What can you learn when you fill a room for two days with a wealth of fantastic presenters and a diverse range of high quality advisors? The answer: A LOT
Read further to discover the Top 10 insights from the recent Mindshop global conferences.
The past month has seen us run the Mindshop Australia / New Zealand national conference in Brisbane and the Mindshop European conference in London.
Reflecting on the conversations, feedback, presentations and strategies developed here is a summary of what I saw as the Top 10 insights from both conferences:
Top 10 insights
1. There are no shortage of advisory opportunities at present
Advisors are spotting a wealth of opportunities in the market. The challenge is much more conversion rather than attraction. Is your story and business model cutting through?
2. Build Capability, free up capacity to accelerate sales
Too often advisors are focused too heavily on sales but self-sabotage opportunities because they lack the confidence to deliver the solutions. Where do you need to build your capability?
3. Do you have an authentic and clear niche?
We saw multiple examples of successful firms who had a very clear niche, target market and their branding, approach, model and people were all aligned. What is your niche?
4. Change your habits.Don’t look for magic bullet solutions
Buying clever technology, systems or tools will alone not help you grow. It takes lots of discipline and adapting your weekly habits. What habits will you change to ensure you do what you say you will?
5. There is rarely a client opportunity or issue Mindshop doesn’t have a solution for
Whether its coaching clients, helping with profit or growth issues, refining a sales process, developing a strategy there is a tool, course and support there to assist you make it a success. What will you research on Mindshop Online next?
6. Filter all your key decisions with core values
Andrew Demetriou (ex-CEO of the Australian Football League) highlighted during his keynote in Australia the success he achieved by using core values as a filter in all key decisions. How do your values guide your decisions?
7. The power of referrals
For most advisors 80% of their business comes through referrals but 80-90% of their marketing energy is heavily focus around new lead generation opportunities. How will you put in place a clear referral strategy?
8. Harness the power of the Mindshop global network
Tap into the strength, diversity and values of the hundreds of advisors in Mindshop globally to gain assistance with client opportunities, work in virtual teams and share what’s working /what’s not. Who should you have a coffee with?
9. Understand your target customers real needs
Hamish Taylor highlighted in his keynote in the UK the power of customer insights and understanding what your customers really need from you by way of a solution. Are you still selling too many features? Have you looked past the data for the soft insights about customer needs?
10. Need to continuously adapt your story, model and delivery approach
Each year advisors are pushed to continuously adapt their story (positioning), delivery approach and business model to harness new opportunities. Standing still for too long will ensure you are left behind. How will you adapt in 2015 / 2016?
Thanks again to all presenters and delegates for making each conference such a fantastic experience. Some of the comments from attendees have included:
- “The best two day conference I can remember”
- “Excellent conference as always”
- “Overall a great conference, very friendly and helpful members and a high standard throughout”
- “As always a great opportunity to think, re-calibrate and set an action plan going forward”
Contact us for further information
If you have any questions about the global conferences or Mindshop please touch base with a regional representative below:
Australia / New Zealand – James Mason (jmason@mindshop.com)
United Kingdom – Gill Burn (gburn@mindshop.com)
North America – Chris Mason(cmason@mindshop.com)
