Creating a mystique isn’t a mystery.

For those familiar with the film The Usual Suspects, the name Keyser Soze will no doubt be immediately recognizable – and wholly unforgettable. Yet, while the illusive Soze is indeed the driving force of the film, he remains an invisible phantasm throughout. As the character Verbal Kint explains it, “nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but…anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power.”

In fact, the power of Keyser Soze is something that every advisor can replicate – a power so strong that it has raised certain individuals in this business to almost mythic status – it’s the power of reputation.

Have you ever asked yourself how it is that principals of certain smaller firms garner such high visibility and attention, while others with billions under management barely register a blip on the radar screen? The primary difference is simply that those individuals and firms have achieved two critical success factors – they’ve been able to carefully craft a highly-focused niche, and they’ve mastered the art of effectively communicating their attendant value proposition.

Armed with those two weapons, every one of you has the ability to build a mystique around both yourself and your firm – a mystique that can go a long way towards generating a steady stream of qualified referrals from both existing clients and affiliated professionals. Based on studies conducted by HNW, Spectrem Group, Cerulli Associates and others, there’s little disagreement when it comes to the basic understanding that client and professional referrals are clearly the principal drivers of asset and revenue growth for the vast majority of advisors.

So, where do you begin?

Having worked with hundreds of advisors on a wide array of strategic marketing challenges, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to an advisor, when asked to define his or her firm’s niche, state something to the effect “We cater to retirees and pre-retirees” or “We provide holistic planning services to high-net-worth individuals”.

While noble efforts, I would argue that statements such as these are the financial planning equivalent of a Miss America contestant exuberantly voicing her desire for world peace!

For a niche to gain traction, by its nature, it needs to be “exclusionary”. Yes, it may seem a bit counter-intuitive…that to gain clients you need to appeal to fewer of them…but in most cases, that’s precisely how it works.

Steve Moore, Vice President of Practice Management at Frank Russell, talks about an effective niche being more along the lines of the following: “Our firm specializes in catering to the complex financial needs of senior law firm partners in the downtown Seattle area who are concerned with managing the short and long-term tax consequences of their equity positions.” Is that a narrowly focused niche? You bet! But assuming that you can deliver superior service, it will strongly position you as the go-to firm for senior partners at local law practices.

Furthermore, an ancillary benefit of a highly focused niche is the quickness with which you can develop a deeper understanding of the challenges and issues your target clients are facing, and the corresponding corrective courses of action. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, you’ll find that you have more time to dig deeper into the nuances and complexities of your target clients, building a solid base of expertise.

Once you’ve effectively identified and articulated your niche, the next thing you need to do is to arm your existing clients and influencers with the appropriate language to refer you – the “sound bite”.

Everyone struggles with the concept of soliciting referrals. When to ask…how to ask…where do you cross the line from proactive to pushy? The most effective advisors I’ve witnessed are those who rarely, if ever, directly “ask” for a referral. Instead, in every piece of client communication and in every personal client interaction, they will continually insert the sound bite that they want to come out of their client’s mouth when asked for a referral by a friend or co-worker.

Again, Steve Moore points to his own personal experience. One day, he had just finished facilitating a strategic planning meeting with a number of department heads over at Microsoft. On his way out, one of the participants asked him where he was headed, and he explained that he was on his way to work with a financial advisory client. “I need to find a good financial person”, the individual replied, “who would you recommend?”

Before Moore could even think, the following words came out of his mouth – “Of the twenty largest wealth managers in the U.S. only one is right here in Seattle and they happen to be friends of mine.” Where did those words come from? He had heard them over and over and over again from his client, so much so, that they were ingrained in his memory. He didn’t have to think. He didn’t even pause. They just came out!

Finally, as you continue to deepen your expertise look for every opportunity to demonstrate it. If you encounter an interesting challenge, write and disseminate a white paper on the subject. Solicit speaking opportunities with pertinent trade and/or industry organizations. And make every effort to identify and reach out to other professionals who may be focused on providing services to the same niche.

By thinking narrow and deep, you’ll be well on your way to building a reputation for effectively and profitably catering to a niche of “unusual” suspects.