How to Get Your Share of the Affluent Women Nice Market!

Recently, I’ve received a barrage of calls and emails from huge financial organizations wanting help capitalizing on the thriving affluent female market. Some of them sound desperate. They share with me how their financial advisors (mostly men) just don’t get it and that they see a rough road ahead. Interestingly, many financial advisory managers are focusing their financial advisor marketing and recruiting efforts on only female advisors. While I agree it is wise to learn how to effectively work with women, I personally don’t agree with focusing only on any one type of financial advisor.

Regardless, it is clear that a new day has come and it’s like nothing I’ve seen in my 22 year career.

Within the last few months, I’ve heard dozens of stories about male financial advisors losing commissions, sales and business from affluent female clients — some that were in the seven figures. Add to this the financial brokerage firms that are losing up to 98% of their business when the first spouse dies…amazing, a retention ratio of only 2%! Why is this happening? I believe that it’s because most male financial advisors and consultants don’t understand the single secret to working effectively with affluent women — relationship marketing.

Can male financial advisors work with female clients?

As an optimist by nature, I’ve always answered yes to that question. But changes in our world and how people do business are causing me to be more cautious in my response.

An Allianz "Women, Money, and Power" study recently showed that women are more than twice as likely as men to choose a female financial advisor. My own surveys confirm that, all things being equal, women prefer to work with other female advisors.

This sentiment is a recent phenomenon, possibly fueled by unprecedented power wielded by affluent females. A recent Newsweek article says it all in their title: "Working Women are Poised to Become the Biggest Economic Engine The World Has Ever Known."

"The vast majority of new income growth will go to women," claims the article, "due to a narrowing wage gap and rising female employment." It goes on to share a fact that many of us already know, that women control $12 trillion — or 65.4% — of annual spending in the U.S.

Echoing these findings is a recent study by Boston Consulting Group, which explains that "female economic growth represents the biggest emerging market in the history of the planet — more than twice the size of the two hottest developing markets, India and China, combined."

"Any company that overlooks the woman as the decision maker is making a huge mistake," says the female CEO of Avon, who was quoted in an interview in Newsweek. She shares that 5 of her 11 board members and 6 of her 13 top-level senior leaders are female. "In the ’70s," she goes on to say, "women were leaving the home to enter the workforce. At that time, all of our management was male and the business suffered for it."

Show me any company that doesn’t understand the importance of including females in key decision making roles and I will bet you they are never making their desired income…ever! If by chance they are earning their desired income, they are literally leaving millions on the table.

In today’s world, women demand a new level of service and relationships. Any advisor who can’t communicate with women and cater to their specific needs should probably bypass the affluent female market altogether. These advisors need to plan accordingly because when their affluent male clients die before their wives do, the odds are pretty good that the wives will take matters into their own hands and fire their husbands’ financial advisors as soon as they find a new financial advisor with which they can form a relationship and effectively communicate. The lack of relationship and communication is why large financial brokerage houses have retention rates are as low as 2%. At that figure there is no possible way to acquire enough new affluent clients to make up for the loss. Unless they make a fundamental shift, the writing is on the wall.

One financial advisory firm shared that they couldn’t understand what they were doing wrong. They had created a financial advisor marketing model to attract affluent women, hired a well-known financial advisory consulting firm to help them in their efforts of retaining and marketing to affluent women but their results hadn’t improved and were continuing to decline. As I asked more questions, they shared that the entire consulting team, who was teaching them how to effectively work with and market to affluent female clients, was comprised of all males. While there are definitely males who can provide insight to marketing to women, it would seem logical to include women in the mix.

So what’s a guy to do?

When beliefs are so deeply ingrained that you’re not even conscious of them, it can be extremely difficult or even impossible to change them. But for those male financial advisors who really want to find success with this burgeoning niche market, there are things you can do.

An immediate marketing strategy is to include affluent females on your board of directors or in key roles. If you are a sole practitioner, and don’t have a board of directors, create an advisory board and include women. The ratio should be indicative of the number of affluent female clients you want. If you want 80% of your practice to be comprised of wealthy females, for example, then at least 50% to 80% of your board should be female. It is also a good idea to create a culturally diverse board. Including people who see things differently than you is a good thing and can help you avoid mistakes because you are not aware of an issue that could offend potential affluent clients.

In a recent meeting, an affluent woman was describing a company, in front of her peers, as "the 50-year-old white male company." I about fell off my chair. While this was the norm twenty years ago when I began my career, in this day and age, you simply can’t afford to have that reputation unless your target really is "50-year-old white males!" Having affluent females on your board will go a long way toward building trust and confidence with a female audience and avoiding being known as the ‘for males only’ company!

Understand the differences between affluent men and women

Having female board members is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough to satisfy most female clients- especially ones with money. Most male financial advisors will have to change their relationship styles if they want to attract and keep affluent female clients. Men think, act and see the world differently than women.

Some of the problems are caused by seeing the 10,000-foot view but missing obvious details that can make or break a situation. Many of our female clients have shared that their previous male financial advisor didn’t listen and she felt told her what she should do and how she should think. Hopefully by now, you know that telling is the kiss of death and can destroy a financial advisor relationship quicker than you could imagine. To female clients, it can appear that men are ignoring the issues that are most important to them or worse not taking them seriously. If this is you, hire or partner with someone who doesn’t share this weakness because it will cost you millions—guaranteed!

In my interview for the AffluentSummit.com with Don Wilkinson of Family Office Consulting, he shared how an affluent women and her husband interviewed two different money managers. The first began talking about alpha and beta and she said, "Honey, I think I will leave you two and go shopping," The next interview was a bit different. When they arrived the wife was greeted, by the offices personal relationship manager and taken to a separate conference room where they shared concierge services they offered, including personal shoppers, spa treatments etc. Guess which advisor they hired?

A friend of mine and her husband were flown out to meet a top financial money manager who has an excellent track record with consistent performance and a superb reputation. His style is very conducive to the driven, bottom-line personality type, dominantly male, to which he markets. Because this approach has worked well for years, he’s never taken the time to learn how to deal with the traditional affluent females these men are usually married to.

In this particular case, the wife said it took her less than 5 minutes (in reality probably 3 seconds) to decide against this manager. The money lost on this case is hard to guesstimate, but it was likely in the tens of millions of dollars if you consider the net worth and life expectancy of these clients- not to mention the lost referrals.

Why did this happen? A woman’s decision to hire a manager is not based on the best return. Her decision is based more on the financial advisor’s ability to build a relationship. Specifically, his ability to communicate with her, to listen and answer questions, and the general social chemistry. This top money manager failed miserably in all categories.

The bottom line is that all women (and clients) like to know that they’re being heard. And when they don’t feel like they’re being listened to, watch out — they’ll tell everyone they know about it!

To better understand, let’s take a minute and review personality profiles.

Three Types of Women

Traditional Women

Occupation: Home Makers, Wives & Moms

Personality: Generally Amiable (friendly) & Expressive (talkative)

Combination Women: Traditional to Non-Traditional

Occupation: Combination Wife, Mother, with a Career

Personality: Combination from Amiable (friendly) to Driver (bottom line)

Non-Traditional Women

Occupation: Executives & Business Owners

Personality: Continuum Driver (bottom line) to an Analytic (detail oriented)

These personalities are a continuum. If a combination women is more traditional, she will act more like a traditional type woman, who is passive and amiable.

Of these different types of women it is important to understand how they react. Traditional and combination affluent will often not complain or share their discontent without deep trust and you soliciting it. Instead they will complain to their friends, family and anyone who will listen. When the opportunity presents itself, she will leave. To get this affluent client to share how she feels, you have to gain their trust and create a relationship so she feels comfortable and knows that you truly care about how she feels.

Last year at a conference, in the presence of well over 140 traditional and combination/traditional females I received an award. The gentleman who presented it made a statement that I must be part man because of how successful I had been in my career. After recovering from the shock of his statement I smiled and responded he meant to say powerful women not man. This kind of research (finding out the reaction to his comments) was priceless.

The responses were beyond my wildest expectation. I had tons of responses some better not shared in this article. The first shared that I needed to go and tell this man it has nothing to do with being a man, it’s about being a powerful women. Another asked me to train her on becoming powerful, as did a man who also wanted to learn how to work with powerful affluent women.

Possibly the most telling were the women who met after the meeting to discuss his comments. Some came up to me crying. Initially I thought someone had died. While I didn’t agree with his statement and thought it inappropriate, I have heard far worse in the 20 years of being a top advisor. Regardless of how I felt, these women shared how women need role models and men who are sensitive. The calls and emails continued for months after the event. This man has no idea how much money he has lost due to his insensitivity. The good news is this example is an extreme and most men are not this unconscious. Thank goodness, because in this day and age you can’t afford to make these mistakes—unless you want to lose 98% of your clients when their spouse dies!

Regardless of the type of female you’re trying to work with, you need to learn how to ask fabulous questions, listen, and then act upon the information you receive.

A success system that works with women

One of the best financial advisor marketing strategies you can use to ask fabulous questions is a questionnaire process I created called the AskLearnRiches™. Through this process, you find out everything you need to know about your target audience: How they feel, what they want, what is the best form of communication, what radio stations they listen to, their favorite hobbies and anything else that will give you a competitive edge and a foundation upon which to build a real relationship.

Some other questions that are good include this sample:







• Question 1: What has to happen for you to be satisfied working with me?



• Response: I need to have a plan, be listened to and get updated on my affairs on a regular basis.



• Question 2: What is your biggest financial concern?



• Response: Having enough money



• Question3: What about money is important to you?



• Response: It allows me to be financially free.



• Question 4: What about financial freedom is important to you?



• Response: It allows me to do what I want.



• Question 5: Why is it important to you to do what you want?



• Response: I don’t want to have to rely on someone.



• Question 6: Why not?



• Response: I relied on my husband for 52 years and don’t want my kids to have to worry about me.

Regardless of what business you’re in, this process will help you work more effectively with affluent women and men.

The hard reality of getting this or not, is reflected in a valuable lesson a coach of mine taught me. She shared that you must pay attention to the 2x2s because if you don’t they become 4x4s and the 4x4s become Mack trucks. That simple lesson has made me millions and can for you too! It can also help prevent you from losing millions by having your affluent female clients fire you or worse – never hire you.

The great news is that by learning a few simple tips, you can build the kind of relationships with your female clients that will build a successful business for yourself without having to lose a huge commission or fee.

For more information on working with Affluent Women go to the Affluent Summit

The Marketing Guide for Affluent Women: How to Create a Thriving Advisory Practice Working with Affluent Women, Marketing to Women.

Annette Bau, CFP(r), is the founder of Advisor Marketing Practices and the author of numerous books and products.

She can be reached at Questions@MillionaireSeries.com.