LifeHealth.com
The invisible prospect emerges from the shadows
by Susan Lebourdais
Susan LeBourdais is Director of Growth Market Segments for Berkshire Life Insurance Company of America, Pittsfield, Mass., a wholly-owned stock subsidiary of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of American, New York, N.Y. She can be reached at 413-395-4371 or susan_lebourdais@berkshirelife.com.
Editor's Note: This is the first of a special three-part series on women and insurance. Part I focuses on the opportunity women represent as prospects for insurance and financial services, based upon dramatic changes in women's education, economic status and their role in purchasing decisions. Edgar Allan Poe's tale, "The Purloined Letter," was published in 1844 and is regarded as one of the first in a new genre: the detective story.
So what does a story about something hidden in plain sight have to do with one of your challenges: finding the best prospects for your offerings and services?
Well, in many ways, being a detective is part of your job as a financial services professional. And, like the best detectives, the most successful producers are quickly able to find those who have the need, the means, the motivation and the opportunity to buy.
The link to Poe? Often, these prospects are hidden in plain sight. Right there, but invisible.
When agents ask me how to find and connect with the best prospects the most quickly, I ask them a question in return: "How many female clients do you have?" Because in today's economy, if you aren't "seeing" the potential of female prospects, chances are you haven't just missed the boat, in many cases, you've missed the yacht.
Why is this important? Not only because of the prevalence of women in business and highly-compensated careers, and not just because they drive 80 percent of all purchasing decisions. If you aren't looking at women as prospects, you've cut your prospecting universe in half. And, it's the half that historically has had the least attention, and therefore presents the most opportunity.
The trend that you may have been missing: Women are the economic force to be reckoned with. The evidence? Impressive gains in education, employment and earnings, as well as the resulting demographic shifts we see related to choices women have made over the last two generations about career, marriage and family.
An expanding U.S. economy, one that has grown to five times its 1960 size, and societal changes such as Title IX have set the stage for women to achieve economic success. The door to opportunity was opened by education, and women have streamed through that door in unprecedented numbers.
When agents ask me how to find and connect with the best prospects the most quickly, I ask them a question in return: "How many female clients do you have?"
1995 was the last year of equal attainment of high school and college degrees by men and women. In 2004, women earned 57.5 percent of bachelor's degrees and 59 percent of master's degrees. Women today earn 76 percent of veterinary degrees, 67 percent of pharmacy degrees, nearly half of the degrees awarded in law and medicine, and 40 percent of MBAs and dentistry degrees.
As education levels have risen, women have moved away from more traditional occupations such as nursing, teaching and service work for higher-paying careers in other fields. Table A illustrates this dramatic shift.
The impact of this shift is reflected in the economy and in families today, adding even more weight to the "women's market" opportunity discussion. The way women view their careers is different: Their jobs are no longer about just funding the "nice-to-haves." Women who invest heavily in their education are not likely to come and go from the workforce. The wage gap is closing, with women aged 35 to 43 earning 97.5 percent of their male counterparts' wages. Two-income households are now a necessary norm, not the exception. And, in 33 percent of those two-income households, women out-earn their husbands. Producers who fail to ask each male prospect about his life partner's job or business are missing opportunities for highly-qualified referrals.
Women's professional and economic success has also provided women with more choices about independence, marriage and family. According to the 2002 Census, the percentage of never-married women between ages 20 and 34 tripled between 1992 and 2002, and 44 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have never had a child. Seventy-one percent of these women are in the workforce today.
Financial independence and self-reliance are the new watchwords, regardless of marital status, as women seek to protect and maximize what they have worked so hard to earn. Just one example: According to the National Association of Realtors, home purchases by single women now stand at 22 percent, compared to nine percent for single men.
Higher divorce rates, second marriages and blended families reinforce the need to manage one's own financial destiny, a message women have taken to heart. As we look forward, by 2009, half of all households will be headed by someone over age 50, and increasingly, as people age, that person will be female. Females who already control 51 percent of private wealth, who will inherit even more, and who make 53 percent of investment decisions. Producers who recognize and act on this will find many opportunities to help their female clients plan, protect and invest.
Women Business Owners
Just one visit to www.nawbo.org, the website for the National Association of Women Business Owners and its affiliated Center for Women's Business Research (www.cfwbr.org) confirms the growth of women-owned businesses as real businesses, not something created to fill time. In 2006, 30.4 percent of all U.S. firms (7.7 million) were privately-held and majority-owned by women. Between 1997 and 2006, growth in women-owned businesses was two times that of all firms, with 1600 start-ups a day. Employment within women-owned firms grew faster (.4 percent vs. -1.2 percent), and revenues increased faster (4.4 percent vs. -1.0 percent) in the same timeframe.
And, women's business ownership extends across all business sectors. According to the 2002 U.S. Census Survey of Business Owners, when looking at employer firms, women owned 36.2 percent of manufacturing firms, 34.4 percent of wholesale businesses, 25.6 percent of construction companies and 17.6 percent of transportation and warehousing concerns.
Clearly, women have more than staked their claim: They're critical to the growth of business, as employees or as owners. Wherever you look, they're there. But it's what you see when you look that can create a whole new dimension for your business.