Dan Cockerton, Founder of the Digital Accountancy Show, dials in to chat with Emma Cohen, Digital Solutions Manager at Raffingers, Leo Tidman, Lead Advisor at the WOW Company, and Charlotte Firth, Client FC at Gravitate Accounting, to discuss how to support clients, implement the right tech, and deliver results.
Panellists include:
- Dan Cockerton, Founder of the Digital Accountancy Show
- Emma Cohen, Digital Solutions Manager at Raffingers
- Leo Tidman, Lead Advisor at the WOW Company
- Charlotte Firth, Client FC at Gravitate Accounting
Tune in to discover how these rising stars select the right tech for their client’s success and how you can do the same for yours.
Three Top Takeaways:
Takeaway 1: Regular System Reviews Are Essential
The first takeaway that all three panellists agreed was essential was to ensure that you offer your clients regular system reviews. A system review requires you to review the client’s current financial situation, what tools they use for their invoicing and other financial requirements, and what tools they are currently not using might benefit them.
Reviewing client performance should occur when you begin working with the client. Try to understand more about the client from your initial meeting. What technology are they currently using? Who is in the team? What are their current sticking points? This information will help you tailor a support package with the right tech for that client to get results.
From there, the software can get used to regularly review client and competitor performance and help improve results.
“I will help clients with system reviews and a cloud health check to ensure they are streamlining every part of their organisation financially” says Emma Cohen.
Consider offering profitability and insights meetings to understand how their team is getting utilised, how pricing compares to competitors, and what tech could help clients improve their current situation.
These meetings can occur as frequently as the client wishes. As Leo states, companies searching for rapid growth tend to opt for these meetings every quarter, whereas other businesses opt for a yearly review.
Takeaway 2: When promoting new tech to clients, be sure to test it and provide a demo
When you identify a piece of tech that would help improve your client’s business, it is essential to deliver it to them in a way that will gain their buy-in.
For starters, you must test any technology first before sharing it with clients. This step is essential for two reasons. Firstly, it allows you to ensure the technology will benefit your client. Secondly, it allows you to discuss the technology with your client more confidently.
However, it is not as simple as telling a client to use a new piece of tech. If you do this, the first question you will get is, “how much is this going to cost me?”
“I could talk about how great a piece of software is all day, but that is because I have already seen it. If you’re having a conversation, the first question you will get is how much will it cost,” says Emma Cohen.
Support clients by demonstrating software rather than just telling them what to do. By showing them the product’s value for their business, you will likely get their buy-in on using the tool.
Software companies will be more than happy to provide you with a demonstration, and a demo account that you can use to share with your client. Equally, you could even ask the software developer if they would provide a live demo for you and your client at the same time.
Another way to ensure clients buy into tech that you think will benefit their business is to highlight any success stories from other clients or use statistics, such as how much time they could save.
Takeaway 3: Constantly test and review new software that could benefit your clients.
You should never settle for the tech that you currently use. New technology is constantly getting added to the digital space, and you should continuously test and review it to see if it adds value to your clients.
Leo’s company have an entire team dedicated to testing and reviewing new software regularly for this very reason.
Chat to other accountants to understand what is popular. Test new technology in-house, and pitch it to clients if successful.
One great way to discover new software is to go to events (like Digital Accountancy Show) to chat with vendors. Often vendors will provide you with a demo to trial there and then.
Takeaway #4: There is loads of great tech out there for you to use!
Dan Cockerton spoke passionately about Loom and how it can deliver results for your clients.
“If you can take anything away from today’s session, please go onto Loom.com. Imagine all those emails where you’re trying to explain something not quite right. Loom allows you to answer or ask questions much quicker.” says Dan.
Emma also recommends joining Appacus, a Facebook group designed for early adopters of new tech. You will instantly connect with like-minded accountants to discuss tech and get advice when you join.
Another software recommended by all the panellists is Fathom. “Fathom has allowed my clients to look at the numbers, as it’s so visual. It also integrates with Xero and Google Sheets well,” says Leo.
Chaser was also a product that each panellist confirmed was an excellent choice, not least because it integrates directly into Xero, and chases invoices automatically. As Emma says, you have the power to amend email templates to look more personalised. Chaser will remove plenty of manual work hours, and help clients get paid on time.
Finally, Charlotte recommends trying Pleo, a tool Gravitate Accounting use for petty cash transactions. Pleo gives staff cards containing a preset limit that they can use for quick petty cash transactions. This tool saves plenty of time, removes the chance of losing petty cash receipts, and integrates nicely into Xero.
Watch it for free
Watch the full, on-demand session for free here.
