When it comes to banking women entrepreneurs, helping customers grow their business can be as important as supporting the existing business, says Kristina Depencier, national manager, small business, with Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada. Depencier made her comments at last month’s BAI SmartTactics Conference in Las Vegas. She said Royal Bank’s strategy is “connecting women to the advice, information and networks that build business.”

“It’s about how you grow their businesses instead of just stealing market share (from competitors),” Depencier said, noting that growing companies purchase more services from the bank. She cited a recent study by Industry Canada and Carleton University showing that women-owned businesses earned half the annual revenue of male-owned firms (C$ 318 million versus C$ 680 million) and also employed fewer people.

One of Royal Bank’s initiatives, Depencier added, is to improve the “fiscal literacy” of women entrepreneurs by providing information about the types of capitalization (debt or equity) and the appropriate levels needed for businesses at various stages.

Depencier said women entrepreneurs, in general, tend to rely more heavily on personal savings and credit to capitalize their businesses, even beyond the start-up stage. They are also less likely than men to share equity in their businesses to fund growth, she added.

Since it started focusing on women-owned businesses about 15 years ago, Depencier said, Royal Bank has grown its market share in this area to 19%, the largest in Canada, and has high levels of customer satisfaction.

Depencier said specific tactics used by Royal Bank to build market share among women entrepreneurs include:

1. Gender training for all small business sales representatives, so they can better understand the needs of women-owned businesses;
2. The selection of about 200 “champions” in local markets, bankers who dedicate themselves to the segment;
3. Dedicating financial resources to serving the women business market;
4. Demonstrating market leadership, by sponsoring high profile events. Every year, for example, Royal Bank sponsors the Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Awards. Depencier said this sponsorship highlights Royal Bank’s commitment to the women’s business market.

Royal Bank also maintains an area within its corporate Web site devoted to women entrepreneurs, which is updated every month, and publishes a semi-annual newsletter on the topic.

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