Women are no longer in the minority. In fact, women command a significant portion of India’s workforce. Today, Indian women work in all walks-of-life. They are successful entrepreneurs, professionals and self-employed.
Let us see why it makes sense for MFDs to focus on women clients to grow business:
Economic potential
Women’s share of the world’s investable wealth is on the rise, possibly reaching $72 trillion worldwide by 2020, according to Boston Consulting Group. In addition, a report by Kotak Wealth Management and Hurun India titled ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun-Leading Wealthy Women’ lists the top 100 Indian wealthy women with a net worth of at least Rs.100 crore.
Long term relationship
Once you onboard a woman client, she is more likely to stay invested with you for the long term. In addition, if she is comfortable with you, she will invest a major portion of her wallet with you.
Now let us look at how to acquire women clients. Based on my experience working with women clients, I am sharing a few tips that have worked for me. Let us look at them:
Be a mentor: Many people think that women are not good with numbers. I do not think it is true. If you explain financial concepts to them in detail, women understand finances better than men do. Think as though you are dealing with your best friend or sibling when you approach a woman client.
Follow 80:10:10 rule: Active listening skills are key to understanding clients better. Spend 80% of your time in listening to a woman client, 10% in addressing their queries and concerns and 10% in giving your inputs.
Personal touch: Do not sell products to women clients; instead, offer them solutions. Engage in a discussion that can lead you to talk to them about their likes, hobbies and area of interest. I usually talk to them about their aspirations in life. At times, I give them hypothetical scenarios to know what they will do if they accumulate a certain corpus.
Build credibility: Identify a non-financial need of your women clients and help them connect with someone who can fulfil this. For instance, if a client wants to explore higher studies in the US for her daughter, help her connect with an education consultant to cement your relationship.
Research: Women clients like to work with someone who knows about them. Women clients appreciate if you have done research about their likes, hobbies and interests before meeting them.
Referral: Do not do cold calling to acquire a woman client. Women clients are comfortable working with someone who they directly or indirectly know. Ask for reference from existing clients to acquire women clients.
Implement these points in your practice and I am sure you will see an exponential growth in your business. Remember a happy woman client opens door to many and more clients.
Noida MFD Akta Sehgal is the founder of Manas Management. The views expressed in this article are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cafemutual.
