The Huffington Postrecently had an interesting article highlighting the main idea behind Women Want More, a book from two business partners in the Boston Consulting Group. In the research for the book, authors Michael Silverstein and Kate Sayre found that women have a unique component to the way they view financial services through the lense of their emotions.
Women are far more affected by emotional aspects, such as the slightly irrational fear of becoming a bag lady, according to the article. They don’t appreciate when their male financial advisors, who don’t think the same way they do, respond to their fears with more facts and figures without addressing their emational concerns.
The picture the article paints of the financial advisor is that of a detached, fact-based person who is really good at what they do, but not that good at creating personal connections. And though men apparently accept this level of interaction, women respond poorly to a lack of emotional understanding. Although the title of the article conveys the idea that women should advise women and men advise men which is kind of ridiculous I do believe there is a lesson to be learned.
Personal connections are what keep members of any gender loyal. If employees show an interest in a member’s personal life, then they’ll feel more comfortable with their financial counselor and therefore with their credit union. We all turn to our friends for advice for a reason we trust them. We feel they have our best interests in every aspect of life in mind when they give advice, so we believe it’s more solid advice.
And as The Huffington Postarticle points out: What women no, all customers want is genuineness. If a financial counselor shows genuine interest in the lives of their customers, members will feel a genuine attachment to their advisor, and therefore feel a greater loyalty to their financial institution.