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Brokers who do not engage in thought leadership are guilty of “malpractice”, one expert has said.
Matt Church, founder of Thought Leaders Global, told The Adviser that brokers who spend an hour a day practising thought leadership will reap the benefits.
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“It’s critical for brokers to practise thought leadership. Your advice relationship with people gets better, the quality of your conversations you have with people get better, and it can generate business and leads,” he said.
“A lot of people say they don’t have time to exercise, yet one hour of exercise during the day means that you will function better for the other 23 hours. I believe an hour a day spent on thought leadership will benefit your advice-based practice just like exercise does for your health.”
Mr Church will be one of the keynote speakers at the 2015 Better Business Summit, which visits Melbourne today, Adelaide on February 26, Sydney on March 5, Brisbane on March 12 and Perth on March 19.
“Essentially, an expert – which is what an adviser is – is someone who knows something, but a thought leader is someone who is known for knowing something,” he said.
“When you think about how commoditised – and similar – advice can be from people like advisers and brokers, it’s critical for them to differentiate themselves.”
Mr Church said thought leadership is one way that an individual can use profile and positioning to outpace their rivals and become more commercially smart.
According to Mr Church, thought leadership involves three things: capturing ideas, packaging ideas and sharing ideas.
The strategy for capturing ideas involves reading new things, watching and listening to new things, and communicating with people who you do not normally communicate with, he said.
“In the broking world, the same people are talking to one another about the same things,” he said.
“We know that divergent thinking creates novel insights, and what I mean by that is you’ve got to have different experiences – it will make you and your business well-rounded and more compelling.”
Mr Church said when it comes to packaging and sharing ideas, brokers need to create content-rich communications that provide parallel insights to the product.
“They need to increase their touch points with their clients,” he said. “They also want to be writing blogs and speaking at client education events where they’re the experts.”
[Related: Get personal if you want more referrals]
