Journal

People Advisory Accelerator

Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Reimagine.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Align.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Your insights................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Step by step.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Introduce.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Your insights............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Step by step.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14
Deliver............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Your insights............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Step by step.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 22
Scale................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 26
Your insights............................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Step by step.................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 28
Next up............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 33
Introduction
You’re busy—we get it. Keeping a journal takes time, so why should you bother? We think it’s a really important part of the Accelerator program for a few
reasons…

It helps to keep you focused. Use your Journal to help you articulate your goals and record where you are now, as well as identifying the things that will help
you along away and how to overcome any blockers.

It tracks your progress. You’ll be able to see how much progress you’re making on your People Advisory journey.

It facilitates your thinking. You’ll have a record of everything you’ve done at each stage in terms of process and the reasons behind your decisions. Useful
to help you think through, plan, reflect, make changes and improve.

So, get journaling!

Reimagine
Getting started
Beginning your Accelerator Journal marks the start of your People Advisory journey. Take a moment to note down how you’re feeling and your goals for
yourself, your firm, and your clients in moving to offer People Advisory.
Align
Your insights
Having seen the experiences of some other People Advisors as they defined, staffed and priced their People Advisory services, reflect on the following...

 What are your firm’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of defining, staffing and pricing People Advisory services?
 What are your goals for offering People Advisory in terms of revenue growth?
 What opportunities exist that will help you achieve your goals and might block you? How can you maximize the opportunities and overcome the
blockers?
Step by step
Step 1: Define your Packages
Consider the 4 elements and 12 deliverables in the Packages template opposite. Are you going to adopt these Template: People
at your firm as they are, or do you want to adjust anything? Advisory Packages

As a starting point, use the Client Services Inventory tool to help you identify the value your team is Tool: Client Services
delivering - and possible giving away - right now. For example, ad hoc payroll support. How much time does Inventory
your team spend doing this?

Did you add or remove anything from the out-of-the-box Packages we have created? What’s the rationale behind your decisions?
Step 2: Identify your Sponsor and Champion
Do you have the skills, experience, and characteristics within your firm to launch a People Advisory practice
or will you look to hire externally? Start by identifying your Sponsor, then work together to select your Tool: Evaluate People
Champion. Advisory
Characteristics
The tool opposite has further details about the People Advisory characteristics that best align for service
success. Use it to evaluate potential candidates for both the Sponsor and Champion roles.

Who did you identify for the Sponsor and Champion roles? What makes them the best fit for the role? Have you spoken to them yet about the
opportunity?
Step 3: Upskill your Sponsor and Champion
Looking at the evaluation you did in the previous step, create a plan to address any development needs.

Ensure that the Sponsor and Champion have completed the People Advisory Certification program (available in Gusto Learn for partners).

What training and development needs have you identified for the Sponsor and the Champion? How will you address them?
Step 4: Price your service offerings
Think about how you’ll price the recurring subscription fees for the Packages.
Tool: Pricing Calculator
Consider whether to include the fee for Gusto within the monthly subscription fee.

Use the tool opposite to guide you through pricing considerations.

What approach did you take? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions?
Introduce
Your insights
Having seen the experiences of some other People Advisors as they got the word out to their first clients, communicated the value, and sent their proposals,
consider the following...

 What are your firm’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of getting the word out, communicating the value, and sending proposals?
 What are your goals for introducing People Advisor to clients?
 What opportunities exist that will help you get there and what exists that might block you? How can you maximize the opportunities and overcome the
blockers?
Step by step
Step 1: Build your client-facing messaging
Draft your value proposition and proof points using the guide opposite.
Guide: People Advisory
You may want to revisit your Pricing Calculator and adjust your pricing. Messaging

We suggest the Sponsor leads the activities in this step, with the Champion collaborating.

Define your value

proposition

Gather your proof

points

Define your pricing

and packaging
(Packages and Add-
Ons)
Step 2: Select your clients
Time to identify your first 3 clients for People Advisory Packages. We suggest starting with new clients who have complex workforce needs. Clients
intending to grow their workforce could also be a good fit. Or those who are planning on a permanent shift to remote working.

Who have you identified as your first 3 People Advisory clients? Why do you think they are a good fit?
Step 3: Get the word out
Get the word out to clients in your pipeline who you’ve identified as a good fit for your pilot. People Advisory
Brochure:
Use the brochure opposite to help communicate the value of your services.  Template
 Branded version

What approach did you take? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? What would you do differently next time?
Step 4: Communicate the value
Map clients’ pain points to the value of your People Advisory Services to overcome any objections. Tools: Battlecards:
 Gusto vs Paychex
Reach out to your Partner Advisor for any questions that are specific to the product and consider using the  Gusto vs ADP Run
tools opposite.
Tool: Gusto Pricing
Guide

What pain points have you identified? What value did you map them to? What was the outcome? What would you do differently next time?
Step 5: Send the proposal
Using the People Advisory proposal template in Practice Ignition, the Champion drafts and sends, with the
Sponsor reviewing. Template: Practice
Ignition Proposal

Did you adjust the proposal or send it as is? What was the rationale for your decision? What was the outcome? How did you price your service?
Step 6: Review your messaging
Following the client meeting, the Sponsor leads a review with the Champion collaborating. Findings and messaging insights should be recorded and
synthesized. When you have answered the questions below, revisit your messaging material and update it to reflect what you’ve learned.

What messages
resonated?

What concerns did

your client have?

How could you change

your messages to
address them?
Deliver
Your insights
Having seen the experiences of some other People Advisors as they onboarded their clients to People Advisory services and started to deliver the Packages,
reflect on the following…

 What are your firm’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of client onboarding, delivering Packages, and managing Add-Ons?
 Where do you want your firm to get to?
 What opportunities exist that will help you get there and what exists that might block you? How can you maximize the opportunities and overcome the
blockers?
Step by step
Step 1: Onboard the client to Packages
Use the tools opposite to make sure you’ve got everything covered when you onboard your clients to the Tool: Client
Packages. Onboarding Checklist

Tool: Internal Kick-off

Memo

What did you do? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? Would you do anything differently next time?
Step 2: Check the deliverables
Make sure you have addressed all deliverables within the Package tier each time you deliver a Package by Tool: Team
using the tool opposite. Deliverables for People
Advisory Packages

What did you do? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? Would you do anything differently next time?
Step 3: Prepare for the Package consultation
To prepare for a People Advisory consultation, start by understanding the client’s business performance. Template: Consultation
What are the highlights, lowlights, and areas of opportunity? Gusto reports can help. Summary Memo

Next: develop people-planning KPIs to get a deeper level of insight into team performance. Gusto connects Tool: Structuring the
with accounting ecosystem partners—such as Jirav—to help you get clients’ headcount and financial data on Conversation
the same page without having to export data to tools like Excel.

Then: review and analyze Employee Survey results. The Employee Happiness Survey is included in Gusto’s
Complete and Concierge plans.

Finally: Craft your recommendations using the template opposite.

Structure your consultation conversation based on the 4-step framework. Use the tool opposite to help.

How did you approach this step? What’s the outcome? What went well and not so well?
Step 4: Manage the Add-On engagement
If you’re ready to deliver an Add-On engagement, follow the 5-stage workflow to ensure consistency. Use the Tool: Add-On
toolkit opposite to jumpstart each stage. Engagement
Management

What did you do? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? What went well and not so well? What would you do differently next time?
Scale
Your insights
Having seen the experiences of some other People Advisors as they expanded their marketing and increased their People Advisory clients, reflect on the
following...

 What are your firm’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of expanding your marketing and increasing your People Advisory clients?
 Where do you want your firm to get to?
 What opportunities exist that will help you get there and what exists that might block you? How can you maximize the opportunities and overcome the
blockers?
Step by step
Step 1: Create your web page
Use the templates opposite to help you build a great hub for educating current and prospective clients about
your differentiated People Advisory Services. Template: People
Advisory Web Page
Use the People Advisory Web Page template and fill it out with your firm’s details. Pro tip: have your value
props handy—refer to your Journal notes in the Introduce section. Template: Email to your
Webmaster
Once you’ve developed your customized copy, send it over to your webmaster/marketing team for them to
post to your website. Use the email template opposite to get started.

Did you use the web page template as is or did you customize it? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? What’s the outcome?
Step 2: Develop your supporting marketing
Think about the different marketing channels available to you, and how you’ll get the word out. Remember,
you have already done a lot of the work for this, so refer back to the Introduce section and tweak the language Tool: People Advisory
to suit the broader audience: Preview Email

 Draft talking points to explain your People Advisory services, including the additional value client’s will
receive
 Use the tool opposite to preview People Advisory and invite clients to a meeting
 Consider showcasing People Advisory in newsletters and blogs, along with the philosophy behind it
 If you’re on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or other social media, introduce your People Advisory service
in a series of posts

How did you approach this step? What’s the outcome? What went well and not so well?
Step 3: Start to market the Add-On services
Identify your clients’ challenges—could these pain points be solved by optimizing their onboarding process, refining their employee benefits strategy,
or creating a workforce plan, for example? Write down the reasons why each client would benefit from an Add-On.

Communicate your message—perhaps during a regularly occurring People Advisory consultation or an email inviting them to a separate conversation.

What challenges did you identify and what did you suggest to help solve them? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions?
What next?
Step 4: Introduce People Advisory to more new clients
When you have onboarded your first 3 new clients to People Advisory Packages, use your learnings from this to go out and win more new business
with your differentiated service.

How did you approach this step? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? How will you continue to do this?
Step 5: Transition existing clients to People Advisory Packages
Start with existing bookkeeping-only clients and then existing payroll clients. Remember, if a client isn’t on Tool: Client Services
Gusto, now is a great time to migrate them to the platform to get the most value from your People Advisory Inventory
Packages. You can always reach out to your Partner Advisor for support.
Client presentation:
Use the Client Services Inventory tool to compare the services you provide to individual existing clients with  Guide
what’s included in the People Advisory Packages.  Branded template

When you meet with clients, use the sample Client Presentation to understand goals, and address their need
for your People Advisory services.

What have you done so far? What’s the outcome? What’s the rationale behind your decisions? How will you continue with this effort?
Next up
People Advisory is a journey. Your Gusto team and our partner community are here to support you as you develop this part of your practice. Here are the
suggested next steps…

Connect with a Partner Advisor. Hop on a call with your Partner Advisor for thought partnership on scaling your practice. They’ll support you with advice
and resources to identify and onboard clients to Gusto.

Encourage your Sponsor and Champion to take the Accelerator. Ask your team’s Sponsor or Champion to take
the Accelerator so that you’ll be on the same page and can jump start your practice.

Have your team get People Advisor Certified. If you and your team aren’t already People Advisor Certified, now
is a great time to build your foundation on payroll, benefits, and people operations so that you can confidently fulfill
your deliverables.