Last Monday and Tuesday, I visited Birmingham for the National Entrepreneurs’ Convention.
It’s organised by successful businessman Nigel Botterill and his Entrepreneur’s Circle team.
This is the third time I’ve attended over the years, and although I didn’t think it was the best of the three events, plenty of ideas, inspiration and wisdom were shared.
This year’s theme was, Why Not You? Why Not Now?
It was woven cleverly through many of the sessions.
Here are seven things that leapt out from the two days.
One Big Idea
I consciously decided to avoid all but one estate agency industry event this year.
This is because I find most of them samey and self-serving.
That’s why I went to the EC’s conference.
It’s different.
It features ideas and people I hadn’t come across before.
It gives me headspace to think and plan away from the office.
Sure, there’s stuff I’ve heard in the past and things that wouldn’t work in our business.
But to make the long trip worthwhile, I only need one big idea.
And possibly a memorable quote and, as a bonus, a couple of smaller, easily implementable ideas.
Taking It Personally
On day one, inside my VIP goodie bag, it should be called YPM – You Paid More, was a personalised workbook (doctors, nurses, teachers and binmen are the real VIPs).
It was the first thing I took out of the bag and instantly created a good impression – I could immediately see why I was a VIP/YPM.
It made me feel a little bit special.
And it made me think this – could estate agents personalise the front cover of their valuation packs?
I don’t think it would be prohibitively expensive to do.
Especially if you’re charging a decent fee.
And it will make the agent who takes the time and effort to do it stand out.
And most importantly, make the recipient feel special.
Lucky Work
My favourite speaker was Dave Fishwick from the Bank of Dave Netflix show (Google him if you haven’t heard of him).
His inspiring story resonated with my upbringing and values.
He came up with my favourite quote of the two days.
“Hard work will put you where good luck will find you.”
TikTok Opportunity
According to Nigel Botterill, TikTok aims to introduce postcode targeting in the first months of 2024.
It’s currently being tested in the USA.
This could be a massive opportunity for estate agents who adopt this approach first.
It’s a Joke
During one of the four excellent presentations by Nigel B, he played a brilliant clip featuring the comedian Jimmy Carr, who presented the EC’s 2022 awards.
Carr came out with a hilarious yet intelligent quip about one of the companies on the shortlist for Marketing Campaign of the Year (I think it was that category).
I’m paraphrasing here, but it went something like this.
“And XYZ Limited has been nominated for turning a marketing campaign spend of £2,000 into sales of £100,000. Erm, if they were that f’ing clever, they’d have put in £4,000 and made £200,000!”
But he raised a serious point. How often does something work, but we don’t do more with it? In this case, the company took the joke well and spent more on the marketing campaign with a similar, staggering ROI.
Planning Clarity
Another pearl of wisdom from a Nigel B session was the crystal-clear clarity you need to determine your business’s future.
You can never reach a destination without knowing where it is.
It was #1 of 8 characteristics he believes successful entrepreneurs have.
Leads & Needs
Serial entrepreneur Daniel Priestley gave an interesting presentation on day two.
And he asked a question that had people scribbling in their workbooks.
“How many new leads do you need a week to change your life/business?”
I’ve been working it out for us, but how many would your agency need to lead you to be more successful?
Bonus: R & R
A tip I’d give anyone attending a conference or event like this is to give yourself the next day off to recover and reflect.
Use this to relax, review your notes, and implement some of the ideas that inspired you.
Thanks for reading.
Jerry