Latisha Carter, Head of Product U.S., at Xero, joins Gary to discuss all things Xero! Live from Xercon 2022, Latisha shares Xero's beginnings, how they've gained over 3.3 million users, and more info on Xero's partner program.
Latisha Carter, Head of Product U.S., at Xero, joins Gary to discuss all things Xero! Live from Xercon 2022, Latisha shares Xero's beginnings, how they've gained over 3.3 million users, and more info on Xero's partner program.
Listen now to learn how Xero tailors their program to support their clients' needs and what plans Xero has for the future!
Learn more about Xero: https://www.xero.com/
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Gary DeHart
Hi, I'm Gary DeHart, publisher of Insightful Accountant and welcome to another episode of Accounting Insiders. Today I'm speaking with Latisha Carter from Xero. What is your role? What's your title?
Latisha Carter
Well, hey, Gary. Hey, how's it go?
Gary DeHart
I was gonna say your title.
Latisha Carter
I'm Latisha Carter, as you said, and I'm Head of Partner, U.S.
Gary DeHart
Okay, there we go. So now we say, hey, so once a few months spent together, so I'm glad we're able to do it here at Xerocon 2022. So Latisha is going to share a little bit with us about her role, a little bit about Xero, let's talk Xero, first, your role Xero, and kind of what that encompasses, and then dive into your partner program. Again, you know, if you look at our core audience historically has been in the QuickBooks ProAdvisor space. We know some of our readers or audience certainly use Xero or are involved with zero. But I don't know how much. We haven't done a ton on like your partner program. So I'd like to get as much information out there about that as we can. And then whatever else might, we might have time to talk about. So. So since we're here at zero con 2022, high level on Xero, what's Xero up to here in the US.
Latisha Carter
It's awesome. Thank you for having me. We're excited to get this time with you. As you mentioned, we're here at Xerocon right now. And we haven't done this in a couple of years. So it's super exciting to be here. We're in Nola, by the way. So New Orleans probably don't get there. And it's a great place to be. So Xero's come a long way. We've been around for a while, we have a solid footing in the US. And we're just excited to still be a player in the game. And we're not going anywhere.
Gary DeHart
We just started it was 12 years, we think we think we're gonna look off camera. Is it 12 years?
Off camera
Founded in 2006
Latisha Carter
2006.
Gary DeHart
And in the US the whole time?
Off camera
Launched in the US in 2011.
Gary DeHart
We've been doing this too long.
Latisha Carter
So yeah, founded back in 2006 came to the US shortly thereafter, been around for a long time, have a solid present in the presence in the US now a lot of great US leadership on board now. And just doing really great things in the US right now. Always in the cloud, purely a cloud solution. We were born and bred in the cloud. And we're excited about that.
Gary DeHart
Right? Absolutely. And you can see it up here on the show floor as well. It's funny talking about all the different apps, I mean, they you know, what do you connect to? Well, a lot of them are Xero first, right? Just going with the routes and then QBO. And then maybe desktop, but there's your desktop just like we're just not even gonna bother with desktop, which is hard to wrap my head around, because there's so many desktop users. Right. But if it's not gonna be around for the long term.
Latisha Carter
Yeah, well, and again, desktop users. So all of you that are out there that are still using desktop. Best of luck to you. We'd love to see you come over to this side.
Gary DeHart
And so any major announcements that have been made today around the product, if it's going to be tomorrow than Well, there were actually won't release this for a couple of days. So yeah, we can share some secrets.
Latisha Carter
No, no secrets at all come out, you'll get a chance to see it on the way online. So you have both Ben Richmond and Hamish cook coming up later, so they'll share some of the product updates with you. So no secrets coming from me. Not today.
Gary DeHart
All right, how about anything that they've announced?
Latisha Carter
So far, we're doing really great within the US. Globally, we have 3.3 million subscribers. So we're growing, growing well, the pandemic has, we've seen such amazing things happen, you know, in the era that we're in right now. So being in the cloud has really helped catapult us in a way that has been positive for us and our subscribers and our users.
Gary DeHart
Right? Okay, so we have product now let's talk about the advisor program. So is that what it's called Xero advisor, right?
Latisha Carter
It's a partner program and you become a zero advisor. And so it's very similar to the programs that you see out there in the market. Now, we It's no cost and bookkeeper or accountant, advisor, someone with clients that you're doing books for. And so very complimentary, no costs involved. It's a point system program. We have different tiers and different layers. Within that you get a listing on the website, free certification training we have On Demand training, where you can get CPE credits for and then one of the things that makes us stand out in something that differentiates us is that you get that peer account manager that really walks you through your Xero journal, right? And so we literally, we want to help you with your workflows. We want to see what you're doing and then see how we can improve what that looks like. And so you get a dedicated person, an actual human being that comes in and they support you through what that looks like. And now you can physically go into offices, but we were doing this all along, throw in A pandemic. And so it's been a great experience to create that extension of the business to get you up and go into bring your clients over into Xero. And so we support you and walk with you through that entire process. So the partner program is pretty amazing. And it's the, it's the entryway in the gateway into all things Xero. It's a Xero experience that we create. It's not just a partnership. And it really is, it's an experience it's full on. And so individuals that are dedicated within your community that can really come in support and help you we've been trying to clients for you, but come on into training completely. And we're okay with that. That's not a problem for us, on the partner consultant team that I get the opportunity to the lead. They are many of them are bookkeepers, accountants and CPAs. And so they have that skill, that knowledge and then they've married that with their zero knowledge. And so they literally speak the language. They understand the you know, some of the some of the pain points that our accountants and bookkeepers experience. And we're able to then tailor our Xero solution to really fit the needs of the client.
Gary DeHart
And when you say they are CPAs, bookkeepers, are they there in their own firms, and they're also working with Xero, or that's their background.
Latisha Carter
That's their background. So thanks for the clarification. Thanks for the clarification. But there's another point I want to make. We also have ambassadors, and our ambassadors are in their own practices. And they also go out and help support our Xero clients and users get up and going. So we have been on both sides, we have individuals that work for us, that are Xero employees and zero colleagues. And then we have ambassadors that are in their own firms that also support us getting zero up and going.
Gary DeHart
And they're part of your world, the ambassadors?
Latisha Carter
They are apart of the Xero World.
Gary DeHart
They're part of Latisha's world?
Latisha Carter
Well, they are under my under the role that I played. I love the way you said, that "Latisha's World."
Gary DeHart
Are they, because actually, we were supposed to Tate Henshaw earlier and amazing we're gonna, we're gonna end up connecting with him tomorrow. But how many of those are, or how many ambassadors are there?
Latisha Carter
They're eight, and don't don't judge me if I don't get the number exactly good, right. This is between eight and twekve ambassadors that we have.
Gary DeHart
I won't ask you to name them. Okay, and they do they also talk product with Xero? I mean, so they're talking to customers, right or to other advisors within? They're also talking back going, what about this? Can we build a roadmap where the products go?
Latisha Carter
Absolutely, absolutely. And we also have will be called the X tech that does that as well. It's kind of our StuCo as well. And they also support us in that. So we get a lot of feedback on our end for what we want to do through our engineers. We also get tons of feedback from folks that are out there practicing in the market right now. And they bring that into us. And then we take those ideas and those feedback items. And we identify what's next for us.
Gary DeHart
Right. So I know, how often are you doing events are right on in various markets. And obviously, this is one big about global revenue, people from everywhere. But I know you're also doing things in individual markets like meetups and Braves games, or what? I didn't get an invite to that. Why am I not there? I should be right there having a beer! So do you do those year round or?
Latisha Carter
Really great question. So we are community based. And so what that means going back to that partner program, where you get that individual that will come into your office, do it with you do it together with you or do it online with you based on what your on your comfort level is we also are based in communities. And so my team, my partner consultants, and our account managers, we have community connections is what we call it. And so we literally in the nine cities that we are based in or that were targeted in, we do events, and we call them roadshows. And then we also have client events. And so back to the Braves game. I'm in Atlanta. And so the Race game is a really good thing for me, I really enjoy that. But we invite our clients and their customers out to some of those events, they get a chance to learn more about zero, they get a chance to get some training if they want to do that. But then we just have a little bit of fun. I mean, we do enjoy just having a little bit of fun.
Gary DeHart
We should get to do that every now and then.
Latisha Carter
Yeah, absolutely. And we do it from a community standpoint. So we get a chance to really ingrain ourselves in the community. So we're not just we're not just a provider or solution partner in that way. We're literally partnering within the community. So for causes and things that matter within that community, we connect to that that's something that we're that they're important to us is something that we enjoy doing.
Gary DeHart
Yes. Fantastic. Yeah. What's anything else that we haven't talked about? Talked about Xero. Talked about your role, advisor program, anything that we need to share again. You know, keeping in mind, most of our audiences, historically has been the pro advisor, community. Is there anything that's in the pipeline or that you guys are working on that you can share? Obviously, if you can't...
Latisha Carter
Yeah, so Gary, you always put me on the spot! What I like to share kind of impart is that we, we do care about the community, we care about the individual, we literally want to be a part an extension of the practice that you're in. And so we're in it as a partnership, we want to do it together, not do it separate. So we do want to be and always are going to be that extension of the business and the firm. That's what we bring to the table. And we partner in that way. And it's a true partnership. We don't just talk about partnering, we partner, and we literally get our hands dirty and get in there.
Gary DeHart
Fantastic. And that I'm sure that's very well received, right? Because even I've never done it never had to move a client from one to another. But I'm sure that can be a daunting process, especially on to a new platform that I may or may not be super familiar with.
Latisha Carter
Yeah. It's important information. It's your it's your accounting information. So you definitely want to make sure that it's being handled with care. And what we do is take the care to the next level. Right.
Gary DeHart
Fantastic. All right, well, you heard it here first to take the care to the next level. So no, thank you for taking some time out of your day to join me here. Again from Xerocon 2022.