andHow To Reach Women

Not Getting To The (Exclamation) Point - When Selling Professional Services, Relate, Don't Imitate

Today's WSJ reports on a new program by accounting firm Deloitte and Touche to approach female corporate customers differently when selling professional services. Elements include sitting across from vs. next to female prospects, including subordinates in meetings so women clients can meet the people who will actually be doing the work, as well as building personal connections. Developed in conjunction with M2W pioneer Marti Barletta's company, The Trendsight Group, Deloitte interviewed senior female executives and Deloitte employees and determined that women's personal shopping habits did not differ drastically from their corporate shopping habits (like researching, browsing and gathering information before making a decision). Employees engaged in a 4 hour workshop to learn to sell better to women (program just launched so actual sales results have not yet been determined).

A sales relationship between a male Deloitte employee and a female prospect was used to illustrate the new approach in the article and it was clear that some nuances were winners (giving the prospect's opinion as much weight as more senior male executives who later came into the meeting) while others were off putting (an exclamation point the Deloitte employee used in an email to his prospect to mirror her own enthusiasm caused her to wonder if he was making fun of her) and still others were just curious (citing a "family obligation" vs. a "previous engagment" as a reason for rescheduling a meeting).

So, when there are differences, how do you best navigate them? First, just like women imitating men when they first entered the corporate world was a miss (remember the super-shoulder-padded Navy power suit?), men imitating women (sympathetic exclamation points, bringing up the family) takes things a step further than necessary. A man need not act like a woman, or an idea of a woman, to sell to one. Ultimately, this guy sounded genuine in his desire to do well and his approach will likely get smoother with time. Listening, being respectful, offering the best product or service at the best price and standing by it go the farthest - with any customer.

A Financial Services Provider Uncovers The Power of Heart

One reason to actively listen to your consumers is that their feedback, on the surface, doesn't always make logical sense. Take a financial services firm specializing in retirement. Product experts, corporate and marketing types brainstorming their messaging would likely want to feature rational benefits like a track record in building wealth or history of weathering the Depression or other market-shaking events. TIAA/CREF, which primarily serves teachers, academic, medical and research professionals, recently learned from its customers that it wasn't leveraging a key competitive advantage - its non-profit status. The new campaign, which touts the .org portion of the company's URL, was created by Modernista based on focus group findings. Gareth Kay, who leads account planning at Modernista was interviewed by Stuart Elliott for today's issue of the New York Times about the new approach:

“We talked to a bunch of participants and a bunch of prospects in focus groups,” Mr. Kay said, referring to actual and potential clients of TIAA-CREF, and the emphasis on TIAA-CREF’s nonprofit status “felt like an interesting place for the brand to stand.”

The dot-org focus led the focus group members to perceive TIAA-CREF as “more focused around their needs,” he added, and “unique versus the competition.”

Part of the compaign platform is a new powerof.org website, where the company leads with its message of Financial Services for the Greater Good and business approach rooted in the "heart of a non-profit." Neither "non-profit" nor "heart" have traditionally been associated with financial success, but clearly communicate a level of caring that clients and potential clients feel is missing within the industry. Will it be enough to overcome some of the issues that have recently plagued TIAA/CREF, which sound decidedly .com in nature, including IT challenges that disrupted account access as well as complaints about increased management fees? The proof will be in the execution behind the message - .org in BOTH name and deed.

She Works Hard for the Money...So You Better Treat Her Right: Gen Y Metro Women Surpassing Men in Salary; Financial Services Co's Still Not Connecting With Female Consumers

Today's New York Times reports that women in their twenties who live in major metropolitan markets are outearning men in a variety of occupations - in Dallas by as much as 120%. Some theories put forth behind this major sociological shift are that women are gaining college and graduate school degrees at a higher rate than men and starting careers earlier in anticipation of having to slow those careers down later when they marry and have children. Likely there are a variety of factors at play, but clearly this is no short-term trend, particularly with the widening gap between the genders in higher education, a key to most of the better paying jobs. Product and service companies MUST adapt to this shift in order for their business growth to keep pace with this market evolution and its impact on consumer choices and decision factors. With all the data from this study, the reasons offered behind the shift were rooted in theory vs. fact. However, when it comes to why and how these young women will connect with your brand, relying on theory won't be enough. Priority number one? Find out.

During the same week a study was released by Oxygen called "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds," about women's response (or lack thereof) to financial services ads. Some highlights from the article in Ad Age: Ninety-four percent felt financial services ads didn't target them, yet 62% consider themselves the financial head of their household. In the midst of this data that reflects an opportunity the financial services industry should take very seriously, were two "cheeky" questions that (loosely translated) revealed women would prefer "big financial assets" to a big posterior and a financial makeover to a beauty makeover. We get that humor is part of the Oxygen brand but can you imagine the same kinds of questions being asked of men? Instead of taking the opportunity to dig deeper and learn what are key motivators and needs around financial services, Oxygen kept things superficial comparing financial concerns to beauty concerns. It, unnecessarily in our opinion, undercuts a message that might open the door for Oxygen to connect with more financial services companies and partner with them in developing something really groundbreaking, and relevant.

Start With A Positive - Building A Longterm Relationship With Newlyweds

Americans, in general, don't like bad news.  It isn't easy for us to talk about aging or death or illness or car wrecks or unforeseen acts of nature that may flatten our homes. And, if you work in the insurance industry, your job is to bring up these topics in order to sell your services, which offer needed protection should the bad things happen, but will cost your clients up front until (if ever) they do.  So, how to start that relationship on a more positive note?  The ultimate happy occasion may hold the answer.  No, I'm not talking about Disneyland (we'll get to that later), I'm talking about weddings. 

As reported in Media Post, Travelers launched a new product and accompanying website (www.protectmywedding.com) on Valentine's Day that offers a wedding policy to insure couples against special-day-ruining disasters, such as dress and ring disappearances, illness of bride, groom or parents, photographers who forget or mishandle film, unreliable caterers, severe weather and even military deployment. There's no deductible and fees typically range from $160 to $1225, a drop in the proverbial bucket when you consider that the average wedding costs $27,000.  In addition to providing a new revenue stream, the company views the product as a way to open relationships with newlyweds to whom they could offer a myriad of other services, such as auto, life and homeowners insurance.  [Anyone who's ever seen, met, experienced or been a bride understands why this approach ultimately falls under marketing to women.]

What is interesting here is the halo effect the wedding insurance offers the agent and the company - regardless of the outcome.  While wedding disasters are annoying, stressful and disappointing we are not generally talking about something that is life or health threatening.  The conversation begins with a positive:- protecting this once-in-a-lifetime event.  Should the couple need the insurance, Travelers is the hero. Not only do they save the day (and hopefully the process is easy, fast and pain free or this could backfire horribly) but there is no perceived penalty to reporting the disaster.  Despite statistics that indicate otherwise, we tend to view weddings as a singular event so there isn't a fear of ending up in some national wedding insurance database where your rates will be raised the next time around. Should the couple not need it, great news -  their special day went exactly as planned!    An ideal state of mind for their agent to offer them additional services to protect their new life together. 

Footnote on Disney.  Today the Wall Street Journal (sub required) reported that, intent on expanding it's princess franchise beyond the 3-6 year-old target, Disney has teamed with a couture wedding dress designer to create 34 dresses based on the themes of famous Disney princesses, including classics like Cinderella and Snow White as well as more recent, and less dressed, additions Jasmine and Ariel.  How we leap from 6 year-olds to 26+ year olds I'm not sure but should Jasmine go missing, those insured by Travelers will be able to bring her back.

Mall Walking And Other Tips I Learned From My Business Bank

A lot of discussion around marketing to women centers on consumer goods and services.  Makes sense as women influence 85% of those decisions and there's a big reward for companies that get it right.  Companies actively pursuing women in this category are also a bit ahead of the curve as women have been part of the consumer buying pool for a long time now, although their tastes and habits have certainly changed, and therein lies the challenge.

What doesn't get as much attention is women as business customers and this seems to be a harder nut to crack.  Today's issue of Women's Wear Daily (sub. required) featured an article highlighting the latest stats from the Center for Women's Business Research in Washington, which reported that:

privately held firms that are at least 51 percent owned by women are growing twice as fast as the average U.S. firm, contribute $1.1 trillion in revenues to the economy and create jobs for 7.2 million Americans.

According to a quote by the Center's executive director, financial institutions are going after these customers with gusto but we have yet to see one that is really connecting the dots.  Citibank has an interesting program in Women and Company, which they chose to market to my husband instead of me...  Last week I received an email from my business credit card company with tips on exercising, which included a guide to mall walking.  No joke.  I can't imagine a bank sending a similar email to a man.  This is a business account at a business bank so there's no mistaking that the email was going to a business owner. There wasn't even any relevant introduction to this content such as how this focus on fitness might benefit me as a business owner, perhaps helping to relieve stress or increase my productivity. Just random workout tips for women, any women. How about some advice on sales generation, or hiring or cash flow?  Not to mention, what entrepreneur, male or female, has time to walk malls?

Women-owned businesses are a market segment that is driving economic growth and will continue to do so in increasingly greater numbers.  A ripe opportunity for the institution willing to commit to both understanding the needs of these consumers and making them a front-and-center priority in the organization. No more half-hearted attempts, please. Take us seriously and we will do the same.

Married Couples Now The Minority: The Complexity Of Targeting Today's Single Women

According to an article in today's New York Times (free sub. required), 51% of women are now living without a spouse, making married couples a minority of all American households for the first time. Quicker on the draw than we were today, two of our esteemed fellow women's marketing bloggers, Michele Miller and Andrea Learned, posted commentary on the new data and implications for marketers.  What can we add here? we asked ourselves and then it hit us like a ton of bricks.  A handy little sidebar next to the article asked Times readers:

How do you think these trends will shape social and workplace policies?

Click the link and voila!, 307 comments from men and women of varying ages responding to the topic - some insightful, some irritated, some off-topic but all helpful in determining what these reports mean to the people, the consumers, that we as marketers are trying to connect with.  A fascinating read that's well worth a skim to glean some useful ideas, such as this post by Sue:

I’m a never married boomer of 51 who has seen this reality all around me for a very long time. Yet it’s a completely silent demographic movement. And the never-marrieds comprise an almost invisible block within the overall population of single women. I cannot think of even one single website - directed at never-married women without children (not widowed, not divorced, not co-habiting - never-married women without children) - offering financial and living advice, featuring travel links, etc.

So, it’s good to see the positive tone of this story. We live in a ridiculously overcrowded world, and it’s time to get the message out that life is enjoyable and pleasing on one’s own; that one can contribute much more to this earth than yet more children; that, secret though it be, being on one’s own brings as many joys as being wife and mom.

"Sue" is likely not the only NMWWC (never married woman without children) who would like to see some relevant products and services marketed to her (and we're guessing her disposable income would be attractive to many a marketer).  And, if you think about the momentum of the Marketing To Mom's movement, she has a point.  Even the attention beginning to be paid to Boomer Women talks about empty nests as if they are standard issue.  If "motherhood" is an essential characteristic of your ideal customer, including that aspect in the conversation makes sense but is that always the case?  Or, is pulling on the motherhood strings a shortcut to creating an emotional connection?  And, if so, who might you be unintentionally leaving out?

It's My Life: Marketing Financial Services To Women Done Right

We've written about marketing financial services to women a few times because its an area so ripe with opportunity and many of the missteps are relatively easy to correct (don't sell fear, make sure women know what you have to offer, etc.).  This week I had an example delivered to my mailbox of someone doing it right.  Here's the thing - I'm not sure who.  Let me explain.  I went to a small private college my freshman and sophomore years and though I graduated from another university, said college still considers me an alumnae, mostly due to the hope that this unofficial alumnae status may pull my heart strings (which, the theory goes, are directly connected to your checkbook strings).  At any rate, recently I received a letter from them letting me know that they had an alumni exclusive offer for me from New York Life.  Several smart things about the offer caught my attention:

• They had calculated the Monthly Preferred Plus premium based on my current age
• The content of the letter focused on why life insurance is important for women vs. people in general
• The situations they listed based on different life stages were rooted in common sense and life realities vs. the typical "if you don't do this you're screwing your family over and leaving your kids homeless and begging in the streets you selfish..." messaging.  Their example of single mothers was done especially well, acknowledging that tight budgets, not lack of concern for the welfare of their families, is often the reason this segment of the women's market doesn't purchase life insurance:

Single mothers may be on a tight budget and, regardless of need, often feel they can't afford life insurance.  With the lowest initial rates we've ever offered, Life for Life can help you to provide for your children's futures.

• My family can also take advantage of  their offer, including my parents and siblings

It's not clear to me if this was a New York Life template that they offer to universities or if my almost alma mater should be credited for the smart approach but for the purposes of this blog, it really doesn't matter. The most important information to be gleaned is that for your offer to be attention getting make it personal, acknowledge the validity of purchase barriers and how your product addresses them and create an easy way for customers to refer family and/or friends.   Now that's a compelling reason to get out your checkbook.