How attending Xerocon sets our app partners up for success

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Attending Xerocon is one of the most powerful ways our app partners can connect with our ecosystem and community of advisors. Each year, the events attract more than 4,000 accountants and bookkeepers across the globe. The first Xerocon of 2017 kicks off in Melbourne on the 13-14th of September. Registrations are already higher than last year’s numbers.

Here’s why it’s an event not to miss if you’re an app partner.

Face-to-face access with bookkeepers and accountants

Accountants and bookkeepers play a crucial role in our thriving ecosystem. As well as using apps to run their own businesses, advisors play a key role in recommending the technology solutions their clients use to run and grow their businesses. Xerocon puts our app partners right in front of this important channel.

Whether it’s having an in-depth discussion at a booth, over end-of-day drinks, or sitting together at a keynote, Xerocon is packed with opportunities for engagement with accountants and bookkeepers. And it’s not just about gaining leads (although that’s often a big benefit too). It’s also a chance to understand their needs and challenges, so you can build better solutions.

“Accountants are one of the most trusted group of advisors for small businesses. By meeting them face-to-face as a sponsor of Xerocon, we were able to hear firsthand how to promote success for their clients and their own businesses,” said Kabbage’s Chief Revenue Officer, Victoria Treyger. “We use our learnings from the event to continue to educate the accountant community online and offline about small business funding opportunities.”

Get your app on a global stage

The cloud has opened the door to reach new customers and markets around the world. Our Xerocon events present our partners’ solutions to a global audience. In 2012, Receipt Bank was nominated for ‘Emerging add-on of the year’ at Xerocon and they haven’t missed the event since. In that time they’ve also grown from a small team operating with less than 1000 clients in the UK, to a global business. They now serve over 4000 accountants and bookkeepers worldwide.

“It all started with a world-class integration and gaining recognition at Xerocon. Suddenly the phones started ringing and on the other end were all these Australian and New Zealand accountants who had been at the awards ceremony,” said Receipt Bank founder, Michael Wood. “We were really small. It was incredibly weird to suddenly have to go to the board and say the next conversation we need to have is international expansion. On one hand it was ridiculous. Here we were, this really small business just starting out. However, on the other hand, there was no conceptual reason our product couldn’t be consumed by other companies around the world despite the fact that our business plan was UK-focused at the time. And there was significant demand.”

Connect with the ecosystem community

“By investing in events like Xerocon, we have met other add-ons to discuss how we can make stronger solutions together. Xero has done a great job building that community. The community means you’ve got people you can reach out to and speak to. Building a technology company is tough. It’s a difficult thing to do, so it’s valuable to have people to speak to about issues or questions” Michael explains.

Xerocon isn’t just about engaging with our advisor channel. It’s also an opportunity to speak with the Xero sales team and other app partners. Together, we can help solve the challenges small businesses and their advisors are facing.

“Since the very first Xerocon Deputy attended (Sydney 2013), we have never had to stop and think about the value of our presence and participation,” said Kristin Harris, GM Strategic Partnerships at Deputy. “We are blown away by the expansion of the event in each country. It just keeps getting bigger and better year after year. I can honestly say the highlight for Deputy is the journey with Xero, the other app providers, the partners and everything in-between. It’s the relationships built, the support network, and the future we envision together for small businesses.”

This year, we’ll also be hosting an additional event in conjunction with Xerocon. We want to give our app partners the opportunity to catch up with each other over a drink and hear about what’s happening in our ecosystem. Details to come, so stay tuned.

If you haven’t registered yet, head to our exhibitor page for details. After Melbourne, Xerocon heads to London in October and Austin in December.

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