If Day 1 of Xerocon was about small business, then day 2 was definitely focused on Partners.
It was clear to me that Xero recognise that Partners are the face of their product and by empowering them with product knowledge, Xero will go from strength to strength.
Xero’s mission is to help small businesses and accountants are a great conduit for that.
A testament to the power of these conferences is that I was able to have a good 1 to 1 chat with Rod Drury, the CEO of Xero and Craig Walker, Chief Technology Officer.
Whilst talking to Craig, I pointed out, what he called, a “bug” in Xero and he thanked me and promised to get it fixed. This was great news for one of my team, Lisa, who is always getting caught by this particular issue.
It was also great to catch up to Phil Bevan my Xero account manager.
I must admit, not being accustomed to commuting, I missed two trains this morning so missed the start of day 2. I did arrive in time for an update on the tools Xero are rolling out for their Partners. I was very impressed with these tools because they will enable us to provide much better management accounts for our clients.
A speaker that stood out for me was Dale Murray CBE, who founded a company that, just before she sold it, made sales of £450 million annually! Her message was that Accountants should be careful to avoid using jargon with their clients, help clients to better understand their financials and to keep an eye on the cash-flow. This information wasn’t new to most of us in the room but it never hurts to have the message reinforced.
Xero Add-Ons
The conference was split between presentations and an exhibition with many of Xero add-on partners attending. Some of the add-ons we have heard of before, Vend, Santago and Workflow Max, but some were a surprise; Microsoft, who now integrate their BI platform and Office 365 with Xero, Infusionsoft and Izettle were a few new add-ons I hadn’t realised linked to Xero.
The fact that Xero is on the radar of Microsoft, Infusionsoft and even HMRC must surely give comfort to the users of Xero who adopted early. As Rod Drury pointed out, Xero are at the end of the beginning of their mission to be the worlds number 1 software. It is now a well-established software product and the future is bright.
My overall impression of my two days at Xerocon 2016 was positive, re-enforcing the message that as accountants we must put our clients first, make great communication our number one priority and give as much support to small businesses as we can.
I am now re-energised and have a load of actions for my plan so thanks to Xero, see you again soon.
