I attended the National Achievers Congress 2016 in Manila a few days ago after seeing a banner displayed at National Bookstore. It headlines Chris Gardner as the main speaker plus other successful and world-class speakers in the field of happiness and wealth building.
I was excited to see Chris Gardner in person. The other speakers have interesting topics and will be a bonus.
While some reviews feel that the National Achievers Congress is a scam, I personally think it is not a scam. However, it did overpromise and underdeliver. I left the National Achievers Congress (NAC) 2016 motivated but incomplete and frustrated.
Chris Gardner was a great speaker but the rest of the speakers ruined it for me with their marketing seduction and upsells. I am interested in the products that they sell. But the manner of how it was delivered and the cost of their so-called intensive seminars makes me cringe.
I still recommend the NAC for those who wants to be motivated and look for options of generating wealth. This is great for first timers. I even see myself letting Gab attend one of their sessions someday.
But I don’t recommend it if you have attended similar seminars before. Especially if you have attended MLM talks and have declined previously to joining MLM. The flow of speech have similarities.
I would also recommend doing a research on the speakers before attending the event. You might be carried away and sign up on impulse on the expensive seminars they offer. Better to leave your cash and credit card at home when you attend the National Achievers Congress.
Pros and Cons
PROs
1. Great speakers. They have great speakers. They are well prepared and really know their craft. They know how to pump up the crowd. They have great humor to keep the audience awake and engaged.
2. Good topics. Each speaker has something inspirational to say. I wrote about two pages of notes for each. Many of them are nothing new but it feels good to hear them again and be reminded.
CONs
1. A Bad First Impression. They started late. The tickets say it will start at 8:00 AM but the doors were opened around 8:50 AM.
One of the attendees complained and they tried to pacify her by saying not to worry because they are preparing a great place for us. That is why we still need to wait in the line outside the doors. It was a lame excuse for an event they brand as world-class.
2. Not so VIP. I picked the VIP seats over the General Admission (GA) tickets. I want a closer look at the speakers and get more freebies. But the difference between the VIP seats and the General Admission seats are not that significant.
The VIP freebies doesn’ contain that much. The National Achievers Congress Course Book was nice which looks like a souvenir item with a few pages for notes. The Success Journal was not a journal but a simple notebook. Thus, I don’t recommend getting their VIP tickets. If you intend to just listen, getting the GA tickets is just as good as long as you bring your own notebook for taking down notes.
VIP ticket also gets Priority Entry. But after being asked to wait outside for more than 30 minutes doesn’t feel like a VIP treatment with Priority Entry. Eventually, the VIP and GA went inside at almost the same time since they started late.
3. Upselling. Upselling is a sales technique whereby a seller induces the customer to purchase more expensive items, upgrades or other add-ons in an attempt to make a more profitable sale (Wikipedia).
Asking you to upsize your fries is an example of upselling. Upselling is an effective tool to increase sales. I find it ok if they only ask once or just for a few minutes. But when they upsell for 20-30 minutes, that’s too much already. Not all speakers did upselling but when they do, I want to walk out.
For these speakers, it follows a pattern. The first 15 minutes was an intro. Like a rags-to-riches story or bouncing back from failure and the eureka moment. Then their tips comes in for the next 45 minutes. And the next 30 minutes was selling their upcoming seminars.
The price of their seminars are astronomical. Thus, an upsell. At first they will say that they want to share their secrets to success and to help people succeed too. But the price and manner of selling seems to show they want your money more than to genuinely share their knowledge.
They will even have a countdown or mention a limited seat strategy to give the audience a sense of urgency to sign up. This gives your brain little time to decide and will have a tendency to spend on impulse. But don’t worry. I don’t think they really implement it since the price posted in the morning at the booth is the same price posted in the evening.
They also give a “limited” Buy One Free One offer. Sounds great since you can bring along a friend and even split the cost. Again, it is a strategy to encourage more sign ups.
Like I said, their topics for the intensive seminars are great and interesting. I am interested to attend to a couple of the seminars too. But I wanted to research more about what they offer first instead of making the impulse of signing up.
National Achievers Congress List of Speakers
Here’s my take on each speaker:
Chris Gardner – Seeing Chris Gardner is an oppurtunity. I haven’t read the book but I have seen the film. He is an inspiration. If you missed the NAC and wish to be inspired, watching the film is just as good. His main message is in the film anyway.
But paying a premium to hear him is like paying for a concert of your favorite band. You can hear them for free on the radio, in music streaming app or video sites. But seeing them live is so much different.
Andrew Matthews – His message was simple as his books. Happiness is a choice, so make happiness as a daily decision. His talk is unique since he draws his cartoons while he talks. Cool! No upselling but he promotes his books which he can sign during the breaks.
Kevin Green – He’s the property expert and gold and silver trading. He has built a large portfolio of real estate and has accumulated actual gold and silver bars. He even brings an actual silver bar! He will then sell his expensive seminar in making it successful in the property business.
Peng Joon – He’s a young guy who made it big in earning from the internet. He will show his huge earnings and tell you that you can earning as big as he does. I am interested but he just shares the generic steps and nothing concrete. To know more, he will then upsell his upcoming seminar which was expensive.
I am tempted to sign up but I decided to check out reviews about his seminar first. After the event, I checked some reviews and so far, there were no convincing evidence of his previous attendees making it as successful as he is. I suggest you do your research too.
Sean Seah – He is the stock investing expert. Great speaker. Good humor. However, his tips are generic and I did not learn anything new. He uses a certain system for trading which he will elaborate more if you sign up for his upcoming seminar.
At this point, I am starting to realize how much time I am wasting to listen to these guys sell me their seminars. I do trade in stocks and I think there are other local seminars and experts who can give the same advice for free or for a lower cost.
Gerry Robert – He is a best selling author and discusses about how can you be an author and publish a book too. He will provide a blueprint on how to write and publish your own book. Pretty exciting concept. He will upsell too. but at least he has the cheapest and most affordable seminar to offer. It was so affordable that I was waiting for a catch. There was none. But after everything I have heard, I was getting defensive and cautious to actually sign up.
Later, I did a research online about Gerry Robert’s Publish a Book and Grow Rich seminars. My hunch was confirmed.
National Achievers Congress Review Summary
The National Achievers Congress has good intentions but the good parts are overshadowed by the upselling.
I like the speakers and their stories. But the upselling was too much for me to handle. Of the 8 hours I spent at the NAC, 2 hours was spent listening to their sales pitch. It feels manipulating and a waste of time. The upselling was not why I came for in the first place.
It feels frustrating since I was expecting to learn something new but I can’t since I need to pay more to attend their “intensive” seminars. Sour graping? Hehehe…
Some of the topics in their intensive seminar can even be learned for free in the internet or in other books.
For example, in Peng Joon’s Internet Income Intensive program, Day 1 and Day 2 is teaching you to find your niche, how to make a website and how to setup a Clickbank account. These can be learned easily for free. There’s plenty of Youtube videos that you can watch for free. So Day 1 and Day 2 might not be worth it if you know these things already.
But for the clueless, these hands on seminar can be the valuable push they need to get started. Then again, there will be another upsell in his “intensive” seminar.
There will probably be a National Achievers Congress 2017. They may bring another speaker to headline the event. If I find the speaker interesting, I would probably still attend. But I won’t get the VIP seats and I will skip the other speakers. I will just arrive late to listen for the final speaker. And I will leave my money and credit card at home to discourage myself from signing up during their upsells.
