Every plan provider says the same thing: “We work with everyone.” That sounds inclusive, but it’s terrible marketing and even worse strategy. The most successful TPAs and advisors I know don’t chase everyone—they own niches. Doctors, law firms, unions, family businesses—each lives in its own financial universe with unique pain points, egos, and landmines.
Take medical practices. Physicians care about two things: reducing taxes and keeping the staff happy enough not to quit on a busy Monday. They don’t want a generic 401(k); they want cash balance combinations, creative profit-sharing formulas, and someone who can explain it without sounding like the IRS instruction booklet. If you can speak “doctor,” you’ll never run out of clients.
Law firms are a different animal. Partners think like litigators—risk first, opportunity second. They worry about fairness between rainmakers and junior attorneys, and they read every word of every document. A provider who understands partnership dynamics and compensation waterfalls becomes indispensable. One who doesn’t gets shown the door after the first uncomfortable partner meeting.
Unions? That’s about trust and politics. Decisions are collective, not top-down. Education matters more than glossy investment reports. Family businesses bring yet another twist—succession drama, relatives on payroll, owners who want maximum deductions while paying the kids minimum wages. Cookie-cutter solutions explode in those environments.
The point is simple: retirement plans are cultural, not just financial. Providers who learn the language of a niche stop selling features and start solving real problems. They know which plan design questions to ask before the prospect realizes there’s a question at all.
You don’t need a thousand markets to build a great practice. You need two or three where you sound like you belong at the table. Pick a lane, learn its quirks, and become the provider who “gets” that world. Generalists compete on price. Specialists compete on trust.
