In late 2015 we made the decision to rebrand our business Jane Smith Financial Planning.

Our brand was looking tired and dated, and not having been updated in a number of years had not kept up to date with how the business had progressed, our goals for the future and the sort of clients we were looking to attract and work with. Updating our brand to be clearly aligned to our business objectives was a priority.

We knew this wasn’t going to be a quick process, and equally we wanted to make sure we made the right decisions about who might lead us through this process. We interviewed four prospective ‘candidates’. These were specialists in financial services who maybe knew and understood our industry (but maybe came with pre-conceived ideas) and those with little experience who might bring a fresh view.

It was interesting that some came to these initial meetings with immediate proposals and ideas. How could they develop a strategy if they didn’t understand what we were setting out to achieve?

I was far more attracted to those companies who included within their proposals the time to get to know and understand our business. Yes, we were paying for this, but this wasn’t supposed to be a quick fix solution; we needed a brand that could take our business forward.

In hindsight, my decision-making process was very much driven by those companies that adopted a Financial Planning style approach. The six stages of Financial Planning could certainly also be applied to any future marketing strategy!

The company we selected also took the time to interview existing clients. With income from existing clients providing such a large part of our income, their feedback was imperative and we couldn’t afford to alienate them with any changes we made. The interviews provided valuable information and insight as to the reasons they initially chose to work with us and why they continue to work with us.

In fact, it was on the basis of these interviews that we decided to retain the company name.

Although Jane Smith has been retired for many years, the “normal” name and the personal approach that resonates were all things that our existing clients found important and things that we thought our prospective clients would be looking for.

A new logo, a new website, a new brochure, new stationery and e-mail newsletter templates, new signage, and so on, all came out of this initial work with the company we selected. But, now we needed to decide how we would push this new brand out.

Rather than just continuing with the same company we made the decision to again interview prospective companies to help us in this process. Cost was an issue, and we found that we were able to use someone locally at much reduced cost.

As with our previous exercise, she was keen to develop a strategy, something easy for us to follow and for her to adhere to, rather than the ad hoc, scattergun approach that others came to us with.

We now have an ongoing strategy for our marketing and since the launch of our new brand in September 2016, we are now really beginning to see the fruits of this exercise – clients are actually commenting that we look like the sort of company that has experience of dealing with their sort of issues. We’re delighted!

My advice to anyone looking to rebrand is to be clear about your target market. If you can be clear who you want to work with, then you can so much more easily develop your brand to attract that group of people – tell them about the issues they are contending with and position yourself as the specialist in that area.

Nicola Watts APFS Chartered Financial Planner, Chartered Wealth Manager, CFP^TM Chartered FSCI - director of Jane Smith Financial Planning

After joining the family business in 2000, Nicola qualified to provide advice in 2001, and has been a director of the business since 2006. Since the retirement of her mother (Jane Smith), Nicola bears sole responsibility for the management of the firm, and the advice provided to clients. Nicola is married to David and has two young children, Emily and Olivia, and Poppy the black labrador.