If your memory is good you may remember my original article where I wondered aloud if
women were harder to market to than men. I received some excellent
feedback from that article and I took a lot of it on and I've
continued to focus on marketing to women in the ways that I thought
would work. Since my last article a few things - to put it mildly
- have changed and I've refined my approach. However, I
remain an Investment Advisor at Craigs IP, a job I'm passionate
about.
The Global Financial Crisis (GFC)
Dark days of watching screens filled with red as markets
plummeted, sleepless nights watching CNBC as the world seemed to
keel over on its capitalist axis... I survived with my clients
largely intact. The conservatism that's long run through our
company and my own cautious nature meant that my clients'
portfolios didn't have meltdown disasters in them: there were no
debentures (we didn't understand the business model), no sub-prime
mortgage investments or other complete wipe outs. Yes, values were
down, that wasn't completely escapable, but the values were
recoverable.
During that period my colleague, Claire Dower, and I continued
to do the same things we'd always done. We ran Women's Wealth
presentations on Private Equity, Investing in Commodities, Stock
Picking & Asset Allocation and the audiences largely stayed the
same. We had our loyal attendees and then there were those who came
and challenged us. This was not a time to say that you were a
Financial Advisor - we were all tarred with the same brush!
But women seemed more understanding than men and they still
wanted the same thing we'd always thought they wanted.
Specifically, they wanted information so they could understand the
choices they were making, and the extent to which those choices
contained risk.
Letting Go
By August 2010 I was exhausted. I'd survived the GFC but my
marriage had not. In the 5 years I'd been back in New Zealand I'd
experienced both the death of my mother and then divorce.
I needed a break.
For the first time in my 15 year working career I took a month
off work. I wrote to my clients to prepare them for any events I
thought might occur, and I boarded a plane and didn't look back. I
answered only one work email in that time; incredibly my business
didn't implode but flourished. The reality check was that letting
go is often the best choice!
A Big Win
It didn't stop there. A day after I returned I walked straight
into the biggest client of my career.
A senior manager had referred a prospective female client to me.
Yes, female! The manager had noted my perseverance in sending
consistent educational messages and knew this woman had been left
in the dark by her previous advisor about what her investments
really were. I'd never presented to her before, but he thought she
and I could be a perfect match. And he was right…
Take Time, Give Information
This year I've been delighted to be invited to present in smaller
New Zealand towns. On a Wednesday night in April, our Whanganui
branch, in conjunction with a local accountancy firm, had 90 ladies
attend a presentation I gave on saving and investing, called
"Taking Positive Action'. I presented for 45 minutes and took 30
minutes of open forum questions, then stayed back to answer
individual queries for another 45 minutes. That was a full 2 hours
on investing for women! It really made me happy to see that what I
thought women wanted to hear they truly did.
The best thing as a speaker is the feedback forms.Women love to
complete them! The reasons they gave for attending were to gain
knowledge and education and to make informed decisions. Additional
feedback was that they thought of me as honest, knowledgeable and
well prepared. However they said the chairs were quite hard! I
can't change hire chairs easily, but I was so pleased to be
reaching the audience I'd long believed was out there.
Due to the success of the Whanganui presentation I'm heading to
Palmerston North to run a presentation to women on the same
subject. These presentations aren't large new account generators
for me but they are important. They help me understand better
what women want to hear about and to get past my own
preconceptions. Understanding your audience and what drives them is
the way to build something that works.
What Works
If I distil all my recent experiences, I can see that five
things have been important for me:
- I've consistently worked the education angle.
- I've aimed to avoid a hard sell, both in one-on-ones and with a
larger audience. If the fit is right then women will want what I
have to offer. I can't fool them with sales tricks and it isn't my
style.
- I'm available to my clients and I don't take them for granted
once they become a client.
- I've worked to ensure my profile is one of honesty and
knowledge. I present regularly on Breakfast Business and midday
news for TV1 where I present the facts professionally: I don't
gloss over or avoid nasty subjects.
- I keep working to listen to my client base and to understand
their needs.
Yes, that's all great, but are women harder to market to than
men?
In my experience, women aren't harder, just different. Women
take longer to make a decision and they don't respond to the same
cues as men, especially not to the hard sell. Given that women take
longer to make a decision it's important to give a lot more detail
and facts.
I've found that often the small accounts bring me the larger
accounts; sometimes it's frustrating to be spending hours on small
accounts, but I've noticed often my male colleagues send them away.
I believe that if anyone wants to engage in saving, investing and
learning they can become a big client and often they become my
biggest advocates.
I don't pretend to understand all the ways to win women as
clients. However, the last 6 years, while at times particularly
trying, have shown me that women look for someone who:
- has a consistent message
- is approachable and not dominant
- shows professionalism
- most importantly, will seek the answers to their
questions.
I'm always open to feedback and evolving so I'd love to
re-connect with those who commented in 2008. If there are other
women out there who market to women I'd love feedback on what works
for them or other things I could be doing.
Talking of Feedback…
I regularly get approached by members of the public due to being
on TV. They are split quite definitively into two groups:
- older men who are amazed that I grasp the subject matter
- women who comment on my hair!
The upside is the older men give me instant feedback if they
think I've got it wrong, sometimes my phone is ringing as I leave
the studio (sure keeps me on my toes). Also, I've never liked
my hair…
Sometimes feedback is not what you expect it to be, but it can
definitely help you tell the difference between what you think and
what others think about you!
Acknowledgement
Gretchen Williamson, NZX Advisor
As an Investment Advisor with Craigs IP, Gretchen Williamson
advises clients in all aspects of equity investments, specialising
in portfolio management for private clients, family trusts and
Kiwisaver. Gretchen joined ABN AMRO Craigs as an Investment Advisor
in April 2005, after two years in Hong Kong as a financial planner
and seven years in Sydney as a Global Markets Dealer and a Private
Client Adviser, specialising in superannuation. Gretchen regularly
presents share market updates for TV1's Business Breakfast and its
midday news bulletins.
Gretchen holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance), a Post Graduate
Diploma (Finance), and the NZX Diploma.
DDI: +64 9 919 7431
Email: gretchen.williamson@craigsip.com