Your next great advisor might already be sitting in your team.

They might not have the title of advisor. They might not be the most senior person in the firm. And they may never have been given the opportunity to have an advisory conversation with a client.

But that doesn't mean the potential isn't there.

In this episode of Advisory Secrets, I look at how to recognise the advisory potential that may already exist within your accounting or bookkeeping team.

Traditionally, we've trained people to complete tasks accurately and efficiently. But advisory requires us to look for something more — curiosity, judgement, communication skills and the ability to notice when something doesn't quite add up.

It might be the bookkeeper who spots a pattern in a client's cash flow. The team member who asks a really good question. Or the person who understands the client's business incredibly well because they're working with their numbers every day.

Those are advisory skills starting to show.

The important thing is creating an environment where people feel confident enough to speak up, share what they've noticed and contribute their ideas.

Because building an advisory team doesn't mean turning everybody into a lead advisor.

It means recognising the capability you already have and giving people the opportunity to develop it.

And sometimes, the person with the greatest advisory potential isn't necessarily the person you would have expected.

Takeaways

• Your next advisor may already be working in your firm.
• Advisory potential isn't necessarily linked to seniority or job title.
• Look for people who are curious, observant, good communicators and willing to ask questions.
• Team members working closely with the numbers can often spot things that create valuable client conversations.
• People need to feel safe to say, "I've noticed something here..." without worrying that they're stepping outside their role.
• Not everyone needs to become a lead advisor — advisory capability can exist at different levels across the team.
• Developing advisory capability isn't simply about delegating more work. You're developing people's thinking, judgement and confidence.

Find Out More

To find out more about developing advisory capability across your team, visit APX Training.

You can also join our free Advisory Teams Facebook community for more conversations around building advisory teams.

Welcome to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halladay, the bite sized podcast for accountants and bookkeepers developing their advisory skills.

In this series, we're going beyond the individual advisor and exploring how to build advisory capability across your team.

Because a scalable advisory service shouldn't depend on one person, let's get started.

What if the next great advisor in your firm is already working for you?

When we talk about building advisory services, there's often an assumption that we need to find people with advisory experience, or that advisory belongs within the most senior people in the firm.

But I think we sometimes overlook the capability that's already sitting within our teams.

Think about your bookkeepers, your accountants, the people preparing management accounts, the people dealing with clients regularly.

They're already seeing an enormous amount.

They see how clients manage their money.

They notice when cash starts getting tightened.

They see costs creeping up.

They spot unusual transactions.

They hear what's happening when clients call or email.

And quite often, they're the first people in the firm to notice that something has changed.

That's incredibly valuable.

The problem is that we've traditionally trained people to deal with the task in front of them.

Process the bookkeeping, prepare the accounts, reconcile the bank, produce the report, answer the query, and then move on to the next job.

So they may notice something important, but not necessarily see it as their role.

To start a conversation about it, they might think, that's for the partner, or I'd better mention that to the business owner and suddenly everything comes back to the same person again.

The bottleneck.

Building an advisory team means changing that.

It means helping people understand that noticing things, asking questions and contributing their perspective is part of the value they can bring.

And this doesn't mean expecting everyone on your team to suddenly become a fully fledged advisor.

There are different levels of advisory.

Someone early in their development might simply learn to recognize when something deserves a conversation.

Another team member might be comfortable asking the client a few more questions.

Someone more experienced might be able to explore options and contribute to recommendations.

And your lead advisor may still take responsibility for the more complex strategic conversations.

That's a team, different people contributing at different levels.

And one of the most important things we can do as leaders is create an environment where people feel safe to contribute.

Ask your team what they're noticing.

Ask them what they think the numbers are telling us.

Ask what they would want to discuss with the client.

And perhaps most importantly, don't immediately give them your answer.

Give them space to think, because that's how judgment develops.

Over time, you may discover that people you've always thought of as great technicians have the potential to become very good advisors, they just haven't been given the opportunity to develop those skills yet.

So here's the question I'd like you to think about after this who in your team is already showing signs of advisory thinking, even if neither of you has recognized it as advisory yet?

Maybe they're naturally curious.

Maybe clients trust them.

Maybe they ask good questions.

Maybe they spot patterns.

Maybe they understand the commercial side of a client's business particularly well.

Look for those signs, because building an advisory team doesn't necessarily start with recruitment.

It starts by recognizing the potential that's already there and then developing it.

In the next episode, we're going to look at another important distinction.

Because giving your team more work isn't the same as giving them more advisory responsibility, and delegating tasks isn't the same as delegating advisory thanks for listening to Advisory Secrets with Deb Halliday.

If you're ready to develop advisory capability across your team, visit apxtraining.co.uk to explore our evergreen elearning and Live Implementation cohorts starting in September, February and May.

You can also join our free Advisory Teams community on [email protected] groups advisoryteams.

And if you'd like more podcast content, listen to Advisory Conversations with Tim Seymour and Deb Halliday, available on all major podcast platforms.

I'll see you next time for another advisory secret.