A decade and a half ago, ‘cloud’ was an exciting buzzword that was enough to get people excited in its own right. Now we’ve lived with cloud accounting for a while, how do you convince your clients to join you on the
journey?

You could rely on the stick component of the carrot-and-stick equation: Making Tax Digital (MTD) is here and you’d better comply, or else! But that’s a pretty blunt tool.

We see a lot of accountants focusing on the features of the software, brand names and jargon. It’s sometimes easy to read the blurb and come away with no particular idea of what’s on offer or (important to many people) what the cost might be.

Instead, you need to start by thinking about the challenges faced by your clients – or the potential clients you’d most like to have – and what they’re striving to achieve. How will cloud technology make a real difference?

Think of a favourite client, or a client you’d especially like to win – what are their struggles?

For people operating SMEs, there are certain universal challenges. Staying on top of cashflow, for example, or finding enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done.

Tell these people real-life stories, like the one about the client who gets to spend more time with her kids because she uploads receipts at home using her phone instead of sitting in the office entering the information manually into a wobbly old spreadsheet.

If you can, along with the emotional appeal, put hard numbers on the time and money saved:

● “Clients who’ve embraced cloud accounting generally call us twice a year rather than once a week because they’ve always got the info they need on the dashboard.”

● “One client decreased late payments by 30% when we automated invoice reminders for him and he’s no longer losing sleep worrying about paying his own bills.”

Your clients are already overwhelmed by choice and, trust us, will welcome a clear statement from you about which software is best for them.

“They’re all good, really,” won’t cut it, just as it wouldn’t if you were asking for advice on which mobile phone or car to buy.

Instead, you should be able to say something like: “This app is particularly good for smaller firms, perhaps those with one or two employees, because it’s got fewer functions, a clear interface and provides the ideal amount of information on the dashboard.”

Or even simply: “Honestly, I always recommend this app because I’ve been using it for years, know it really well and find the developers really responsive to requests for new features.” That personal endorsement will count for a lot.

We see this ourselves every day: people don’t really understand what software can do until they get hands-on. And that’s when you see their eyes light up and hear them say, “Oh, yeah – that is cool.”

Whether it’s through videos on your website or shared via social media, interactive webinars or (we’re almost there…) face-to-face demos, let people see your chosen cloud applications in action.

And finally, don’t be afraid to be passionate and excited yourself – that’s the biggest convincer of all.

If you want a guided tour of what Capium’s all-in-one cloud software can do for you and your clients, book a free demo today