What are the benefits of training your clients?

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This piece was written by Laura Wilson, one of Xero’s Education Specialists in Australia.

If you’ve been using Xero, you might have experienced a few moments where you’ve caught yourself thinking ‘this is actually fun’. It’s OK to admit it; this is a safe space. My aunt, who uses Xero in her small business, says that reconciling the bank is like playing Space Invaders. What if you could pass on that freshly-reconciled-bank feeling to your new small business clients?

If you’ve converted a few clients to Xero, you’ll know that some hand-holding can be necessary in the beginning. A bit of extra thought going into training your small business clients will go a long way to help make them feel more comfortable and empowered when using Xero.

And having engaged and savvy small business clients can only mean good things for the data that you’ll eventually get to work with. With a solid bank of accurate data to work with, you’ll be able to provide them with advice that will help them achieve their business goals.

Where to start?

Understanding the needs of your target group is a good place to start before you start mapping out the content.

Most people associate education with school-style learning. Adults learn differently to school children, and having an understanding of how adult’s learning styles differ can help you design a training program that delivers the most in-depth learning.

Here are some tips, based on adult learning principles:*

Adults need to have a clear understanding of why they are spending time doing training. Small business owners are notoriously busy, so providing them with clear benefits up front of how using Xero will improve their business will get their buy-in.
Position their training as solving a problem that they are facing in their business.
Giving them options in how to learn and when, will help them feel in control of their learning.
Allow them to experience what you are teaching them by doing practical tasks.
Small business owners come from different backgrounds and capabilities. Understanding what skills they already have (or don’t have) will help determine how and what to teach them.

What method of training should I use?

While there’s plenty of research and information available on adult learning theory, the visual, auditory, kinesthetic model (VAK Model) is a good place to start, as it readily translates into a training program. There are also a number of tools optimised for different learning styles.

Adult learners generally fall into one – or sometimes two – groups, based on their predominant learning style/s:

Auditory

They learn better when they hear information rather than seeing it.

What this means for their training:

Webinar and classroom style training can work well. Not only will they benefit from listening to what you are telling them about Xero, but discussing what it means for them and their workflow will help solidify their knowledge.

Tools and strategies to investigate:

Webinar and conference software such as Gotowebinar, Zoom; one-on-one or classroom-based learning with them where you can discuss concepts are also beneficial.

Visual

They learn best when they see information presented visually. Visual learners also benefit from ideas being linked together visually.

What this means for their training:

Seeing Xero in action, especially within the context of their business, is a must for visual learners. Demos will work well, and sending them links to videos that they can watch in their own time will also help.

Tools and strategies to investigate:

If you don’t have content of your own, Xero U small business courses cover the basics, so you can move onto more advanced concepts with them sooner. Don’t be afraid to pull out the whiteboard or butcher’s paper to scribble on to visually explain concepts to them. If you are doing a demo online, during a screen demo you can use tools such as Desk Scribble to circle, draw, and highlight things on your screen.

Kinesthetic

Sometimes known as tactile learners, they need to do tasks and experience things to retain their learning.

What this means for their training:

After you teach them the basics, they really need to get stuck in and play around for themselves to make the information stick.

Tools and strategies to investigate:

To guide their learning, try giving them a set of tasks to do in the demo company and teach them how to reset if they want to start over.

Next steps

Have a think about your target group, or even consult with them to see what environment they learn best in before jumping in and designing a training plan for them. Mix and match different tools and strategies.

If you can train your small business clients in a way that’s practical for them and helps them retain the information they learn, you’ll end up with much cleaner Xero data to work with together.

If you and your small business owners have trustworthy data to work from, you’ll be able to help them set goals and start to move into growth activities.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_education

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