Value, Magic & Leaving a Legacy (MYOB Partner Connect)
MYOB Partner Connect – Day 1 Value, Magic & Leaving a Legacy
As a bit of a conference connoisseur, I have high expectations. I don’t need bells and whistles. I need content, connections and take aways (and I am not talking of the chicken kebab variety).
I was thrilled that the focus of MYOB Partner Connect 2018 was all around “success is personal”. I have said time and time again that success to you is different to success for me. I don’t want to make a million dollars, I don’t want to have 500 staff, I don’t want to franchise – I just want to be happy in my life choices. All of them. It’s that simple for me.
Tim Reed kicked off the conference nicely reminding us about our value proposition and that value is what drives successful relationships. With all the talk of fixed fees, or monthly fees – that is all great. But what value are you actually giving to your customers? We spend so much time trying to gain new business, how much time to do we spend to ensure our current client base is truly happy? Be honest.
Cosentino was a huge fan girl moment – I mean the guy is the coolest illusionist since David Copperfield (yes I totally had a crush on him back in the 80’s). I wasn’t sure how on earth Cosentino would even relate to an accounting audience, and to be honest I didn’t care.
“I mean the guy can turn $5 notes into $10 notes – this was going to be the most profitable afternoon ever.”
But when he told his story of growing up and not being able to read until he was 12 and was a unique child, he said “my uniqueness is my selling point”. As someone who is often a square peg for a round hole in the finance industry, it was so refreshing to hear it is ok to NOT succumb to society’s norm (whatever normal is) and to reveal your true self.
I know from personal experience, the minute I dropped the “corporate accountant” persona which is what I thought I needed to be, and embraced my true inner numbers nerd, clients flocked to me as the just totally resonated to my individual and unique ways.
But the real truth bombs of the day came from another Myob Partner – Rob Marshall. Rob and his wife lost a child and to get through his grief, Rob was working 16 hour days. He barely saw his family, but his business was (and still is) successful. Rob was a slave to his client base and had lost control (his exact words) and life caught up with him. In December 2017, whilst playing cricket, Rob suffered a “widow maker” heart attack. As if that name is not scary enough, he basically had around 50 minutes to seek treatment to possibly survive. The trip to the hospital took 35 minutes alone. All he wanted to do during this time of trauma was to see and tell his family how much he loved them, but they were the exact people he had been shutting out whilst working such long hours.
By now of course I was crying (seems to be a MYOB Partner Connect tradition for me) – I mean clearly he survived as he was on stage – but I know all too well how many hours I spend on my business, as do many of my clients.
“We are passionate, we are headstrong, we are determined – but don’t wait for a life trauma to find out there are better ways to do things.”