsor’sEngagement Process?Map 2: The Plan Sponsor’s Engagement ProcessA one-page overview—a diagram or illustration of yourprocess—is a strong way to illustrate the answer to question4. Many advisors use a circle to describe the main features ofthe plan sponsor engagement process (see Map 2).The diagram below shows four steps (you can use more or fewersteps). It serves as a strong visual metaphor for introducing andframing the rest of the information in the brochure.1. Discovery4. Communication& ReviewNear the map, show the process in its major steps, labeling eachstep. Note the possible ways to display the process graphically.3. OngoingMonitoringPage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (source/graphics)Step 1:Step 2:Step 3:Step 4:8For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.2. Build &ImplementStrategy

Question 5: How Does the Process Work?For each step of your engagement process, provide threeto eight pages on how that component works. To makethe brochure resonate with your target group, provideexplanations or examples of how the strategy will reflectthe group’s situations.It may be helpful for you to sketch out the subcomponent“hows” of each part of the process. Map 3 provides anexample. On the following pages, this workbook providesyou with space to start sketching out your steps, but don’tbe limited by this segmenting. Expand if any step of yourprocess has more parts.Map 3: Schematic of Component Breakdown into How #1:the “Hows” How #2: How #3: How #4:1. Discovery How #1:4. Communication& Review3. OngoingMonitoring2. Build &ImplementStrategy How #2: How #3: How #4: How #1: How #2: How #3: How #4: How #1: How #2: How #3: How #4:For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.9

1. DiscoveryPage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (bullet points/graphics)How #1:How #2:How #3:How #4:2. Build & Implement StrategyPage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (bullet points/graphics)How #1:How #2:How #3:How #4:10For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.

3. Ongoing MonitoringPage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (bullet points/graphics)How #1:How #2:How #3:How #4:4. Communication & ReviewPage Description (title/brief information)Work Area (bullet points/graphics)How #1:How #2:How #3:How #4:For financial representative use only. Not for inspection by, distribution or quotation to, the general public.11