For those of you accountants who know and love Xero, I thought I’d talk to you about marketing the Xero add-ons to your clients.
First, simply using Xero for your accountancy firm and for your clients does not differentiate you anymore.
I predicted this back in 2013 when I attended my first Xerocon. Here’s a direct quote:
“You’ve only got about two more years in which you can proclaim to be a new kind of accountant. After that, so many accountants will be on the bandwagon that having Xero will not set you apart at all.” – Karen Reyburn, 26 September 2013
Well, it’s 2015, and that prediction has come true.
You aren’t new and different by offering Xero anymore.
Don’t despair though! There’s good news!
(Keep reading.)
If Xero isn’t a differentiator, what is?
Having Xero is more important than ever. I’m not saying that since most other accountancy firms are on it, you should just give up and pick something else, or stick with Excel or boxes of receipts. (Please don’t.)
But now that you are on Xero, or starting to use it, you’re thinking, “How can I make a difference? How can I stand out, if Xero on its own is not enough of a differentiator?”
The answer: the Xero add-ons.
The Xero add-on partners are your ticket to differentiation success.
They’ve done the hard work for you – they’ve taken an element of Xero that is amazing, or potentially amazing, and expanded on it. So, for example, Xero takes care of all the bookkeeping and accounting related to your receipts. But what do you do with the messy little pieces of paper?
You scan them into your ReceiptBank app on your phone, and then throw them away.
You see how it works? You’ve just moved from “You can use Xero as your online accounting system” to “Here’s how to prevent needless wasted time in your business”.
You’ve gone from promoting a software product to addressing the issue that is bothering your clients.
And that’s what the best marketing is about.
The world of Xero add-ons: where to start
So, now that you’re on board with using some of the Xero add-ons, where in the world do you start? After all, there are 400+ of them, and more every day.
Well, the Profitable Firm has chosen 5 of the top add-ons to feature in our recent webinar. (Listen to ‘Marketing the Xero add ons’ webinar recording.) These are:
- Receiptbank – Top winner. Time saved, receipts organised. It’s a win for you and your client.
- Satago – Because what client of yours wouldn’t benefit by having their cash come in faster and more efficiently?
- Crunchboards – Your management accounts just got easy.
- Workflow max – Project and time management.
- Rocketspark – Direct your clients to a shiny new (but not expensive) website that helps them get more business.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. At the Profitable Firm we’ve always made an effort to help you without pushing you.
We entirely respect the fact that some of you prefer one add on to another.
If you prefer Spotlight to Crunchboards, or Chaser to Satago, no hard feelings, and we like them too. As one Xero accountant said at a recent roadshow event, “When it comes to the Xero add ons, it’s horses for courses really.”
So, how do I market the Xero add-ons?
The key to your Xero add-on marketing is to market by issue, not by software.
It’s very similar to promoting Xero itself. You don’t rush to your clients and say great news, we have yet another piece of software you need to analyse, review, consider, test out, demo.
There are a variety of approaches, but the short version is that with Xero you help them see how they save time, see their numbers better, make better business decisions.
Download our free Xero presentation on “How Xero Makes Your Business and Life Better.”
The same applies to the Xero add-ons.
You don’t market Rocketspark: you tell your clients that you’ve partnered with a company that can help them build a website for £16 a month and it links to Xero.
You don’t market Satago, you check your clients’ debtor days (in Xero) and tell them they can improve them if they use a credit control app.
You get the idea.
Where do I start with marketing the Xero add-ons?
Here are our suggestions for getting started:
- Use the add-on for your own firm. If you use and like it, chances are they will too.
- Talk to the add-on partner. (They love to help.)
- Try it out with a few clients.
- Focus on issue, not software. It’s not about the software, it’s about what it does. Chases debts. Builds websites. (etc)
- Run an event (we’ve created a handy dandy presentation for you, below)
To help you get started, here’s a presentation which you can use to tell your clients about the 5 add-ons we discussed in our webinar. (Or edit it to your liking.)
Download Marketing the Xero add-ons presentation for your accounting firm
That’s all for today – but I think I’ve given you enough to be going on for quite some time! If I can help, as always, let me know.
Conclusion: The Xero add-ons differentiate you. Pick a few and get started.
Here’s a quick summary in case you skimmed this long post:
- Start with Xero
- Differentiate using the Xero add-ons
- If you don’t know where to begin, start with the 5 we’ve featured
- Focus on issue, not software
- Use our free presentation to tell your clients about the issues that the add-ons solve.