The Allure of Women

When Gibraltar entered the Naples market in 2006, it implemented the lecture series here. The first Wise Women event in Naples, in November, focused on creating, caring for, safeguarding and passing down family heirlooms. The second event, which showcased fashion trends and makeup tips, was held in February in conjunction with Saks Fifth Avenue and Chanel. Although that event's theme was "a bit less substantial in content, it still provided our guests with an opportunity to network," says Deborah Koch, the bank's senior vice president and marketing director at Gibraltar.

Gibraltar is one of several banks that are recognizing the growing market potential among women and finding ways to court these prospective new customers.

According to Koch, the Wise Women series was started because bank officials noticed trends showing more women taking an active roll in their personal, business and family finances, probably due to an increase in professional and career women and a corresponding rise in financial equality within the family.

As the number of business women increases, so does the number of women who own small businesses.

According to a report released in March by Synergistics Research Corp., a market research firm that focuses primarily on the banking industry, one out of three women owners of small businesses expect to obtain some type of new business-related financial account or service in the next year.

The report, titled Financial Insights: Women Small Business Owners, points to the conclusion that women owners of small businesses are substantially underserved by their banks. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed consider the need to have a retirement plan very important, but only 9 percent had addressed that issue. Twenty-three percent said having business valuation services was very important, but only 7 percent had addressed it. And while 23 percent indicated that estate planning was very important, just 6 percent had taken care of the issue.

The Financial Insights report also shows that women business owners feel that they are ill-equipped to discuss and make decisions on investment products. "There is a big difference between men and women small-business owners and their usage of bank or financial institution investment product," says William McCracken, CEO of Synergistics Research.

Lectures, seminars and luncheons are effective means for banks to reach women, because women are more likely to attend such events than are men, he adds. "That might be because women just tend to be a little more social, and they are more comfortable in that type of setting."

Gibraltar's goal with the Wise Women series was to promote its image as a family-focused company and to create brand recognition in the new market. Unlike many traditional marketing techniques, there is no expectation of immediate results with a lecture series. Rather, the hope is to build solid long-term relationships with potential clients.

"The focus here is not to make a sales pitch at these different events. It's an investment," says Christi Lunsford, Gibraltar's vice president of private banking. "If we get to know these ladies and they are comfortable, then in a year or two it's going to lead to more business for us."

Fifth Third Bank also is reaching out to prospective women customers with its Women and Investing Program, slated to begin this month. "What we are doing to attract that market, because it is a huge market, is to talk about investing and talk about what happens when you are on your own, either through divorce or through a death of a spouse," says Colleen Kvetko, Fifth Third's executive vice president of marketing. It also addresses women who are still married, she says, and "how to have an active roll in that investment decision-making and how to really understand the investments."

Topics will include choosing a financial planner and how to become financially savvy. Kvetko says another possibility is to do a financial check-up with bankers as well as attorneys or other professionals who could provide relevant insight.

"We also are going to look to attract small women-owned businesses. One of the fastest-growing markets is female-owned businesses," Kvetko says. "[We hope to] get some speakers that started their own businesses, along with some folks from Florida Gulf Coast University or SCORE that talk about how to plan to start your own business, growing your own internally and how do you market a new company like that."