-Directions held its first Under the Trees conference call with approximately 30 advisors on June 29. We were piloting a new conference call platform called MaestroConference which allows participants to convene virtually in a main conference “room,” then breakout into separate discussions of their choosing.

We believe this technology permits us, as advisors, to practice what we are promoting in our interactions with women clients:  namely, creating an open, interactive conversation into which each participant can bring the most important issues on her mind.

Prior to the call, we asked participants to send us the topics they wished to discuss with others in the Directions community.  These were the topics nominated:

  • Prospecting and “closing the loop” with women clients
  • How to provide educational content to women
  • What can we do together as a Directions community to help us individually in our work with women?
  • What are the generational differences we observe in our women clients?
  • How to use social media in outreach to women

Elizabeth Jetton was our facilitator for the call, and set out the suggested parameters for the break-out room discussions, including choosing a scribe for each room to take notes. Participants then “raised” their hands to indicate the discussion they wished to participate in.  Topic 1, on prospecting and closing, attracted the majority of participants; accordingly the discussion was broken down into sub-groups.  There was only one taker for the social media discussion, so this participant was asked to join another room.  It was, however, acknowledged that social media is an important topic, as it is being used in increasing numbers by women, but poses compliance challenges to advisors.  Directions is planning to host an advisor webinar on this subject.

After spending approximately 25 minutes in the discussions, participants then returned to the main conference room, where the scribes summarized their discussions. Here is the full harvest of ideas, suggestions, and comments that came out of the conversations:

Topic:  How to find women prospects and close the loop

“We dove right into the heart of the issue – how do you get a prospect to take the next step? We all felt we could get the prospects in front of us, we need a process, comment, nudge to help them to commit or at least get off the fence.”

“It was acknowledged that closing the loop with women clients is difficult because they are so busy with careers and families.  Many have the will, but just can’t seem to follow through.  The discussion then turned to prospecting ideas.”

“We all realize that we do know much more than people who are not in this field. The concepts that may seem simple to us can be very helpful to these groups; in other words, our presentations probably do not need to be very elaborate.”

“Questions were raised on how to reach affluent women, and how to extend our reach geographically.”

“The following efforts have been tried by various members of the group with varying degrees of success.

1.   Joining NAWBO (Nat’l Association of Women Business Owners) and networking with other members.  Distribute flyers to members inviting them to circle groups.   Good feedback.  Participants have come with questions they need answered.  Discussion has then tended to focus around these questions.

2.   Monthly circle group conversations at a local restaurant (separate private room).  Invitations sent to personal friends and COIs.  Uses EventBrite for registrations and reminders.

3.   Circle group meeting at an establishment that offers yoga classes, massages, and sells related product.

4.   Obtaining the CDFA certification – this helps to bring in clients who are needing help through this transition.  Some become longer-term clients.

5.  Connecting with women’s groups at church – these gatherings may get started when someone at church asks for financial education.   A topic will arise that leads to a seminar or a series that she leads; participation is good because the participants are already in a space they consider safe.

6.   Marketing to attorneys who practice collaborative law with women in divorce.  Offer to act as the financial professional on the team.  Attorneys can be found by searching the Collaborative Law Institute in your State.

7.   After work Wine, Women and Wealth events.  Unwind with a glass of wine and some munchies first, followed by a short presentation or fun exercise, and then circle conversation.

“Take-aways gleaned from the conversation were:

  • Continue the soft touches we currently do
  • Have a stronger conversation using the phrase that we feel we are doing you a disservice by not advising you in the proper direction. You are at great risk if some actions are not taken soon. Whether you choose our firm or another reliable advisor, the following issues need your attention.
  • We use a very soft touch approach – some people need more.
  • We talked about the need to be nurturing, particularly for women going through a difficult transition such as a divorce or the loss of a spouse. It’s important to create an environment in which women can feel comfortable expressing themselves and to allow them time to heal.

“It felt as though the discussion barely got started before we were asked to finish up. Next time you may want to consider giving a few more minutes to those Chatty Cathies of the group. :) ”

“Perhaps we could have divided our topic into two groups – one to discuss prospecting and the other to discuss closing the loop.”

Topic:  Providing educational content to women

There were two participants in this discussion. One participant has

“been holding a monthly 1 1/4 hour breakfast meeting for women, open to the public, her clients, and her prospects.  Over the last year she has had many folks become regulars–including a woman who drives 3 hours to get there!  Coffee and muffins are served, the meeting starts with an ice breaker, and then she (or a guest) does a presentation (cash flow, debt management, estate planning, taxes, etc.) followed by a discussion where the attendees share their experiences around the topic.”

She then “blogs about the sessions, lists them on her website, mentions them during her weekly TV appearance, and works at social marketing–but still would like to reach more potential attendees. She has also had the interesting experience of one attendee bringing two other women to the meetings, both of whom have since become clients, but the original woman still has not!”

“We talked about ways to structure the sessions in line with Directions‘ belief that women need to become empowered before they can become engaged…primarily through more personal conversations amongst the attendees.”

Topic:  What can we do as a community to help us individually?

We “discussed our efforts to bring women together for presentations or circles <and> expressed again the desire to have new, different kinds of templates for presentations and materials.”

“It’s hard to get women engaged.  Circles focusing on empowerment, before providing education, are a good way to engage women.”

“We would like Directions-branded material, since many advisors are asked to speak to women’s groups.”

“Based on one participant’s experience of trying the circle, participants expressed more comfort and interest in how to do that.  They would like help with the Invitation, so the Directions’ webinar series on Circles scheduled to begin in August will be well timed.  Questions were asked about whether or not to focus on one particular age group or mix them up and how to get women inspired and engaged.”

“Very good conversation.  The group agreed they would like to be able to continue the conversation.”

Topic:  Generational differences among women

“One participant, herself a baby-boomer, observed that many women in this generation were involved in feminist movement, and fought for the freedoms (in workplace, etc.) that younger generations take more for granted.”

“There appears to be less gender stereotyping about money management roles among younger women.”

“But the work/childcare issue is still a major problem for younger women; they are still the primary caretakers. Hopefully, more workplace flexibility will make work/life balance easier.”

“What role do we have as advisors helping women understand the financial trade-offs involved in the choices they make about work and caretaking?”

The feedback we received after the call was quite positive, expressing the wish to have more such Under the Trees forums in the future.  A quarterly Under the Trees call will be scheduled for Directions subscribers, but we also plan to have other, open calls for all those advisors interested in participating in discussions of interest to the Directions community.