Three steps to create a team of Xero advocates

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What if I told you that the easiest way to create a smooth onboarding process happens long before you ever present Xero to your clients? Taking the time up front to effectively onboard staff is often a neglected task. However, failing to do this can lead to delaying the learning process, reducing morale and in the long run creating more work. Your staff are your biggest asset in the client onboarding process, and helping them understand the benefits of using Xero will inherently help your clients see the same.

To give you some background on me, I’ve been working in the Xero Partner consulting team for three years. My ‘superpower’ is the ability to create Xero advocates by coaching, training and onboarding staff. In my time, I have worked with many different firms, from those just starting out with Xero to those much further along on their cloud accountancy journey. Regardless of where your firm is at I’ve compiled three easy steps you can take to arm your staff with the tools they need to get the most out of Xero.

Step 1: Identify who needs to know what

Teaching everyone everything all at once is a rabbit hole that can be tempting to go down. However, this usually leads to a team of generalists, not specialists. When introducing staff to Xero my advice is to consider the role of each team member carefully and begin with the essentials.

Let’s put this into practice. Most clients first want to know the basics of using Hubdoc, adding an invoice, and reconciling the bank feed. So start here. Then move onto reporting, journals and inventory because it’s important not to overcomplicate the training, use resources that Xero has and keep it simple.

Step 2: Perfect your demo

Don’t underestimate the power of a good demo! Work through an example client following a typical client workflow, focus the bulk of your time demonstrating the parts of Xero that will be of the most benefit to them. Try to create their ‘lightbulb’ moment!

Tip: If you’re not sure on how to deliver an effective demo, I recommend checking out our short ‘Showcase Xero to your clients’ 60-minute webinar, which is available to all Xero partners.

Step 3 – Create a plan

Now that your staff are upskilled on the aspects of Xero that will be useful to them, it’s time to create a structured development plan. Make sure your plan is well documented and revisited regularly.

Aspects of the plan could include:

Self paced online learning (like the advisor certification)
Shadowing with a ‘buddy’
Demo run throughs (the demo company is a great tool for this)

To set you and your team up for success, check out Xero’s brand new Energise series. The series offers bespoke webinars covering a whole host of topics, ranging from client onboarding, migration tools, to workflows and change management. Regardless of where your firm is at, there are webinars to deliver the right content, at the right time.

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