Not Charging Enough
Nancy Butler, a 25-year financial planner turned business coach, says she has seen more women than men who lack confidence in the value they bring to their clients. The result is that they charge lower fees than they should. “I have often seen the extensive knowledge and great advice female advisors give their clients,” says Butler, “but when I see what they charged for that advice, it is far below what it should be. I have even seen this in advisors who have extensive training and designations in their field and many years of experience.”
Butler says that when she discusses this problem with these women, they say they don’t feel comfortable charging more and are afraid of losing clients. However, in some cases advisors are undercharging by so much that it costs them more to produce the work than they earn after factoring in their own time, staff time, equipment usage, printing costs and other business expenses. “Clients only have a problem with the fee if they feel what they are getting is not worth the price,” says Butler. “If the advisor truly believes in the value they will be providing the client for the fee charged, they will have no trouble helping the client to see the value as well.” (For more, see Women: Invest in Your Financial Literacy.)
