Serving Her to Keep What You’ve Earned
by Tony DiLeonardi
In my last post, we covered the importance of building a true
partnership with your female clients. I'm going to touch on
learning how to serve the female marketplace in this post.
Arguably, this is really part of partnering with her. I'd
also venture to say that some of what I'm about to cover can be
applied to many client relationships, male or female. But,
these principles are especially true when it comes to working with
women clients and prospects.
Communicate: There is a
temptation to ignore feelings when dealing with financial
issues. I strongly encourage you to let feelings be a part of
the communication, as she presents them. Ignoring the
feelings will not make them go away. In fact, they'll
probably increase with an added layer of frustration. This is
a good time to useEmpathic Listening. Relating and
empathizing with the feelings expressed will strengthen the
relationship and show that you're listening with genuine
interest. It will reinforce your connection.
Maintain Trust: Maintaining trust is
critically important in working with women. It's not
complicated; don't promise anything you can't or won't
deliver. For the male readers of this column, the next piece
of advice may seem contrary to everything you've learned, but if
you misstep, acknowledge the blunder immediately. While apologizing
may at times viewed as weak in a competitive male environment,
women respect someone that can genuinely and respectfully
apologize. One vital warning that reinforces this
concept:Never break trust! Since women tend to be more
relationship-focused than men, any hint of betraying trust may
provide a fatal blow to the partnership. I'll leave you with
two easy formulas to help keep this concept simple:
Say what you will do+
Do what you say = Builds Trust
If you mess up+ Fess
up+ Repair = Preserves Trust