Here’s a little taste of what you missed from our conferences in Melbourne, San Diego and London in 2019. We concentrated on building higher performance so delegates came away with practical tips to immediately implement.
- A question of successful selling
It’s not the best sales pitch that wins. Asking great questions and problem solving allows high performing advisors to demonstrate capability. Using SWOT for example to draw out clients’ key pain points and alternative solutions is a powerful tool, showcasing your skills in client meetings.
- Accountants – don’t become consultants, evolve advisory skills
Build advisory skills slowly and effectively over time was a message that came up again and again across all conferences. It takes time for a consultative mindset to become the norm, and for strategy plus problem solving skills to become part of a firm’s DNA. Practise your skills and use practical tools internally within your business; using the seven wastes to improve your profit for example is a great place to start honing facilitation in a safe environment.
- The importance of resilience
Building resilience is key to managing your own stress levels and helping others manage theirs. It’s important to put your own oxygen mask on first. Why not try catching yourself out with negative self-talk and reversing / reframing the thoughts into a positive context? Moving from the perception of worry, feeling life is unpredictable and overwhelming to being optimistic and having a positive mood. To help you feel more buoyant, why not create a ‘gratitude list’ of things to feel thankful for?
- Be a facilitator, not a consultant
As a trusted advisor, you don’t need to know everything about a client’s business or industry, but you do need to be a great facilitator and problem solver. Use ‘just right’ facilitation tools to help solve client challenges – the four-step problem solving process is ideal. Mindmap, Pareto, Force field and one page plans are the ‘go to’ tools for any great facilitator.
- Great speakers are authentic, empathetic
Ever heard a speaker who uses jargon, colourful slides and has bags of experience but is just not memorable or believable? Being a great speaker is about your unique personality and the ability to engage your audience. Be yourself, be human, talk in a language that the audience will understand and relate to. If you’re likeable and keep your messages straightforward and simple you’re much more likely to be remembered (in a good way).
- Forget disruptive changes, remember it’s about you in 2020
You already know about the disruptions coming over the next five years (and in many cases have embraced them), instead 2020 is all about you. Build your capabilities, shift your mindset, adjust your model, embrace the technology that works for you, find your work/life balance and most importantly, concentrate on your mental and physical health.
- Huge opportunities for digital CPA’s
The number one reason (we were told) why business clients leave advisors is a perceived lack of proactive advice. New technologies such as applied intelligence provide real time, transactional detail on everything that matters for powerful performance, enabling you to provide forward-thinking advice to clients by turning information into insights and actions. These higher value services allow you to offer expertise, responsiveness and proactive strategic advice to gain and retain new clients. Look at your strengths and weaknesses in terms of your digital readiness, what changes should be made to your training, recruitment strategies or service offering?
- Leverage for scalability
Building awareness of your advisory offering across your team, customer base and prospects can be tough when people are so busy. Using programs such as the Mindshop Growth Hubs to educate and retain personnel and clients allows you to practise your skills as a facilitator by leveraging content already created by Mindshop. Use these sessions as part of your advisory service offering to existing clients, for internal training or for hot prospects close to converting to see you demonstrate capability.
- Avoid vision ‘lip service’
It’s tempting to set your vision as ‘do 10% better than last year’, but if you create a clear vision, you will instantly know what to say ‘yes’ to (and importantly what to say ‘no’ to).
Dr Chris Mason’s Vision Map breaks down into 5 parts key elements you should be considering when creating your vision – passion, people, products and services, market and finance which are then broken down further into 15 sub parts..
Mindshop thanks our great member speakers from around the globe for the time and effort they took to create the content touched on in this blog. ‘Value to others’ is alive and well.
Want to tap into this great community of knowledge-sharers? For a 20-minute discussion about your advisory objectives, contact your regional manager here.
Melbourne, Australia
London, United Kingdom
San Diego, USA
Nick Mayhew
Good summary thanks Mindshop team.