How To Position Yourself As An Expert – And Maintain It

We live in a day and age where anyone and everyone can become an expert. While this can work in our favour and help us position ourselves as experts a little easier – staying an expert can be a whole different story!

Maintaining your expert status takes a lot more work. You need to be offering ongoing value, be providing new and different information, products or services and techniques, be producing consistent results and be giving keen industry insights.

So here are five tips for positioning yourself as an expert and maintaining your credibility and expert status long-term.

1. Know your customers

There is no easier way to position yourself as an expert in your customer’s eyes or increase your sales conversion rate for that matter, then to get to know your customers both generally and specifically. 


Generally in the sense of knowing what problems your product or service solves, what frustrations people have with your industry and the common objections and reservations potential customers will raise, and specifically in the sense of getting to know each customer personally, doing your research on them and asking the right questions to find out their needs and wants.

The more your customers feel like you can answer their questions, understand their needs and that your products or services can solve their specific challenges, the more credibility you build.

2. Know your industry

Know your industry intimately. Stay up to date with the latest industry news and trends by subscribing to industry association newsletters, journals and magazines and setting Google Alerts for key terms you want to track.

3. Develop resources and products

Develop informative, interesting and topical resources and products (both free and paid) to showcase your specialised knowledge. Establish a blog, write articles, e-books, workbooks, manuals and books and/or record videos and audios on your areas of expertise.

 The more topical, relevant, insightful and consistent your resources are the more they will position you as an expert.
  

4. Contribute and Collaborate

Contributing articles to other blogs, e-zines, websites and publications, and collaborating with others by doing joint workshops, events or co-authoring books or e-books, can be a great way to expand your audience and piggyback off someone else’s credibility.

 You become an expert by association and endorsement and can then carry the credibility you have built into your new projects.

5. Use Testimonials and Past Results

Let your testimonials and past results showcase your expertise and sell your products and services to your future customers. Your customer endorsements and the results you have achieved go a long way in building your credibility.

So develop case studies and get testimonials that detail the results you have generated. Use stories of past customers who had similar challenges to the ones your potential clients face now so you can show you have proven experience in solving their problems.

Ask yourself how you determine someone is an expert? Is it because they have been featured in the media? Have written a book? Run workshops and events? Write a blog? Can provide industry insights and answer all your questions?

If there is one thing you can be sure of, it’s that your potential customers will be evaluating you in the same way, so use this information to develop an action plan for how you will showcase your expertise.
Remember too that positioning yourself as an expert is an ongoing process that takes commitment and dedication. You always need to be learning, researching, writing articles, blogs or developing resources and most importantly continually promote yourself. While it can seem like a lot of hard work, the payoff is definitely worth it.

Amanda Jesnoewski is the Founder of Velocity Media (www.velocitymedia.com.au) and a highly experienced Copywriter, Marketing Strategist, Publicist and Blogger. Trained as a journalist with over 10 years’ experience in Marketing and Public Relations, Amanda has become known for her ability to rapidly understand a business and create sharp, succinct, persuasive messages that engage readers and generate results.

About Judy Oswin

Judy is a management consultant with 20 years experience in both Government and consulting roles in the specific area of Transport. She was senior executive for 10 years with Queensland Transport with responsibility for corporate support functions, client service delivery and policy development.

In her Government roles she has managed the introduction of a range of major projects including changes to the way that young drivers accessed the licensing system to improve safety outcomes, heavy vehicle road access programs using in-vehicle telematics, the smart card driver licence, and significant expansion of on line transactional services.

In addition she has specialist skills in the areas of policy development and review; business and service improvement and financial analysis. She has particular knowledge of regulatory frameworks; transport reform; registration and licensing;  road and rail safety;  service delivery (including electronic delivery); compliance and enforcement;  use of technology in support of policy and service outcomes (eg: tolling, smart cards, in-vehicle telematics, Automatic Number Plate Recognition).

Judy brings a diverse set of skills and experience into her role as a Consultant. For example her accounting qualifications led her to work as a government Chief Financial Officer for a number of years. Additionally, she has skills in business case development; budget submissions and costing. Judy also has a social work degree and has worked with organisations and clients to address systemic and individual disadvantage such as employment and educational deficits and personal and family crises.

About Judy Oswin Consulting

Judy uses her knowledge and analytical skills to review existing policies and practices to develop new approaches to achieving strategic and operational outcomes that are realistic, able to be implemented in reasonable time frames and are cost effective.  

Judy currently works primarily with government and government owned agencies in business improvement and policy development.  She is also able to use her knowledge of government and the transport industries to assist private sector clients understand how to interact with and influence government.

Judy’s Point of Difference

Judy has extensive experience in the transport government sector and knows the rules, processes,opportunities and people.  As a government senior executive for over 10 years she worked with a range of government agencies at all levels (state; local and commonwealth).  Judy understands how government works, its limitations and its possibilities.

Judy has particular business knowledge of using technology to support regulatory and business utcomes eg: in-vehicle telematics; smart cards, ANPR and leveraging this as part of an overallapproach to achieving results for government and the public.   This hands on knowledge of technology and how it can be used, its pitfalls and issues means Judy is able to work with clients who wish to implement new technology or enhance the benefit they get from current investments.

Judy’s combination of skills in corporate services (having worked in finance, information technology and human resources) along with senior leadership roles in service delivery and policy, provides her with breadth as well as depth of knowledge of government policies, processes and systems. Judy nderstands how government works, the restrictions and possibilities that this framework bringsand can work within this setting to deliver efficient business processes and outcomes.

Her Proven Value

Below are 3 examples of how Judy’s expertise has proven her value to her clients:

Judy developed a document which explained the value proposition and services for a government owned business which was targeted at ensuring users of their services understood what they did. This document received high praise from government agencies with a number writing back to the business hanking them for sending the document.  One person said ‘In over 5 years this is the first time I really understood what you did’

Judy developed the business framework for the processes and technology to be used to underpin a major government transport reform.  The document was distributed for review to transport industry and government.   The Project Director later commented that of all the papers delivered by the team, the one that Judy produced was the one that received the most stakeholder acceptance with minimum change required. Judy has undertaken a number of assignments for Austroads (a government funded transport and road research and review group) reviewing national vehicle registration and driver licensing policy.  Her work has been praised for its clarity and analysis with recommendations leading to implemented changes.  One member described her as ‘one of my favorite consultants’.

Judy’s level of expertise can be seen in the testimonials below:

I have known Judy as a professional colleague for a number of years, initially during her period as a senior executive with Queensland Transport, and more recently as a member of the Electronic Work Diary pilot, where I was the appointed project manager. Judy is a consummate professional, with wide experience in the transport sector. She has a detailed knowledge of the Australian transport sector, and is widely networked in both the public and private sectors. During our working relationship on the Electronic Work Diary project, she led the stakeholder engagement phase, and was at all times pro-active in the delivery of requested tasks. She contributed to the deliberation and resolution of often complex matters, on many occasions going beyond the formal requirements of her engagement. I commend her to prospective clients as both a capable leader and team member of projects that require analysis, clear recommendations and timely cost effective delivery. Phil Giltinan, Manager Port Systems and Logistics | Infrastructure Planning, Port of Melbourne Corporation

I worked with Judy extensively in undertaking the COAG Road Reform Plan Feasibility Study during 2009 and 2010. Judy assisted the project in developing and drafting reports to senior government officials, project managing research projects and facilitating workshops and program development. Judy provided particular expertise in the area of intelligent transport systems and developing and advising on transport policy. Judy provided clear, evidence based and pragmatic advice that was cognisant of the broader policy context. In relation to development of road reform, Judy offered a trusted sounding board drawing on her significant experience in senior transport roles in government. Judy is well respected amongst a broad range of transport and road senior officials around Australia. In working with Judy I appreciated her sense of humor and work ethic in getting the job done. Caitlin Garner, Legal and Regulatory Project Manager, HVCI - Heavy Vehicle Charging and Investment Reform Project. Melbourne

Why Choose Judy Oswin Consulting

There are 2 specific groups who can benefit from Judy’s knowledge and Government connections:

1. As a government or semi-government business you know how you want to change the approach to getting your outcomes and interacting with customers to make it be more efficient and effective?   Well what Judy does is work with you to critically review what you are currently doing, both at a policy and operational level, and develop approaches that are more likely to get the outcome you want in a way that is cost effective and realistic.
2. As a private business group that is looking to interact with government you know how you want to make your pitch in a way that is likely to get you the grant or policy change you want?  Judy can help you develop your proposal or business case and present your argument in a way that is likely to be well received.               

Who Judy Is Looking For

• Local government contacts
• Commonwealth Government contacts
• Private sector businesses looking to influence government particularly in the transport area

Judy would be willing to partner with other consultants with complementary skills eg: ICT who do work with government agencies.  By pooling Judy’s policy and business skills with another consultant’s  technical skills there are potentially opportunities to bid on work requiring a range of experience.

Contacts In Judy’s Network

Commonwealth and State transport regulators particularly in the areas  of registration and licencing, heavy vehicles and road safety

• Transport operators
• Industry associations such as
• Queensland Trucking Association
• Australian Trucking Association
• Livestock and Rural Transporters Association

About Mark Robinson

Mark has over 20 years experience in the financial services industry and is a licensed financial planner. He is also an International Author and Speaker and has shared the stage with successful and highly respected business people such as Dale Beaumont and Loral Langmeirie who featured in the “Secret” fame. Mark has created six successful companies in just four short years and is continually looking for other opportunities that suit his business model that will add value to his businesses.

The application of his entrepreneurial skills has resulted in one of his companies turning over $240,000 and he only works 4 hours per week in it. What is so amazing about that is the initial outlay was just $5000 for the business. Mark looks to make his clients and those wanting to join his firms successful through working on their mindset. Clients range from those in business start up phase through to businesses with turnover in the millions of dollars.

He has authored 6 books in a series titled Winning The Wealth Game of which the first one, Winning the Wealth Game by Protecting Your Assets has been well received. Mark has a passion for helping clients achieve their goals in the safest and fastest way possible which is why he is focused on having a long term relationship with them. He walks the walk and talks the talk which means he knows how to help them achieve their goals because he’s done it himself.

 About Acquire Wealth Solutions

Based on the Sunshine Coast, Acquire Wealth Solutions has in 5 short years grown from humble beginnings around a kitchen table, through to now, a group of 6 companies with 12 staff both local and overseas.  Four of the companies deal in the area of finance and wealth creation made up of Accounting, Strategic Planning, Financial Planning, Property Investment and Mortgage Broking.

They also have an insurance arm as well as 50% ownership in a large corporate super company. In addition to this they have launched an online business mentoring division that is helping their clients to build better businesses by providing them with the resources and systems that allow them more time, profit, add value to their clients as well as reduce their time at work. As can be seen, their focus is to help business owners and property investors to set up, grow and protect their wealth.

They focus on helping their nationwide business clients to implement new technology to help increase their leisure time, profits and efficiencies. Isn’t that what we all want? Starting with a strategic plan that encompasses their client’s goals of where they want to be, they work out where they are and give them the steps to get there. Unlike some traditional financial planners and accountants, they know the value of property and businesses as the main vehicles to wealth and recommend them frequently.

Acquire Wealth Solutions’ Point of Difference

If you are like most business owners who do not have the time to look at opportunities to speed up your goals, you need to speak to Mark and his team as they help you gain clarity because they start with the end in mind. The difference with Mark and his team is because they have already done what most people look to achieve. Because they have specialised knowledge over a diverse array of wealth creation vehicles such as property, shares, gold and business, they know what is out there, what works and when to implement. This means you have more opportunity to create wealth faster, safer and in line with your own goals.

They have a designed a proven system specifically to make the whole wealth creation/protection process as easy as posible for you and is broken down into four managable parts. They start with laying the foundations of wealth, through their wealth protection strategies. Then they move into the structures of wealth, ensuring that you are paying as little tax as posible (legally). They then take you to the next stage of advanced Wealth creation strategies. Although they are advanced Acquire Wealth Solutiions make sure the are easy to uderstand, but detailed enough to be thorough. 

 
Education plays a huge part in the process so their clients can feel confident they can manage their affairs and have a solid understanding of what and why specific investments are chosen . Their strength is also in their people with each one an expert in their area. By combining what they know are the four core pillars to wealth being accounting, planning, property and finance into one streamlined system you have the benefit of a well rounded advice in one place at one time.

Their Proven Value

When it comes to wealth creation, it’s important to know if the strategies actually work for
individuals and the best way to know that is to hear from some who have found results.
Here are a couple of testimonies from Acquire Wealth Solutions clients.

“It’s fair to state that in 2010 I was financially unconscious, simply unaware of the untapped strategies and innovative structures that could immediately build muscle on my bottom line and ultimately place a fortress around my multiple assets. Meeting Mark was the awakening I needed to become highly conscious, aware, educated, targeted and most importantly equipped with the knowledge, tools and innovative structures to catapult my formerly ‘sound’ financial practices into sensational revenue enhancing risk mitigating weapons! (name withheld for privacy)

“With a well versed commercial acumen Mark seeks to understand your business intimately, clarifying your vision and strategic intent, before educating you on the most effective (often highly innovative) ways to position yourself and respective entities to make your money work up a sweat for you! Mark taught me that I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and set a new benchmark within my corporate and personal financial practices. I have, and will continue, to recommend him within my networks.” Alicia Gowans

Acquire Wealth Solutions Special Offer

Having a strategy session with someone who has successfully gone from a small business to running 6 companies at the best of times would be a great opportunity. However, Mark Robinson who is Australia’s leading Wealth Protection Expert is offering this for free! Here is what you will gain from this 45 minute session:

• Business health check questionnaire. Tells you how healthy your business actually is
• Work out where you want to be, where you are now and discuss steps on how you can get there faster.
• How to set your KPI’s so the ones that matter get done
• How to set up the correct structure so you can legally reduce your taxes
• Which entity you need to use to protect your assets from being lost in a law suit
• Important risk management strategies. What insurances you just cannot do without
• Intelligent asset accumulation strategies for business owners

Who Mark Is Looking For

Business owners who:

• Want more value from their Accountant
• Have been in buisness for at least two years
• Are looking for strategic advice to get them where they need to be
• Would like a team of experts providing personalised service to guide them out of the frustrations such as no time, little profit and no lifestyle
• Need a team of experts to help them head towards their goals
• Are keen to invest in property but do not have the time to research what is required
• Want to have an exit plan for their business and be able to implement it

Contacts In Mark’s Network

• Large insurance firms
• Managing directors and CEO’s of large businesses
• National Real estate franchises
• Professi
• Contacts in the USA
• Authors
• Marketing experts
• Copywriters
• Online Launch experts

About Jeremy Tyree

Jeremy Tyree is the founder of a very unique expense reduction company, providing ‘real service’ to the telecommunications and IT industry. Being an educated business student, Jeremy found himself in 2009, climbing the corporate ladder with many of the major Telecommunication carriers following the move from New Zealand to play professional sport in Australia. Working from the bottom up he became very successful in sales and marketing within the industry by studying the art of effective communication and psychology.

Jeremy started out as a ‘telemarketer’ and later moved upwards into managing telesales teams and providing sales training. This led to him later graduating into HR roles and face to face business representative positions, all within different dealerships and from companies ranging from Vodafone to Telstra to even small contracting companies who deal on behalf of the major providers. Having moved from Sydney to Melbourne and finally finding his way to Brisbane, he was able to gain a unique understanding on a national scale of the entire telecommunications industry.

This insight into the mindset and management of all the major business centers from all the major telecommunication companies meant that he was able to see what kind business models they used and exactly why businesses were becoming so very frustrated with the service and their bills. After becoming frustrated and annoyed with how he was having to deal with his loyal clients under the reign of the sales community, Jeremy came up with the concept which would mean businesses could receive completely independent advice to all their communication needs. In 2012 Jeremy formed Telco Bill Cutters to take on the major carriers and make Telco bills a breeze.

About Telco Bill Cutters

Telco Bill Cutters provides a unique service removing all the frustrations, hassles and costs that are usually associated with the Telecommunications industry. They provide a completely independent expense reduction advisory service reducing mobile, landline, phone system, and internet expenses for companies across Australia and New Zealand.

Telco Bill Cutters is a brokerage with a twist. Their focus is on finding and negotiating the best deals and solutions specific to your business, however they carry this out whilst being a completely unbiased, objective consultancy service not receiving any commissions, benefits or incentives from any companies or third parties.

They do this using their 5 step system:

1. Analyse and research the business and current bills and products they are receiving. They identify where there are any unnecessary costs, inefficiencies and poor plans.
2. Interview the business in what is essential for the needs of their business and what they want to achieve. This can range from a 5 minute phone call, to a sit down analysis which could take 20 minutes.
3. Come up with a total business solution for the customer and provide them with a comparison and report to prove the solution.
4. Execute the necessary changes and upgrades needed on the customer’s account by negotiating and linking with key connections in the industry. For example, we have close relationships with the number 1 business centre for Telstra in Queensland. Including the National managers, credit/billing management and Dealership owners. This means we are able to gain access to deals and compensations not seen within the industry.
5. Manage and consistently update the account over the following 12 months so if any necessary changes or problems occur, they can be the point of reference and come up with the quickest possible solution

The result is an efficient business communications system tailored to meet the marketing, business and efficiency needs of the specific business or company owner. Because they have the 5 steps in place which require a constant communication between themselves and their clients with the ‘report back’ system, it means that the business will be under constant review to make sure their bills don’t just improve temporarily, but are a solution and a permanent fix.

Telco Bill Cutters Point of Difference

The Telco industry is literally riddled with dodgy salesman, bad deals, poor customer service and a system set up so the consumer can only ever fail – This is an industry set up with major companies instead of having its own sales and products team. The problem here is they have dealerships and contractors sell on behalf of them. This is an industry which then relies on the competence and honesty of dealerships which have no vested interest in giving a great customer service, instead they have only interest in sales and commission with no repercussions of poor service which can leave customers disillusioned.

On the other hand, the business model Telco Bill Cutters use is crafted in such a way  that their clients are never out on profit and can only be better off financially by using them. Their strict standards ensure nd even guarantee this. They are completely independent of any carrier and therefore are not  influenced by sales, contracts or commissions. The advice they give to you can be completely trusted  because the more you save, the better off both businesses are.

They are a performance based business that will only charge you after they have saved you enough money to far outweigh the costs of using them which creates the ideal win - win scenario for both parties. They even include this as a guarantee and have specific pricing amounts as standards that they put on themselves to deliver. If they don’t make these targets, their clients don’t pay.  Guaranteed.

Being a performance based business, they are focused first and foremost on making the bills you receive each month for your Telco expense less. They receive payments proportional to the amount of significant savings you receive and have no hidden costs. Basically, if you don’t save, they don’t get paid.

They sync their billing with the bills the company receives from the provider (or providers), meaning the company still only budgets for the ‘Telco bill’ and doesn’t have to pay them separately. Because of their 5 step system, they are bound to a management system which means for as long as you are linked with them, they will have a check up service which means your bills are consistently up to date and that your receive the best service as soon as that service is available. They don’t just fix your bill and leave, they manage your account and see the changes through until the end.

Their Proven Value

With the business model they use, Telco Bill Cutters are able to show and prove their value with all their clients because importantly, it is all quantifiable. A recent example involves a large sporting leagues club which came to Telco Bill Cutters seeking assistance.

Having had an accountant manager for the past 5 years and being in contract with their entire account for much of that, they trusted they were on if not the best, close to the best plans they could be.

However they were frustrated and decided “much like a doctor, they may as well get a second opinion on things”. They came to Telco Bill Cutters with their average bill a little over $5000 each month, 18 phone lines, and 16 months left with their contracts and a phone system still being paid off.

After identifying how all the lines were being used and speaking with a few key people in different business centres they were able to negotiate and create a ‘bidding war’ between them, resulting in the best possible outcome with the deals in the current market.

Basically they were able to achieve a reduction of just a little over $2000 on average each month while also providing unlimited calling allowances from anyone dialing out within the club. Not only that, they implemented advertising while customers were on hold to increase business efficiency and sales. They made sure they had the best equipment on the market which meant easy use for new and un-skilled employee’s and eliminated some phone lines, of which some hadn’t been used in 10 years!

Why Choose Telco Bill Cutters

Telco Bill Cutters reduce expenses with telecommunications and do it as an independent service that takes all the responsibility and hassle away.

They remove the stress and frustration around a businesses communications and IT work. Most businesses are constantly frustrated because they see their high bills or are annoyed with the inefficiencies within their systems but feel helpless to change it. They feel they will get burnt by a salesman or fear if they try change it themselves, it will all go completely peer shaped!

What Telco Bill Cutters do is provide a management system which identifies and fixes the faults within a businesses telecommunications and removes the responsibility from the business itself. They do this quickly and with as little impact possible so instead of worrying about a phone bill, they can worry about running a profitable business.

People Jeremy Would Like to Connect With

• Business consultants - Joint venture relationship/ referral partners
• Accountants - Joint venture relationship
• Business coaches - Joint venture relationship
• Doctors/medical centres in general.
  Sports clubs and leagues clubs
• Insurance companies
• Industrial industry - recycling, roofing, flooring, timber yards etc etc
• Real estate company’s (especially ones that manage rental properties etc ray whites…)
• Event planners/managers

Contacts In Jeremy’s Network

• Queensland Rugby League
• New Zealand companies - involved with business consultant in joint venture in New Zealand (building/ construction, timber yard and industrial, recycling)

About Gene Lambert

Gene along with his wife Carissa are the founders of a very unique financial services company one built on clients frustration of feeling they had no control of their finances. What they found was clients were not super confident in dealing directly with more than one lender at a time and felt that by going direct they would only get the “run of the mill” offer.

So this entrepreneurial couple started Lender Connect Finance to give clients a support structure whilst dealing with lenders and to offer an alternative to traditional broker models, after purchasing a license to a direct lending portal in 2011. Their clients love the fact that they feel Gene is working for them and more so that the lenders are competing for their business which in turn empowers them.

Gene has a diverse business background and has worked in front line business management, sales & marketing and relationship management in the finance, building, and manufacturing industries. With over 10 years experience in and a diploma in business marketing, Gene Lambert understands the importance of building B2B relationships and fulfilling client’s needs with accuracy and punctuality which has led to a very successful business model.

About Lender Connect Finance

Although Lender Connect Finance is a finance agent that specialises in the placement of mortgage, business and personal loans they provide a unique twist where the client makes the choice in what lender they have their loan with.  In most lending scenarios the client relies heavily on the fact that their broker will make the decision as to which bank they have their loan with. The problem with that is the client never really knows if it is the best deal or if the broker has a bias toward a preferred lender. How Lender Connect Finance differs with their model is the big banks and niche lenders compete for the loans and the client is assisted in selecting the winning lender.

What this means to their clients is it gives them more bargaining power and more confidence at the important negotiation stage of the lending process. So when it comes to securing the most lucrative loan deals, irrespective of whether it relates to home loans, investment property loans, business loans, commercial property loans, or commercial leasing, they bridge the gap between customers and lenders.

All in all, Lender Connect Finance offers a compelling customer proposition centred on giving them a  wide choice of lenders, industry knowledge, selection support and genuine bargaining power. This unique model allows LCF to share their success with a wide range of referral partners across many industries.

Point of Difference

There are 2 very powerful points of difference that sets LCF apart from any other competitor. Firstly, due to the competitive nature of this model, lenders will often offer discounts on rates and fees not usually accessible to clients. Secondly, unlike some financial service models which charge a fee for similar fferings LCF do not receive a trail commission from their lenders which often means expensive ongoing fees charged by the lenders are passed on to the customer.

In the case of using LCF they are either reduced or waived as LCF is paid by the lenders so the customers are not out of pocket. So the service is totally free and there is no obligation. Another important benefit is in what sets LCF apart from others in the finance industry including brokers is, the clients are in total control. LCF creates a competitive environment between lenders by referring clients to up to 3 lenders of their choice, so the clients are able to see what many can offer and secure the best deal available. The client makes all the decisions, which lenders they would like to hear from, the products offered, and of course the winning lender.

Proven Value

LCF have helped many clients with complex financial situations, a recent example was a customer was undertaking a large renovation and redevelopment of an existing residential site, including subdivision, demolition and new construction. After having very little joy talking directly with a number of large banks the client came to talk to LCF. After consulting with LCF and tweaking their loan proposal, the client was put in touch with a specialist lender who was able to promptly complete the application and settle the funds so construction could begin.

Another recent  less complex example of refinance was, a client was looking to make some   improvements to their home to a value of approx $40k. Increasing their overall loan size by 10%. After working with LCF to switch lenders and secure a discounted interest rate, the clients repayments were actually reduced by $2500 a year, even after including the additional funds.

Special Offer

LCF can offer new referral partners within the ConnectWorking network a 25% share of any commission received for a successful loan referral.

People Gene Would Like to Connect With

LCF would like to connect other professionals who would like to add value to their business or client base by having access to hassle free finance under a mutual referral arrangement.

• Accountants
• Bookkeepers
• RE Agents
• Insurance professionals

Contacts In Gene’s Network

• Finance and banking experts
• Insurance professionals
• Business Coaches
• Marketing specialists
• Accountants
• Real Estate Agents
• Insurance Brokers
• Manufacturing specialists
• Commercial & residential building contractors
• Building material suppliers and importers
• Communication’s specialists

About Conrad Palmer

Conrad Palmer is the Chief Executive Officer of Fortis Training and a highly experienced Speaker, Executive Business Coach and Business Consultant. With over 30 years experience working in executive roles in blue chip companies like Planet Hollywood and creating and selling his own businesses, Conrad is known for his practical approach to business, lateral thinking and ability to create profitable results.
As a Master Practitioner of NLP and Certified Hypnotherapist for over 10 years, Conrad specializes in working with organizations to improve their team’s performance whether coaching or workshops in personal assertiveness and conflict resolution.

About Fortis Training

Fortis Training provides businesses both small and large with leading training solutions, from accredited qualifications to short courses and workshops, to improve team effectiveness and overall business profitability.
All Fortis Training trainers are industry- experienced experts and conduct a thorough training needs analysis with you and each employee to identify any issues and challenges within your organisation. They then tailor all training to ensure it is relevant to your workplace and represents a true ‘return on investment’.

Employer benefits:

• Access to Nationally accredited courses in Business and Hospitality (Cert III – Diploma)
• Under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program (12 May 2010), employers offering skills-based training to employees may be eligible to receive funding from the Australian Government (eligibility criteria applies) to cover accredited training costs
• Access to industry-experienced, qualified trainers
• Access to DISC behavioural analysis tools for easy team profiling
• Short courses in team effectiveness, personal effectiveness, conflict management and time management

Employee benefits:

• Improved knowledge and skill set
• Improved motivation
• Improved productivity, performance and results
• Improved job satisfaction

Point of Difference

Trained by CEO’s, Executives and Managers
All Fortis Training trainers are highly experienced CEO’s, Managers and Executives and bring their years of real world experience and business nous to each training session. Knowing what works and what doesn’t, you not only have access to leading and relevant training materials you also have the benefit of having experts to draw on for the practical application of the material.
Tools to establish a return on investment
Before you or your team commence training, your Fortis Training trainer will show you how you can get the most from your training and measure, manage and monitor the success of your investment.
Ability to work on your business through training
With students being trained and assessed in the workplace you have the added benefit of them working on your business to gain their qualification. For example some units of study (particularly with a Diploma) get them to improve or create systems and policies in their work, giving you the advantage of having areas of your business streamlined. This has proved to be a huge advantage to many business owners and in most cases the business and felt the benefit of improved effectiveness on many levels.
Strong training follow-up
Committed to ensuring your return on investment, the Fortis Training team stays in contact with you months after the training is completed to follow up on your team’s progress and discuss any questions you have. This has led to improved performance of staff through motivation to produce great results.

Proven Value

Conrad has a proven track record in providing valuable training that increases productivity, and overall business efficiency and profitability, here are just a couple of examples:

“Both myself and my assistant competed a Diploma of Management with Fortis. Not only was the training first class but we found it relevant to our business, in fact the course turned into a complete audit of our systems and procedures. So not only did we get qualifications but a considerably improved and effective business too.” Lachlan Riddell – Chip Torque – Nerang

“Fortis have provided accredited training at Certificate IV and Diploma level to our managers. The engagement has worked for us not only in performance improvements in our team, but improved motivation. We have since used Fortis to provide workshops in time management which have also gathered great feedback from participants.” Martin O’Kane – OHS and Training Manager – Kone Elevators

Why Choose Fortis Training

Many organisations reach a stage where their in-house competencies and experience don’t develop as fast as their business needs them to. By providing employees with the opportunity to upskill, you not only increase your business’ overall efficiency and profitability, you also show your employees that they are valued, which goes a long way in retaining good staff.

Through Fortis Training your team not only has the opportunity to attain an accredited qualification and gain recognition of their competencies, your managers also have the ability to learn the ‘soft skills’ needed to increase their teams effectiveness , manage conflict and help team members develop their own personal assertiveness with the Fortis Training workshops and short courses.

When you combine the benefits of training and upskilling your team, with the benefits of DISC behavioural analysis tools that help you and each of your team members understand each other better, you have a winning combination and the necessary foundation to build a high performing team.

Special Offer

Fortis Training is giving all ConnectWorking contacts a FREE ‘DISC’ behavioural analysis and debrief for themselves or a team member - valued at $350 to those who are serious about engaging Fortis Training.

People Conrad Would Like to Connect With

• Small to medium enterprises with a $500k to $5m turnover located between Brisbane and the Tweed (including Ipswich and Beaudesert) preferably with 10+ employees
• Business owners who a frustrated, facing obstacles to grow business and recognise a skill gap
• Conrad would also like to network with:
• Hospitality based businesses
• Small to medium service based businesses to be able to refer to clients
• Government (funding and mentorship)

Contacts in Conrad’s Network

Besides numerous small businesses across the service and hospitality sector, Conrad also knows:

• Wyndham Vacations Resorts
• Accor Vacation Group
• Kone lifts & Elevators
• Bruce Lynton BMW
• James Frizzelle Group
• Stella Hospitality Group
• Katarzyna Group
• Arcade Creative
• Fox Hotel Group
• Eagle Heights Resort (Tambourine Mt)
• Liquor Legends
• Scisco
• MTAQ
• PR Finance & Services

About Cherry Birch

Cherry’s career started as a Chartered Accountant and has over 25 years international experience in the financial services sector and in consulting.  Whilst in the UK, she was a partner in a firm in London – the second female partner out of a 50 partner firm and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

She was the senior Finance tutor for 4 years at PA Consulting’s management development centre, Sundridge Park, in the UK. She then took a 4 year secondment to Malaysia to build the local management development business.  During that time, she ran workshops across SE Asia, including China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore as well as Australia.  

Prior to setting up her own consultancy in 2003, Cherry worked for Right Management Consultants in Melbourne as the Asia Pacific Solutions Leader for Talent Management, having joined Right when she moved to Australia in 1999.

She has designed and facilitated Finance for Non-Finance managers programs at middle to senior and executive level and currently runs finance programs for the Australian Institute of Management.
Cherry has presented on the Financial Responsibilities of NFP Board members for Leadership Victoria as part of their Board Orientation Series.

About Financial Training Australia

FTA specialises in running financial training for operational managers enabling them to feel more confident in their financial management responsibilities, including preparing, monitoring and reporting their budgets. This is accomplished through a suite of tried and tested courses which can be customised to meet the needs of your specific target audience, as well as a full consulting service which might encompass a Training Needs Analysis, Design and Delivery of workshops plus one on one follow up coaching.

Services offered include:

• In house training courses designed to be both practical and FUN! Financial Training Australia holds the exclusive rights in Australia to a number of finance training products which can be tailored to meet your specific needs. Alternatively totally customised programs can be designed and delivered
• Training design consulting to breathe life into your in-company financial training workshops or presentations. For example, taking a straight Power point presentation on the subject of  Internal Control and redesigning it into an interactive workshop which the client was then able to run themselves but which engaged their audience and was more effective in conveying the key messages
• Customised e-learning materials in the fundamentals of finance, budgeting etc
• Licensed software is offered which facilitates an innovative and colourful approach to presenting financial information in a graphical format. The format simplifies and presents data in such a way so that key messages are far more clearly communicated

FTA’s Point of Difference

Every day, in business, you and your staff are asked to make (sometimes small but usually critical)
decisions that impact on the profitability of the business. The issue is, neither you nor your staff are
accountants, yet your role dictates you make financial decisions!!

If you are thinking this is another boring Finance Training workshop, then relax, this “old school”
lecture, in-one-ear-and-out-the-other style of training is not what FTA offers.

Not only is that style expensive,  it wastes a lot of valuable time for very few tangible results. Why
doesn’t this work? Chinese philosopher Confucius figured it out a long time ago when he said…”I hear, I know. I see, I remember. I do, I understand.” FUNdamentals of Finance is Australia’s premier finance training based on a methodology currently enjoyed by over 300,000 people world wide, because it is experiential “hands on” training and NOT a lecture. Research in 2000 by the National Training  aboratory Institute in Arlington, Virginia (USA) concluded you retain 90% of what you learn when you apply it immediately to a real situation… compared to you retaining only 5% from a traditional lecture. This is where FTA has the edge. It’s directed to a specific outcome and it works.

When we do something, when we make connections on a cognitive level, we understand and
that’s what FUNdamentals of Finance does, it gives simulated, “hands on” real training. And yes,
those words “Finance Training” and “Fun” appear in the same sentence, for a reason. The participants actually ENJOY the training and, because they do, they engage with and absorb more information which means your return on your training investment is much improved.

Based on the Swedish Bonanza training program, FUNdamentals of Finance uses high quality materials and visually appealing colour and form that make it possible to quickly see a context in otherwise difficult to interpret financial concepts.

Because participants enjoy the non-threatening and relaxed team environment and feel less vulnerable about being shown up for their lack of knowledge, they engage fully with the program and rather than just “hear” and “see”… they “do” and they “understand”.

FTA’s Proven Value

The proof is in the pudding so the saying goes. With such a unique service offering, it’s important to know how the application of the principles have been applied and what results have been achieved by the participants and the organisations that have engaged Cherry’s services.

Below are testimonials that clearly show the value that these workshops provide.

“Whilst working as Learning and Development Manager at a large Telco in Singapore, I had put a group of middle to senior managers who were involved in day to day finance decisions through this course. The one consistent feedback was that this course helped them appreciate how their decisions impacted the bottom line and shareholder value. This was exactly the result we had hoped for and the fact that it was done through a highly visual and fun approach made what is traditionally a dry and difficult subject come alive.” - Vicky Soh

“I was so impressed by Cherry Birch’s “FUNdamentals of Finance” training that it has become a core component of my organisation’s Core Curriculum for Managers and is typically run twice annually.
I’ve attended and organised many variations on the Finance for Non-Financial Executives theme over the years, many of which find it difficult to engage and sustain the attention of the non- financially minded. Cherry’s workshop is a breath of fresh air. Her interactive approach and use of the Bonanza simulation never fails to engage. It is fun while at the same time provides participants with the opportunity to engage in active financial decision making and witness the results of those decisions.
In my experience the non-threatening team based approach results in real learning that our participants have incorporated into workplace decision making. Cherry’s facilitation style is perfectly modulated with a mix of facts, fun, and serious effort and we will be continuing to work with her to maintain the competency base of our management teams.” – Kim Dixon, People & Organisation Development Director, WWF-Australia

“Many of our clients are from not-for-profit organizations and thanks to FUNdamentals of Finance the level of knowledge acquired by them, was enormous and a clear example of the need for understanding the finance side of the organization. The delivery technique was highly appealing to the attendees and all of them left the workshop with substantially more understanding of the finance area. This is particularly important for our interaction with clients. Where our clients and their staff have a good knowledge of the finance function our role becomes much easier. Cherry Birch’s method of training is unique to Australia and is very effective in communicating what are, sometimes, difficult concepts for non-financial personnel.” – Brian Jones FCA Ahead for Business

Why Choose Financial Training Australia

Every employee can have an impact on the company’s finances and yet few receive any formal training in business finance. Indeed many managers today are required to control budgets worth $1000’s and yet do not really understand some of the key financial statements. Finance has a reputation as a “dry” subject and not surprisingly finance training is often viewed in the same way. Financial Training Australia passionately believes that finance training can actually be FUN!!!

This is why FUNdamentals of Finance is so successful. This unique hands-on approach:

• Instills energy into the learning process
• Stimulates the brain for deeper learning
• Captures, holds and stimulates learners’ imaginations
• Engages by catering for different learning styles
• Uses high quality materials and visually appealing colour and form to quickly make connections between the real world and difficult to interpret financial concepts
• Makes it “safe” for participants by using group dynamics to maximum effect
• Ensures fun is an integral part of every learning activity

FUNdamentals of Finance was born out of frustration. On one hand from staff in businesses who see accountants as boring, virtually humourless people obsessed by numbers and difficult to communicate with, and on the other frustration from accountants sometimes exasperated at the decisions of non-finance trained staff and how this lack of understanding of the financial consequences of decisions affected the profitability of the company and the desire to find a solution. At the core of this frustration is a fundamental difference in learning styles.

Most accountants are left-brain dominant: analytical, sequential, detail oriented, comfortable with numbers. And many staff? Not trained accountants and right brained to boot, meaning they are more creative, generally better with words than numbers and not as detail oriented.

In addition to the differences in learning styles, the reality is many staff, having worked their way up the corporate ladder, now run multi-million dollar budgets and does so with little formal financial training. The power of FUNdamentals of Finance is it starts from scratch and assumes no knowledge. It builds from the baseline of personal finance, concepts everyone is familiar with.

Using colour and form, and a hands-on approach, it makes it easy for non-finance people to make connections between abstract financial concepts and how their decisions impact on the company’s bottom line. So your staff learns how to apply what they have learned and is where most of the value is obvious.

Described as “The IKEA of Finance Training”, FUNdamentals of Finance uses the Bonanza learning system. Bonanza is the Swedish learning organisation that pioneered the experiential and hands-on rather than lecture approach to adult training.

You can expect to see from your staff at least FIVE areas of improvement:

1. Improved and/or clarified fundamental understanding of finance and the ability to effectively communicate and understand financial information
2. A clear understanding of what is reported on financial statements, what is there and why it is important
3. Better everyday decisions that ultimately affect the cash flow, profitability and management of the division or even company as a whole
4. A greater willingness to lead and participate in financial conversations
5. A stronger ability to meet objectives through a better understanding of the positive and negative consequences of decisions and how they affect the budget

Who Cherry Is Looking For

• Medium to large corporates/organisations with managers who are required to manage budgets and use financial information. (Minimum of 8-10 people)
• All levels from senior executive to front line across most sectors in a diverse range of industries, Government and NFP bodies regardless of location as she is highly mobile.

People Cherry Would Like to Connect With

Organisations that are looking for their managers to be more accountable for their financial results
Sales managers who want their teams to be able to talk and relate to customers’ financial situations
Directors of companies who recognise that they need to improve their financial literacy skills in line with their duty of care – both for commercial and NFPs where the duty of care is the same!
Local councils that require their service unit managers to take on more budgetary responsibilities
Anyone wanting Cherry to demystify the financial jargon and make the complex simple!

Contacts in Cherry’s Network

Cherry can recommend Melbourne based consultants skilled in:

• Graphic Design
• Digital marketing
• Presentation skills
• Public Speaking
• Project Management
• Interim Financial management
• Forensic Accounting
• Career Coaching
• Resume Development
• Outplacement
• Organisational Design
• Tax accountants
• Change Management
• Trust and estate lawyers
• Conflict management
• Strategy and Business Planning
• Financial Planning
• Executive Coaching
• Mentoring programs