Accountants and bookkeepers regularly advise clients on tech choices—but few charge for it. At the recent Growth Club Summit, Rob Stone shared how formalising app advisory can turn free chats into a powerful new profit centre. His key message: You’re probably already giving valuable tech advice; it's time you got paid for it.
Below is Rob’s approach, breaking down how visibility, insights, and strategic pricing can unlock new revenue streams.
“Maybe you're already doing it, you're just not charging for it.” – Rob Stone
Stop giving away your expertise
Most firms don’t realise they're already offering tech advice, bundled informally into client interactions. As businesses adopt more apps, they need structured advice, creating a revenue opportunity that many firms overlook.
Why app advisory goes unbilled:
• It’s casual, ad-hoc advice that feels minor.
• Lack of visibility into client tech stacks makes structured advice difficult.
• Firms lack clear, priced packages for tech advisory services.
Get real-time visibility into client apps
You can’t advise effectively if you don’t see clearly. Rob introduced AppVentory, a tool designed to create a single source of truth for your clients’ tech stacks. It provides a real-time view of usage, costs, and employee satisfaction—crucial for meaningful advisory.
“AppVentory is the single app stack between you and your clients. You have real-time visibility over your clients' app usage.” – Rob Stone
Three ways visibility boosts revenue:
• App spend transparency: Spot wasteful spending quickly.
• Real-time usage insights: Identify training gaps and underused apps.
• Client sentiment tracking: Understand exactly how effective each app is.
Offer clearly priced app advisory packages
Turn your insights into structured offerings clients willingly pay for. Rob suggests tiered packages aligned with clients' needs and budgets:
Package
What’s included
Starter
Basic tech stack health report
Advisor
Quarterly app stack reviews and recommendations
Partner
Ongoing management, implementation support, dedicated advice
“You get to see the revenue opportunities clearly, highlighting exactly where your firm can monetise tech advice.” – Rob Stone
Tell the advisory story clearly
Clients don’t buy "advisory"; they buy solutions to their problems. When presenting your packages:
• Lead with client pain: Highlight inefficiencies, wasted costs, and lost productivity from poor app use.
• Demonstrate clear gains: Emphasise savings, improved workflows, and happier staff.
• Anchor your prices high: Clearly show premium services first to make mid-tier options attractive.
Real-world wins: How visibility turns into profit
Rob demonstrated how firms can easily increase revenue using clear insights from AppVentory. By surfacing immediate opportunities like redundant apps or low employee satisfaction, advisors can make compelling cases for new paid services, converting vague tech discussions into profitable engagements.
Key practical steps:
• Audit your visibility: Check your own and clients’ app stacks—identify gaps.
• Run sentiment surveys: Get employee feedback to pinpoint where intervention is most needed.
• Set clear, billable packages: Don’t undersell your expertise—define clear advisory tiers.
• Implement and measure: Start with trusted clients, prove the value, refine your packages, then scale.
Your next step: Turn app advice into a clear revenue stream
• Identify three clients currently receiving free app advice.
• Use AppVentory to gain immediate visibility into their tech stacks.
• Offer each client a formal advisory package based on their specific app stack insights.
• Measure your success and adjust your approach before scaling further.
Final thoughts
Tech advice has always been part of client conversations, but now it can become a service that pays. By formalising your approach, packaging your expertise, and using tools like AppVentory for visibility, you give clients clarity and unlock a new revenue stream for your firm. Start small, prove the value, and scale with confidence. The opportunity is already sitting in your client base.
