A Success!! Sales Congress Survey Results

Amp up the Power in Your Planning

On March 26, 2015 Advocis Calgary held its annual Sales Congress at the Deerfoot Inn & Casino.  This is our flagship event providing Advisors with current, relevant and timely information.  This year was no exception.  Over 150 strong attended 3 main platform and 3 break out presenters.

Robert Gignac began our day with his presentation:  Lead or be Left Behind, an engaging presentation offering concrete examples of what clients are struggling with today and how Advisors can take a leadership role as their financial professional.  Robert highlighted 4 key areas: understanding your client’s current reality; developing your client’s ‘richly imagined future’; developing an aptitude for disruption; and helping under the power of choice;

Following Robert, Paul Karasik took us through his inspirational presentation, “Double Your Income This Year” identifying the traits, characteristics, attributes and skills of the most effective financial advisors.  His program enabled Advisors to double income while working half as much, create a compelling vision of future success, motivate yourself, attract more ideal clients, and much more.

Advocacy is at the core of our principles and Robert McCullagh, our Alberta PAC Co-Chair delivered a succinct presentation on the key items of concern for Advocis including, banning of embedded commissions, Ontario Retirement Pension Plan, Cooperative Capital Market Regulatory System, Credit Union Act reviews in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Appearance before the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR) and the importance of Legislature Days as part of our government relations strategy. 

Marilyn Peck ended our day with an information packed presentation on “A Better Retirement with Long Term Care”.  She guided us through the process of understanding the need for LTCI and new solutions available to Canadians to design a better retirement plan. 

We had three great breakout sessions to choose from, running the same breakout sessions in the morning and afternoon so that you have the opportunity to see two great speakers.

Robert Kitchen is no stranger to Advocis.  A lawyer by trade, Mr. Kitchen has been a guest speaker on several occasions, and always well received.  This year was no different.  “Corporate and Trust Aspects of Retirement Planning” looked at what happens from a corporate perspective when a business owner retires; it addressed what options are available, what pitfalls the owner may face and the existing and proposed solutions to these issues.

Mark O’Farrell introduced the new CEA designation focusing on the challenges facing Canadian executors.  He focused on 3 main points:  preventing erosion of AUA and protect retirement, expand client base and start building assets, and uncover insurance opportunities in and out of your practice.

“The Emotional Side of Succession and Transition Planning” rounded off our breakout sessions, with Francesco Lombardo identifying a universal connection between people’s relationships to money and the impact this has on their families, businesses and legacies.

As you can see, it was a great day!  In addition to the education, it was a great opportunity to catch up with some our colleagues and to interact with our great sponsors- without whom we would not be able to put on such a quality event.  We sent out a brief survey after the event to get your feedback on how you thought the day went. We use this information when planning future events. The survey results from the day reflected that the event was a success!

77.28% of our attendees rated the overall as event Very Good or Excellent;

Our main platform presenters all received Good to Excellent ratings;

Breakout presenters received Very Good and Excellent ratings

91.30% liked the breakout session format- having the same options in the afternoon as the morning

87% of our attendees said we met or exceeded their expectations

100% said the Deerfoot Inn was the best location for the Sales Congress;

95.65% liked the room and table design for presentations;

91.30% liked the food

Thank you to all who came and supported this event!!