Advisor confesses everything we expect about how to engage prospects was ” Dead Wrong”.
During a conference speaking trip to California, I had the opportunity to spend time in a local office with a number of advisors. We were talking about how to be more effective when working with women investor clients.
All the studies show women (in general) do not find charts and graphs appealing. I often use stories to add color to statistics and related how the “periodic table of investments” is confusing for the average investor. It’s impossible to decipher at a glance and many may not understand the lingo: Large Cap, Small Cap etc… Also, women will rarely stop a presentation in a room filled with strangers and ask:
“Can you please explain all those colored boxes to me and what’s all that lingo mean?”
Likely, she’ll just leave confused and when the investor survey folks call, then she’ll say how much she feels alienated and dissatisfied with financial services. This explains the contradiction between an advisor’s experience of polite participants and the overwhelmingly negative survey results. When women listen to a jargon filled lecture, they’re far less likely to become truly engaged. They may appear fine but actually feel dissatisfied.
Soon after, one of the participants reached out to my friend who coordinated the event (Thank you, Dana!) exclaiming. “I was dead wrong about the periodic table of investments! I thought it was the Holy Grail.”
Tip of the Day:
Remove as many charts and graphs as you can. Use only what is absolutely necessary and is specifically relevant to the life application of the audience. Then, please explain how it is relevant. Women tend to be very practical in their approach. They want to know how it matters to them in their lives. They generally want to know: “What will this do for me?” and “Why do I care?”
Resource of the Day:
The Boston Consulting Group research of women found:
73% of women were unhappy with investment service
75% if women were unhappy with insurance service
The report states: “The results of the survey are startling. Of all the industries that affect their daily lives, women around the world have identified the financial services industry as the one they are most dissatisfied with on both a service and a product level.”
Boston Consulting Group research report: Women Want More (in Financial Services)
