We chat to experienced tech sales chief Rishi Ruparelia about sharing a supportive mindset with accountants, and his first few weeks learning about Advancetrack’s outsourcing and offshoring offerings.
What is your current role and responsibilities?
I’m the sales account executive for Advancetrack. That means I look after existing customers from a sales perspective – i.e. do they have the right hours and people to get work undertaken; and then I actively engage with other firms about using Advancetrack.
What is your background?
I’d say that I’ve been in the professional services sales environment for ever! I initially sold legal software and then was headhunted by Xero back in 2014 to look after their London area. I ‘fell in love’ with accountants during this time.
I then spent some time in the payments arena, first at Dojo and then Airwallex – helping the latter build their UK accounting channel.
I think I fit in well with accountants: they genuinely want to help clients and have a variety of skills and experience to use when supporting them. My instinct is to help the businesses I work with and sell to, whether it’s being more efficient from a process or financial perspective.
accountants are in an amazing position to build deep relationships with their clients and I want to help with that.
How did you get the role? How have the first few weeks gone?
I’ve known Advancetrack MD Vipul Sheth for about ten years, and we’ve worked closely on a few firms for which Advancetrack and Xero had mutual clients.
There were a few offers floating around, but because Vipul is seen as a ‘white knight’ in the industry; I wanted to align with that. Ultimately, Advancetrack is viewed as a company that ‘does things the right way’, helping its people and that of partner practices develop.
Outsourcers and offshorers often provide ‘bodies’ to undertake work, whereas it differs at Advancetrack; not only are the staff well-rounded, but there is great support from the managers behind the scenes – there is a team in the background providing support and making sure things get done properly. The practitioners I’ve spoken to have flagged up this positive aspect of their working relationship with Advancetrack’s people.
I haven’t been working here long – weeks rather than months – but I feel I’ve slotted in fairly well. I certainly know the questions I have to ask of existing and prospective partner accounting practices – the next step for me is to more deeply understand all the offerings and how they fit with clients’ particular needs – the nuances that make one of Advancetrack’s offerings a better fit than the others.
What does success in your role, and for Advancetrack, look like?
Well, part of it would be enabling Vipul to spend so much more time with his family that they get fed up of seeing him!
The other thing would be helping accounting practice leaders manage their productivity and resource needs, supporting them to achieve their firm’s ambitions. Practices have to get a grip on efficiencies (and having quality and timely data at hand) to both free up resources and then provide a more valuable service.
