Advisers need patience to persuade women clients

Financial advisers hoping to attract female clients need to understand that wooing women clients may take longer than men, according to a personal coach.
“The financial services business has traditionally delivered what has worked for attracting men, focusing on power and competitiveness,” said Barbara Kay, an adviser coach speaking to the Cambridge Women Advisors Forum in Baltimore today. “Women investors don’t like that.”
Women are likely to meet with more advisers before choosing who they’ll invest and plan with, said Ms. Kay, author of “The $14 Trillion Woman: Your Essential Guide to Engaging the Female Client.” Women ask more questions than men and women want to be asked questions and they want to be listened to, she said.
What women don’t seem to care too much about is whether the adviser who lends their ear is a man or a woman. About 87% of high net worth women said they don’t have a preference for their adviser’s gender, Ms. Kay said, citing a 2012 Charles Schwab research study.
“They care about the relationship and they care about how they are being treated,” Ms. Kay said.
Advisers who want more female clients have to learn to build great relationships with women and that includes hosting events that appeal to their penchant for asking questions, Ms. Kay said.
Women like smaller events, typically with about eight to 15 people and they prefer the events include only women. They also like forums that are more conversational, focus on personal concerns and, of course, allow for questions, she said.
Some events that work well include: spa nights, an evening at a fashion boutique, networking groups, wine tastings, a golf outing and then dinner, as well as cooking demonstrations.
Financial adviser Kathryn Allen said she holds “More than Money” seminars every few months for her female clients where they discuss financial topics in a way that women care about, which is “the bottom line of what it can buy for us” and how it can secure the future, she said.
After 30 minutes of mingling and networking over wine, the seminars are one-hour long and women are done by 6:30 p.m. “because they probably still have another 10 things they’ve got to get done that day, Ms. Allen said.
Mike Engler, founder of Community Pride Wealth advisory firm and one of a few men at the conference, said he meets with his clients, 60% of whom are women, in their homes in the evening instead of during traditional business hours in an office.
“Women respond incredibly well to that,” Mr. Engler said.
Advisers who reach out to women stand to reap a portion of the $14 trillion in wealth that they control. They also may find their business growing without any traditional marketing activities because women practice “word of mouth” marketing 92 times a week, Ms. Kay said.
Women refer friends, family and colleagues to their favorite people and places three times for every single referral a man provides, she told advisers who attended the two-day conference, which was broker-dealer Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.’s third annual conference for women advisers.