Delivering advisory services

Delivering advisory services

Delivering advisory services is a clear pathway to achieve a great ROI from The Gap.

Delivering services that help accelerate the success of your business clients is an important strategy for ALL firms, and particularly those who want to:
  1. Reduce scope stretch
  2. Provide more support to their clients to improve their businesses
  3. Expand their service offering  
  4. Increase client retention
  5. Increase their average client spend
  6. Generate referrals for new client growth

The Business Advisory Trifecta - best practice in business

Important info
The best way to help your clients to improve their business is to help them build better business habits and empower them with support and accountability.   

At a basic level, best practice in business starts with  three essential tools which we call The Business Advisory Trifecta:
  1. Annual Business Planning
  2. Annual forecasting
  3. Ongoing reporting and accountability
These essential services provide an enormous opportunity for your firm to holistically support your clients on an ongoing basis. This approach not only ensures your clients gain enduring value from your relationship, but will also open up a new high-value recurring revenue stream .

Attention
Be congruent. Implement the trifecta in your firm. Having your own Business Plan is the easiest way to position the value of a Business Plan to your clients.

The annual Business Planning service

The annual Business Planning service is a great foundation for decision making, alignment and achieving goals. Check out our Business Planning article to better understand the process and how you can market and deliver this service to your clients and beyond.

Much of the Business Planning service comes from the facilitator empowering the client during the planning session. By preparing for the session, ensuring your attendees complete pre-work, and following The Gap's simple process to deliver the session, you'll ask questions and actively listen to the answers to extract the various components of the Business Plan.

Note
When facilitating the Business Plan session, you're not telling your clients the answers; you're helping them think critically in order to plan for better business outcomes. 

Seven simple rules for Business Planning:

  1. It must be done EVERY year. 
  2. It should fit on one page (both sides is fine).
  3. Set no more than four annual goals, with cascading 90-day goals and actions.
  4. Define no more than five KPIs.
  5. The Business Plan should be shared with your team (a sanitised version if sensitivity is needed).
  6. Celebrate progress towards the Business Plan with your team. 
  7. Review the Business Plan quarterly to reset your quarterly goals and actions.
Tip
Align your team members' career goals with the goals within your Business Plan.   

Most business clients are not self-starters. Almost all will benefit from someone independent facilitating the planning session - not only to provide a different perspective but to ensure alignment and buy-in from all business owners. 

When clients work with you to create and update their Business Plan, you’re combining their operational expertise with your business knowledge and experience.  The power of holding a great Business Planning session lies in the synergy created between the facilitator and the attendees. 1 + 1 = 5. The expertise of both parties combined yields a result that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The annual forecasting service

Most forecasts are prepared reactively because a client (or more likely their bank) has asked for one.  Every business needs to understand how cashflow drives their business and decision-making.  

Important info
Simple businesses may just require Cashflow Forecasting whereas many businesses will benefit from three-way forecasting, i.e. profit, cash and balance sheet forecasting.

In The Gap Portal, there are many resources dedicated to helping your clients improve their cash position. Go to Navigation panel >  Bridges > Cashflow Management > Delivery.

Tip
Adapt the Gap content to reflect your client's forecasting needs.

Accountants and bookkeepers understand the difference between profit and cash intuitively, but many of their clients don't. A very profitable business can experience extreme cashflow problems, just as an unprofitable early-stage business can survive if it’s well funded. Every client deserves to understand their cash and liquidity for better decision making.

A Cashflow Forecast alone doesn't change the underlying cause of poor cashflow.  Few business owners understand how long it takes to convert the production of goods or services into cash - which is key to reducing cash conversion days and unlocking significant cashflow improvement.  

After preparing and reviewing the Forecast with your client, you can provide tailored accountability coaching to help them specifically with Cashflow Management. 

Ongoing reporting and accountability as a service

Having an annual Business Plan and an annual forecast is not particularly impactful if the client fails to execute their plan. Providing accountability in the form of ongoing coaching, which is backed up by regular reporting, helps your client adopt better business habits and ultimately drives better business and personal outcomes.

As part of your accountability framework, your clients will complete pre-work that enables them to reflect on their numbers, KPIs, progress, roadblocks, and what they want to gain from the next coaching session, ensuring your coaching meeting is value-rich, rather than focused purely on the numbers.

Coaching rhythms and themes

Tip
You can provide accountability coaching face-to-face or virtually.

Typically, coaching is provided to your clients based on their needs and budget.  You can offer: 
  1. Monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly general coaching
  2. Specific coaching, e.g.:
  1. Leveraged group-based coaching, for example, Virtual Planning for Success

Attention
Virtual Planning for Success is an accountability programme suitable for expert facilitators only.
Note
Your coaching rhythms should reflect your client's needs, for example, a start-up business may need 30 minutes per week for 3 months. 

Five Fundamentals of a great Coaching Programme

  1. Clearly document the engagement: client objectives, deliverables, value to the client, terms of the proposal.
  2. Establish rules and mutual accountability: sign the Mutual Commitment Statement at the initial session to establish clear ground rules and responsibilities.
  3. Follow a clear agenda for each meeting: the agenda should cover pre-work, accountability, a review of the numbers, a new learning insight (such as demonstrating a mindset), setting new actions and discussing the value gained from the session.
  4. Coach DON’T advise: use active listening, drill down into the client's challenges and the likely impact if these are not resolved. Ask the hard questions and focus on actions and accountability.
  5. Regularly check in on objectives and value to be gained: do this at every session, and especially if your client has committed to a 12-month programme that is coming to an end, so you can gain acceptance for the next 12 months.

Mutual commitment to the process

Clarifying expectations at the beginning of a coaching relationship helps to set both coach and client up for success. 

It's important that the coach agrees to:
  1. Help the client better understand their numbers, financial reports, and other relevant information
  2. Hold the client accountable to the actions and projects they agree to implement
  3. Work within each meeting to set, measure, and monitor financial goals and project progress
  4. Review client reports in preparation for coaching sessions
  5. Answer quick queries or assist with burning issues as they arise
  6. Acknowledge that learning takes many forms and therefore respect the client's learning style
  7. Work with the client in line with your firm's Core Values

It's important that the client agrees to:
  1. Attend each coaching session and do the required preparation beforehand
  2. Positively participate for the benefit of their business
  3. Implement the projects and actions they commit to at each meeting and make contact if there's anything preventing them from implementing these successfully
  4. Respect your firm's Core Values
 
Tip
If you don't like the term 'coaching', give your service a different name such as mentoring.
Attention
Don’t give your value away ad-hoc. Maintain boundaries in line with service delivery. If the client needs support of a different nature, position the value of an additional service so you can do that service justice and monetise it accordingly. 

Growing your Monthly Recurring Revenue stream 

These three services should be delivered on an ongoing basis, creating sustainable, recurring revenue for accounting and bookkeeping firms. 

Tip
Consider building the Trifecta into your monthly service plans to build stickier client relationships and put compliance at the bottom of the value ladder (where it belongs).

Fundamentals of delivering new advisory services

  1. Make services visible on your website and at your premises 
  2. Undertake internal marketing to build confidence and awareness in your team - use our Gap marketing resources
  3. Deliver ongoing marketing campaigns to generate interests in your services - see our BOMA integration
  4. Prepare well by reviewing process guides and supporting content
  5. When meeting with clients, ask questions and practice active listening as you follow the Delivery Notes
  6. Get feedback so you can refine your service and use testimonials in your marketing
  7. Keep the services rolling each year

Note
Your team should know the value and price of each service you offer and how the services are delivered. 
Important info
It is 80% easier to sell to an existing client because they know and trust you. Running a Complimentary Client Review for your clients is a great way to promote your Trifecta offering. 

Consistent discipline is required when delivering different services

  1. Communicate the value of the service for the particular client
  2. Follow the Process Guide
  3. Use the Delivery Notes
  4. Stay in the bridge you're delivering (i.e. don't try to complete an Organisational Review partway through a Business Planning session because a client mentioned they're hiring a new team member
  5. Gain conceptual agreement for out of scope work and follow the correct process for sending a proposal and delivering the service
  6. Evaluate the value your client gained from the session
     

Keep an open mind about the services your clients want

At first, a client may just want one of these services. Play the long game, demonstrate value when delivering the initial service and build your trust before positioning the value of other services. A great way to position the value of all three services is 'Our most successful clients work with us in this way'.

While the Trifecta is a great starting point for any firm looking to deliver advisory services, there are many other services within The Gap you can monetise.  Check out these popular and varied services:
  1. Organisational Review
  2. Core Values Development
  3. Succession Planning

Unsure where to start?  Create your firm's Business Plan following the process in the Business Planning bridge.

Note
Speak with your Member Success contact to discuss your Business Plan and how you can fast-track delivering advisory services for your clients.
Make the customer's problem your problem. - Shep Hyken
Tip
Check out our Education Marketing pathway to drive sales for your advisory services.

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