If you’re just starting out in advisory, picking the right client to start running an advisory service with can make the difference between a positive experience that builds your confidence or a difficult one that slows your momentum. 

Think of this first client as your “pilot client” - someone you know well and can genuinely help. One positive experience will do more to grow your confidence than three difficult ones.  

Look through your client list and identify specific, tangible challenges: 

Ask yourself: 

• Who's dealing with cash flow pressure I could help resolve? 
• Which business owners seem worried about their profit margins? 
• Who's mentioned growth plans but appears uncertain about funding them? 

These are challenges that play directly to your financial expertise. Beginning with familiar problems builds your confidence whilst delivering clear, measurable value. 

We have developed a short course within Gap Academy that is designed to help you get started in advisory and how to use The Gap, this short course covers how to select your first client right through to how to run your first meeting. 

 

The Gap gives you a full library of structured work items and meeting frameworks — ready to use, fully guided, and designed to create meaningful client conversations. 

Starting off with a Prospective Client Meeting, and working your way up the value ladder to deliver Annual Accounts Review and Value Gap Analysis Reports, Cashflow & Profit Improvement Meetings, as well as your deep advisory services, Accountability Coaching and Business Planning.

Every work item is backed by templates, questions, and workflows so you can deliver advisory that’s consistent, valuable, and repeatable across your team. 

 

Within The Gap, you’ll find clear recommendations on how to price your core advisory services.

We’ve also released our Advisory Pricing Insights Report, sharing how firms like yours are pricing and packaging their advisory services. Download the report to see how you compare - https://thegaphq.com/advisory-insights-pricing-report-2025

 

The Gap integrates with Xero, Xero Practice Manager, and FYI. It also connects with your preferred meeting platform such as Zoom, Teams and Google Meet.

The Gap provides structured meeting templates that make it easy to deliver advisory services consistently across your team.

To support ongoing development, Gap Academy offers an education hub dedicated to all things advisory — with events, training, scripts, and resources designed to build your team’s confidence and capability.

When you join The Gap, you’ll be connected with one of our Member Support Specialists to help you get the most from the platform.

We run regular training sprints, sharing practical tips and strategies to help you grow your advisory services exclusively for Gap Members.

You’ll also gain access to Gap Academy, a powerful learning hub with easy-to-complete training modules that support your ongoing CPD.

And to keep you inspired and connected, we host regular in-person and online events packed with practical, value-driven content.