We have a special treat today. Sanjay Rao has shared his Notes from the Million Dollar Round Table Conference . Sanjay is one of the most respected Financial planners in India and is well-known in Pune by his moniker “Financial Coach”.He can be reached at Sanjay Rao
The theme of the day was Winds Of Change.
The first speaker was Swami Gyan Vatsalji from BAPS Sanstha.
He spoke on the basic foundation of people which either make them or break them- ETHICS,VALUES and BELIEF.
He gave a log of current affair examples such as loss of Usain Bolt’s 2008 Beijing Olympic medal due to a doping charge on one of his team members, downfall of Rajat Gupta due to insider trading charges and a few more.
He made suggestions on a few very good books to read like Why the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins.
Key take away points :
Undisciplined pursuit for more always results in a downfall sooner or later, as the cliche goes.. Karma always catches up.
The second speaker was Mark Hanna, President of MDRT .
He started by talking about the esteemed MDRT organization and on how being a part and attending these sessions not only motivate but help one’s business. Initially this didnt make sense to me but as the day proceeded and you open your mind like a sponge you get filled in with tonnes of ideas,positiveness and the fire to excel.
He spoke about the importance of believing in yourself, having a fierce desire to succeed and an insatiable curiosity
Key take away points :
Be the best in what you do.Reaching that level will boost your self confidence and self esteem
The next speaker was Krish Dhanam, a motivational speaker .
The kind of energy Krish brought was simply amazing.He spoke about the Mood of change.
This touched on the subject on how you need to look good, feel good in order for someone else to feel the same about you.
Then comes the Method of Change. This change occurs on the inside. Then we have the Message of Change followed by the Medium of change.
Key take away points :
You can have everything in life you want if you help others get what they want. Knowledge is learned ,wisdom is lived.
The next speaker was Dr Pawan Agarwal who delivers sessions on Supply Chain Management of Mumbai Dabbawala .
When he started, it sounded too loud but after his 15 minutes of speaking you realise that its his innocent passion and conviction that is delivering the speech.
He spoke about Time management, Retention/Attrition, Commitment, Leadership, Customer Satisfaction, Quality, 100% Execution, Logistics & Supply Chain . All relative to the Dabbawalas.
He cracked a few jokes @ how they re not just the carrier of food but also love letters, mobiles, sometimes people’s salaries… all in the dabbas . You could truely feel that these people are the lifeline of the Mumbai working class and you are humbled by their hard work, dedication and passion
Key take away points :
Work is next to Godliness. Do not do any work half heartedly .
Next to come was Mr James Pittman, the Vice President of MDRT . He spoke on how important it is to build up on a clientele system. He filled us in with the advantages of being a member of MDRT
The next speaker to come was Mr Bharat Parekh, a very successful advisor and a life member of MDRT for the last 24 years .
He spoke in length on how to do business and the mantra do what you do best and delegate the rest.
He cited this with a picture of his huge team that does all the backend work and he has enough time to face the clients. He shared some innovative ways to get business . Acknowledging the important client dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, Office Inauguration dates and holding events for kids birthdays,housewarming .
Key take away points :
Time is not money, relationship is money.Keep investing in it.
If you continue to do what you have always been doing, you will continue to earn what you have always been earning. PROSPECT UP.
The next speaker got us lumps in our throat. She was Arunima Sinha, World’s first female amputee who climbed Mount Everest.
She has already climbed 5 peaks in different continents. Her story on how she lost her leg due to resisting thieves who pushed her out of a moving train and her road to recovery brought chills down our spine.
Then she spoke how she overcame resistance from every corner in order to achieve her dream of climbing Mount Everest and prove it to the world .
Key take away points :
If you have the will,the drive, the passion and the heart to do something…nothing in the world can stop you and somehow or the other things will work out
The next speaker was Gajendra Kothari, Managing Director and CEO of Etica Wealth Management Pvt Ltd. He mainly spoke on how Technology will rule everything and how one should change their business processes as per that.
Key take away points :
Use the various technologies available to make yours as well as your clients life easier. Also be more productive in doing automation for enhancement of client experience by generating monthly newsletters, birthday, anniversary wishes
The last speaker got on stage from the audience to the tune of Bhangda encouraging everyone to stand up and join in. He was Bhupinder Anand, CEO of Anand Associates, IFA of the year.
The audience loved it. An amazing session where he spoke how powerful words can be and how one can implement it in the right way . It reminded me of a book on behavioral science by Robert Cialdini. Gave a lot of examples on how to handle objections.
Key take away points :
How to handle objections in a nice manner and make your clients get a clear picture of the situation without hurting their sensibilities
Post this there was an all ladies agent panel discussion .
Take away from the entire conference :
TIME MANAGEMENT — While this was mentioned numerous times by almost all the speakers I saved it for the last. A few speakers got there even before the conference started just so that they dont reach the venue late.
Indians as a majority have a very bad habit of making people below their hierarchy level wait for them, assuming their time is more important than others.
The successful people dont believe in this.They strive to be on time however busy their schedule is and apologize or reschedule when its not possible.
Another important take away is READ READ and READ. Successful people read at least 2 non fiction books a week. Try to get into a habit of reading at least 20 pages a day. That’s 36 200-page books that you will be ahead of your competition.
