We were thrilled to welcome hundreds of advisers to The VOX at Birmingham Resorts World last week.

It was a truly packed day that gave delegates the choice of several sessions, to ensure they built their perfect day. And because that meant nobody could attend every session, we’ve picked out a couple of key insights from each to share with you here.
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Aviva Head of Wealth & Retirement Alistair McQueen kicked off the day by setting the economic scene, and particularly pointed out the inverse relationship between inflation and customer confidence – when the former rises, the latter falls. And as inflation has dropped recently, customer confidence has duly risen.
With noises from the Bank of England indicating a potential for cuts in interest rates this year, there is possibly cause for optimism.
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At an early session around planning for the future, delegates heard that – whether you’re preparing for exit, merger or acquisition – you should be working to a timeline of at least two years.
This time should be spent getting your documentation in order. Ensure your operating models, policies, processes, and procedures are all recorded; create breakdowns of all customers in your database and the products they hold, so you can clearly demonstrate the business’s value; and clearly articulate for any potential buyers how you’ve worked to implement the Consumer Duty.
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At an especially popular session with Manuka Media’s Rosalia Lazzara-Tilley, delegates learned about the transformative impact of branding. In particular, that it’s not about your logo, colour palette or website – but that you are the lasting memory people will have of doing business with you.

On all your channels, this translates to being consistently present, telling your stories frequently and repeatedly, and having a human side that’s memorable. Building connections online will unlock a network you didn’t know you had access to. 
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At our Protection: Beyond the Basics session, delegates explored the breadth of protection options available on the market, including family income protection, critical illness cover and cover for primary carers.

Radcliffe & Co’s Charlotte Rogers shared her moving personal story of loss, and illustrated the incredible power of storytelling in having the right protection conversation, at the right time. Whether you use your own personal story or those of other who’ve found themselves in dire straits, everyone knows a story worth sharing, and it could help customers see how important these products are.
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Our session about making tech work for your business was also very popular. Defaqto CEO John Milliken was among those who shared how it makes sense to lean on partners who specialise in technology for support, as it’s often not core to your business.
Rather than bending platforms and software to meet your ways of working – adding cost and complexity in maintenance – it’s better to adjust your working style to meet the tech.
And there were plenty of questions around artificial intelligence (AI), but it was pointed out that AI – like cloud technology before it – will simply become part and parcel of all software going forward, so you should continue to make your choices based on the same sound reasoning as before.
Resist the siren song of the ‘shiny new thing’, and ensure you stay laser-focused on the business problem you’re trying to solve, whenever you’re thinking of investing in any new tech or software.
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Our session about Thriving Under Consumer Duty was well-attended, and delegates heard the panel discuss the value of clarity in your communications at length.

Paul Hurley at Foster Denovo explained how they have begun offering different document formats – such as different font colours, sizes or paper colours – to stimulate conversations with customers around vulnerability in a natural way.

And Chloe Timperley of the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries shared how – contrary to the perceived wisdom – one of the greatest indicators of intellect is the use of simple language to explain complex things. So if we can abandon our egos’ need to demonstrate our expertise through the use of floral or bombastic language, everyone benefits.
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In a wide-ranging conversation amongst our Protection Panel, delegates explored the stubbornly high percentage of customers who report not having a protection conversation with their adviser.

Legal & General’s Jeff Woods countered with his belief that most advisers absolutely are having these conversations, but they aren’t impactful enough to be memorable. They need to be had earlier, with more emphasis given to their importance – and your protection product knowledge, which needs to be equal to your mortgage product knowledge.

LV=’s Mike Farrell agreed and elaborated, pointing out how post-mortgage offer is the wrong time to be having the protection conversation. Since the customers’ primary interest is securing the property, not the finance product, their interest in what their adviser is talking about has already started to wane at this point.

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At our session on financial crime and how to protect your business, Howden’s Robert Bass reinforced the value of professional indemnity insurance. 
He pointed out the impact of incidents of financial crime on your business; not only the enormous reputational cost when clients (and inevitably providers) find out, but the biggest cost of all: management’s time. Picking through what’s happened, why it wasn’t stopped, and how to stop it happening again, is a huge distraction from the ‘BAU’ of running of your business.

Meanwhile, The Coventry’s Kirsty Jefferies stressed how increased interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis is having a direct impact on financial crime, with increased incidents of misrepresentation to overcome affordability stresses.
As well as your usual vigilance, she pointed out how a simple Google search can help pick holes in suspect stories.
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At our session on what’s on the regulatory horizon, SBG’s Paul Fothergill flagged what’s coming down the tracks and what you should be thinking about in the near future. In particular, ‘people’ (as a broad umbrella) will loom large: diversity and inclusion, fitness and propriety, vulnerability (and ensuring customers are treated the right way to prevent them becoming vulnerable), and SM&CR.
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The day wrapped up with our Lead to Succeed session, which aimed to shine a spotlight on a part of our industry that’s often overlooked when we gather: the people who deliver it.  

With just 1 in 20 advisers under the age of 30 and half over the age of 50, attracting and retaining new blood is vital – so it was no surprise that our audience said training and developing new advisers was the biggest people challenge facing their business right now. 

In fact, this is a topic we recently explored in recognition of National Apprenticeship Week, and we go into great detail about the challenges in attracting new talent to the industry – and how apprenticeships may have an important role to play.

During the session, Aviva Wellbeing Lead Debbie Bullock outlined how her role is ultimately about creating a workplace culture and environment of psychological safety, where people trust those they work alongside. The result is they feel safe to open up when they’ve made a mistake, or are struggling with their workload, or are dealing with issues outside of work – all of which can negatively impact both workplace performance and customer outcomes.
Firms of all sizes can apply these principles, with management and other decision-makers implored to lead by example, setting a tone that others can follow.
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There was, of course, much more that our delegates learned on the day, but you’ll have to join us at a future event to ensure you miss nothing.
For more insight and guidance, join us at one of our upcoming Mortgage & Protection Live events and Wealth Development Days, taking place across the country from the end of February.