I recently participated in the 2nd annual Cambridge Women Advisors Forum in Denver, Colorado. I was invited by my broker-dealer, Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., to attend the event and to be part of a two person panel to discuss “focusing on women clients” with the 70+ attendees.
Every professional needs to work on attracting new clients in order to stay in business. This is true for doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc… I decided in 2008, when my dad retired, to focus my efforts on attracting a specific kind of client: women in transition.
Focusing on women in transition doesn’t mean that I no longer work with men. There are still quite a few men in my practice. The problem is that women tend to outlive men – and, over time, I have found myself working with more and more widows. And, over time, I realized that working with women is something that I particularly enjoy.
I like to spend time really getting to know my clients, learning what is important to them, what keeps them up at night and what they really want out of life. These kinds of discussions would drive most men crazy. Women understand the value of the ‘back story’. They want a long-term collaboration with an advisor that truly understands them and is pulling for them. They want someone they can trust, someone who wants to be a ‘sounding board’ for the decisions they make.
Divorcing or recently divorced women are another growing part of my practice. Having been through a difficult divorce, I know the pain and confusion it can cause. Just like with widows, it can take some time for divorcing women to get their bearings as they find themselves suddenly in charge of doing ‘everything’.
Of course, there are many other types of transition. I like to joke that women are always in transition. Actually, I think that we are simply more attuned to life’s transitions. Many millennia of care-giving have given us certain advantages. We know intuitively that change comes with both risks and opportunities. The risks can be minimized and the opportunities harvested.
Registered Principal, Securities offered through Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and Wilcox Financial Advisors, s.c. are not affiliated.
