Easton, MA

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

According to a State Farm survey conducted in 2008, two-thirds of women don't trust financial service professionals. Because of this mistrust, the first thing women are likely to do is to fire their financial advisors.

As a financial advisor, what can you do to build trust with female clients and retain them over time?

In her upcoming book, How to Give Financial Advice to Women: Attracting and Retaining High-Net-Worth Female Clients (McGraw-Hill, September, 2012), Kathleen Burns Kingsbury offers five secrets to help financial advisors build trust with women:

1. Invest time in building trust up front. Women are slower to trust advisors than men. Take the time to meet with female clients regularly, each time working at understanding her as an investor and as a person. Ask about her family, her goals, and her aspirations.

2. Give her time to share her story. Sharing stories and values is a vital part of how women interact. It increases feelings of trust and safety.

3. Actively listen. Active listening involves attending to what the other person is saying and reflecting back what is heard to ensure accuracy. It also includes asking clarifying questions to obtain more data and to validate the emotional subtext of the communication.

4. Be aware of body language. Women are sensitive to subtle cues like changes in body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. This is a basic instinct that women developed to help guard their children. When meeting with a female client it is not only what you say, but how you say it.

5. Take an active interest in the next generation. The majority of women associate wealth with the word "security" and want their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren protected. Helping women to raise financially thoughtful children, transfer family wealth, and communicate with spouses about money will help you cultivate and maintain trust.

Kingsbury says, "Female clients need trustworthy, caring financial advisors like you. Take the time to build trust, and your clients and you will benefit from it."

About Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

Kathleen Burns Kingsbury is a wealth psychology expert, behavioral change specialist, founder of KBK Wealth Connection and frequent keynote speaker at financial industry conferences across the country. Her third book How to Give Financial Advice to Women: Attracting and Retaining High-Net-Worth Female Clients (McGraw-Hill) is due out September, 2012. For more information or to place an advance order for the book, visit www.kbkwealthconnection.com.

Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

Wealth Psychology Expert

KBK Wealth Connection

Easton, MA

617-803-6046

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