AI for Advisors newsletter
AI is the mirror you didn’t know you needed. Here’s what I mean: Take your value proposition, the one you’ve been using for years, and paste it into ChatGPT with a simple prompt: “Clean up the wording. Make it more clear and connected.”
Maybe you’ve done this before with different kinds of content. But something different happens when advisors run their value propositions through AI for the first time.
It’s a shock. Because the AI doesn’t necessarily interpret your intent. Typically, it reflects your actual words back at you. And most advisors will discover that their messaging is vague, generic, or basically interchangeable with every other advisor in their ZIP code.
It’s not an unforgiving mirror. But an incredibly useful one.
The messaging gap is widening
So what’s really going on here? Why does this matter for the advisor sitting at home who thinks, “My value prop is fine”? It matters because clients are flooded with financial content, from YouTube channels and newsletters to planning calculators and robo-advisors. If your message blends in, you become invisible.
And AI has now become the fastest way to detect whether your value prop is strong...or hollow.
If you’re wondering, ‘Are you saying AI can tell instantly whether prospects will understand what makes you different?’ the answer is yes. And often the first person it surprises is you, the advisor.
When AI struggles to articulate your value in clear terms, that’s what your prospects experience too. That’s the real wake-up call.
The cost of a flawed value proposition
Here’s what happens when your value proposition doesn’t land clearly:
First, you lose people’s attention immediately. Prospects see your website, your LinkedIn profile, your intro email—and nothing sticks. They move on to the next advisor who says basically the same thing. You’ve got maybe eight seconds to communicate why someone should care. If your value prop requires interpretation, you’ve already lost.
Second, you repel ideal clients. When your messaging is generic, you attract generic prospects, people shopping on price, asking surface-level questions, and treating you like a commodity. Meanwhile, the clients you actually want to serve, the ones who’d pay premium fees for specialized expertise, can’t tell that you’re the right fit for them.
Third, you default to competing on credentials. If you can’t articulate your value clearly, you fall back on the CFP designation, your firm’s AUM, how long you’ve been in business. None of that differentiates you. Every advisor has credentials. The question is: What do you do with them that others don’t?
Fourth, referrals dry up. Even satisfied clients may struggle to refer you if they can’t explain what makes you different. “Oh, you should talk to my advisor” isn’t a referral—it’s a vague suggestion. “You should talk to my advisor because she specializes in helping tech executives navigate RSU strategies during pre-IPO transitions” is a referral. See the difference?
And here’s the kicker: Most advisors don’t realize any of this is happening. They’re too close to their own messaging. They know what they mean to say. But prospects don’t have that context. That’s where AI becomes invaluable.
How to use AI to stress-test your value proposition
Here’s the practical process for using AI to diagnose and fix your value proposition:
Step 1: Run the mirror test
Copy your current value proposition—whatever you have on your website, LinkedIn, or marketing materials. Then use this simple prompt:
“I’m a financial advisor. Here’s my value proposition: [paste your value prop]. Please clean up the wording to make it more clear and connected.”
What you’re looking for: Does the AI response significantly change your messaging? Does it have to fill in gaps or make assumptions? Does it struggle to identify what specifically makes you different?
If ChatGPT, or any other model (Copilot, Gemini, Claude) rewrites your value prop with generic language about “comprehensive financial planning” or “personalized service” or “building lasting relationships,” that’s a red flag. The AI couldn’t find anything specific to work with.
Example of what weak output looks like:
Let’s say you submit: “I help clients achieve their financial goals through personalized planning and comprehensive wealth management strategies.”
The AI might return: “I partner with clients to create customized financial plans that align with their unique goals and provide holistic wealth management solutions.”
See the problem? The AI just rearranged the generic language. It couldn’t make it more specific because there was nothing specific to work with. This is what prospects experience when they read your value prop—a blur of financial planning buzzwords.
Step 2: Ask AI to identify your differentiation
Now go deeper. Ask AI to analyze what makes you different:
“Based on this value proposition, what specifically differentiates this advisor from other financial advisors? What’s unique about their approach?”
Be prepared for an uncomfortable response.
The AI may say something like: “Based on the information provided, it’s difficult to identify specific differentiators. The language used—personalized planning, comprehensive wealth management—is common in the industry. More specific details about target clients, specialized services, or unique methodologies would be needed.”
That’s the moment of truth. That hesitation? That’s what every prospect feels when they read your materials.
Step 3: Reverse-engineer your actual value
Now here’s where it gets productive. Instead of starting with your current messaging, describe what you actually do for clients:
“I work primarily with [specific client type]. The main problem they come to me with is [specific problem]. What makes my approach different is [specific methodology or insight]. Here’s an example: [real client scenario, anonymized].”
Let AI work with that raw material. You’ll often get back messaging that’s dramatically clearer and more compelling—because now there’s actual substance to work with.
Step 4: Test client clarity
Here’s a powerful follow-up prompt:
“If a satisfied client wanted to refer me to a friend, how would they explain what I do and why their friend should talk to me?”
This forces AI (and forces you) to think about your value from the client’s perspective. Can someone who works with you explain your value to someone else? If the AI generates vague language here, your clients probably can’t articulate your value either.
Step 5: Iterate and stress-test
Take the revised value proposition and run it through the process again:
“Does this value proposition clearly communicate who this advisor serves, what problem they solve, and why someone should choose them over other advisors?”
Keep refining until the AI can answer: “Yes, this clearly communicates X client type, Y specific problem, and Z differentiated approach.”
What strong value propositions look like
When AI is working with a strong value proposition, the output is tight, specific, and defensible. Here’s what that might look like:
Weak: “I help families plan for their financial future.”
Strong after AI refinement: “I help dual-income professional couples in their 50s and 60s navigate the transition from saving to spending in retirement, specializing in tax-efficient withdrawal strategies that preserve wealth across multiple accounts.”
See the difference? The strong version tells you exactly who the advisor serves, what specific problem they solve, and hints at specialized expertise.
The AI advantage
Why is AI particularly good at this diagnostic work? Because AI doesn’t have the baggage you do. It doesn’t know what you meant to say. It doesn’t remember the strategic planning meeting where you decided on your positioning. It doesn’t have emotional attachment to language you’ve been using for a decade.
AI just processes the words you give it—exactly the way a prospect would. And that objectivity is brutal but invaluable.
What happens next?
Once you’ve used AI to diagnose the gaps in your value proposition, the real work begins: actually fixing it. That means:
- Getting specific about who you serve (not “families” or “retirees” but “corporate executives facing early retirement packages”)
- Articulating the specific problem you solve (not “financial planning” but “navigating RSU tax implications during company acquisition”)
- Demonstrating your differentiated approach (not “comprehensive service” but “quarterly scenario modeling to stress-test retirement spending under different market conditions”)
The good news? If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you already have this specificity in your practice. You just haven’t articulated it clearly. AI can help you find the language. But you have to be willing to look in the mirror first.
Try this today
Before you move on to the next task on your to-do list:
- Open ChatGPT
- Paste in your current value proposition
- Ask it to clean up the wording
- See what comes back
If the output makes you wince—good. That discomfort is the start of clarity. And clarity is what converts prospects into clients.
Ready to make the leap? Horsesmouth’s AI for Advisors Pro training programs provide the structured, advisor-specific approach that transforms occasional users into confident practitioners. Learn more at www.horsesmouth.com/aipro.