New software everyone’s talking about, a different framework, the latest KPI benchmarks being shared by some consultant with a big deck.
You’re there for the inspiration and ideas, some of that ‘fresh’, and you should be.
It’s also a bit of a honey trap.
Sitting in that room can fool you into thinking the fastest way from where you are to where the benchmark says you should be is to change direction.
And there’s a parallel here you’ll recognise instantly – it’s the exact position your own clients put you in.
They’ve heard investment X is the next big thing, or a mate’s doing strategy Y, and want to know why you aren’t doing the same.
Meanwhile, you’re the one thinking, “…but we’re already doing the right thing”.
Let’s unpack it.
KPIs: Incredibly powerful, genuinely important – refusing to commit to them is usually a way of avoiding accountability – but a KPI handed to you as a single benchmark for everyone can be just as misleading as it is useful.
The choices you make about how you deliver advice shape your KPIs far more than tracking those KPIs ever will. If you deliver the artisanal way—deep, hands-on, hour-intensive—you will always look worse side by side against a lean, high-volume model.
It’s the old adage: one firm charges $12,000, another charges $6,000. If the $12,000 firm is burning $10,000 in labour to deliver it vs $3,000 for their lean machine, it will never look as good on paper, no matter how good the advice is.
Tools. “Check out this new platform” is the other furphy.
Most firms aren’t yet using their existing tech stack well enough to justify layering on another one – the gap usually isn’t the software; it’s the calibration, the integration, the team actually adopting it.
Frameworks. “I saw this brand new way to run first appointments”
This is one I’m usually pretty supportive of, as it’s usually low effort to test whether something works or not – with the proviso that what you’re doing should be designed to solve a problem (e.g low conversion) or make something better (e.g reduce meeting length).
Distraction is focusing on things that don’t deserve your attention.
So what’s really going on?
A conference exposes you to a lot at once, and anything new looks better simply by virtue of being new.
Before you notice, the conversation has shifted. You stop thinking about the work needed to adopt something new and focus solely on the outcome.
But the outcome still requires the work.
If you want a 40% EBIT, there are exactly two levers: bring down your cost to deliver, or lift your fees — or both. You don’t get there by solely by adopting a new KPI (unless it tracks whether the work gets done).
If you want more out of your software, it’s usually calibration, training and adoption. Rarely just a new subscription.
Here’s the point: nobody adopts a new strategy, migrates to a new platform or engages with someone like me for the process.
It’s about the outcome, and the outcome always requires the work.
Conferences are a genuinely good source of fresh ideas that help you do that work better, but they don’t excuse you from doing it.
Chase the shortcut, and by definition, you’re on the slow route.
Related: The Quality Trap: When Your High Standards Become the Biggest Bottleneck in Your Advisory Firm
