Another important approach is to provide a “judgement-free zone,” Francis added. “Why do a lot of women prefer to work with women over a male financial advisor? This is typically the no. 1 reason: Because they are worried they are going to be judged … Can you imagine, if I took your personal budget and I put it up here, and I went through it line item by line item, and I looked at all the places you stay, all the places you eat, how much you spend on your coffees, and how much you spend on your clothes. How would that feel? … What’s interesting is this emotion is exactly the same for women who spend $50,000 a month to women who are spending $4,000 a month. … You have to be sure you don’t use your own judgments for her.”
Her Process
During their first meeting with a potential client, a Francis Financial team member asks about 100 questions. “We listen, we don’t talk. We then take all that information and put it together in a financial roadmap. … It tells her the important people in her life, her goals, it talks about where she likes to spend her time, her values, what’s important about money. And then at the very end it goes through her balance sheet. Then we look at all the assets and help her understand the portion that’s in tax deferred, taxable, cash, how it’s allocated, the tax impact of all those things. And it’s for free.
“How do we afford to do it? I hire a lot of great interns. And they write it for us, and then we proof it. It works really great for the interns and it works really well for us because we learn a lot and then we are able to show her everything she needs to see to know and how it would be working with us,” Francis said.
Following those discussions, when the firm and the client commit to working with each other, Francis Financial does a divorce plan or a settlement proposal, and sometimes a lifestyle analysis.
Marketing To Women
Francis points out she spends an enormous amount of time on marketing; three people in her office are dedicated to the task. She even wrote a workbook, “Make 2019 Your Biggest Growth Year Yet.” She acknowledged every advisor may not need or want to make such a big commitment, but can focus on the part that most interests them.
Francis started her own marketing efforts by getting press coverage. “I started my own firm at 27 and no one would give me the time of day. So I got myself on the Today show … it helped boost my credibility significantly … but if you are going to do press, the type that I find gives most ROI is press that specifically focuses on divorce. So when I write an article on investment returns or college planning, it’s great, it’s wonderful, but if I write about women, money and divorce, I get people calling me who are potential clients,” she said.
She has used websites, such as helpareporter.com, to find journalists looking for sources to quote on financial planning topics. When she writes a pitch, it’s short and sweet. In her bio, she lists publications where she’s been quoted rather than her designations and all her experience. Her most important advice? Respond quickly when a journalist is looking for a source, because many others also are trying to get quoted. Use Google Alerts to keep track of your press coverage, and send out emails to clients when you get quoted.
It’s also important to make sure you have a good website. Francis Financial highlights real women clients (no names) of different ages and ethnicities. And she mentions all her press coverage on the site, too.