I’ve been going around the country talking to advisors about the awesome power of women advocates who do viral marketing for you. Recently an advisor shared this story. It’s Awesome!
Story of the Day
Advisor Howard attended one of my presentations on The $14 Trillion Opportunity – Reaching & Engaging Women Investors during a national conference. Before the session, he told me half his clients were women so he was looking forward to hearing my talk. Of course, I told Howard that any advisor who had developed such a significant female clientele was clearly doing all the right things.
Then during the presentation while we were discussing how to market to women, I turned to Howard and said:
“Howard half your practice is women clients, you’re clearly successful at reaching new women. What do you do to market to women? Please share with us”
Howard looked a bit stunned and paused. Then he said quietly:
“Barbara, I have to confess….I never do any marketing, no marketing at all”
The room went really quiet & still. In my mind, I was grinning and couldn’t wait to hear the answer to my next question: “Howard why is it that you don’t do any marketing at all?”
“Well, I don’t have to ever market. I never need to market, my clients just deliver me new clients on a regular basis”
Howard confirmed the awesome power of women advocates better than all the statistics in the world. Thank you Howard!
Later I spoke with Howard at length to learn more. He receives regular referrals, 5-6 every month. In addition, he is very successful at reaching next generations and has developed business across 4 generations in some families.
Tip of the Day
I asked Howard his “secret” and he confirmed the principles that I’ve been teaching. Here’s a summary of what he said.
- I’m very conscious of treating women well
- I do my best to be very respectful
- I show them appreciation
- I let them know how valuable they are
- If the husband is the primary contact, I insist that I speak with his wife on some regular basis so we develop a relationship
- I deliver a high level of service
- I’m proactive in reaching out
- I’m holistic in my approach
Thanks Howard! I couldn’t have said it better myself!
Resource of the Day:
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management studied their affluent households recently and discovered this:
- 87% interviewed multiple advisors before choosing (2 or more)
- The #1 deciding factor in choosing an advisor was the advisor’s focus on relationship building: “The advisor took the time to get to know me”
- Women are more loyal than men – 71% of the women had a relationship of at least six years (on 43% of the men)
- Women are the financial mentors of the household. 90% of mothers are actively teaching their children about money (vs. 76% of fathers)
