By Brent Szalay
- Why We Struggle Turning Our Strategy Session into Ongoing Work
- STEP 1: Understand Why the “Next Step” Feels Awkward
- STEP 2: Use Momentum Before It Disappears
- STEP 3: Make the ‘Next Steps’ Simple (Options Remove Pressure)
- STEP 4: Lead With Numbers — They Remove Hesitation
- Final Thoughts
You’ve just wrapped up a strategy session, the kind where everything clicks.
Four hours with a client who gets it.
They’ve invested real time, money and energy to step back from the day-to-day and actually work on their business, not just in it.
Together, you’ve unpacked their goals, explored their challenges and built clarity, not just around their numbers, but around their direction. These sessions are energising. Purposeful. They actually matter.
Not just for the client, but for us advisors too. They remind us why we love this work.
But here’s the uncomfortable truth: A one-off session, no matter how powerful, doesn’t create lasting change.
Ongoing advisory does.
Because when the session ends, reality moves fast. The next steps are often big. And while confidence is high and motivation is fresh, clients still need a partner. Someone to help them stay accountable and keep the plan alive. That’s where our guidance becomes even more important.
But the moment you shift from strategy to “what’s next?”, everything suddenly feels awkward — usually because it involves talking about money.
Below are four (4) practical steps to make the next stage of advisory feel natural and valuable.
STEP 1: Understand Why the “Next Step” Feels Awkward
If ongoing advisory is where the real change happens, why does continuing the conversation suddenly feel awkward?
Most of the time, it’s not the client creating the discomfort of ‘selling’ the next steps.
It’s you.
You haven’t fully owned the value of ongoing advisory — as a defined service that’s structured, measurable and confidently priced.
You’ve always offered advice. But historically, it’s been:
- Adhoc
- Invisible on invoices
- Safe and unspoken
That felt comfortable because it was a bonus offering… an add on to your compliance work.
Now you’re stepping into a space where you’re thinking and support hold real commercial value. And that shift can feel confronting.
You’re not just “being helpful” anymore. You’re building an advisory relationship that deserves a clear scope, price and rhythm. This is where the awkwardness is about you. Not them.
You must own the value you are offering. You need to believe that the ongoing service you’re providing will truly help your clients. Because when you believe that, the conversation stops feeling like selling and starts feeling like continuing the work you’ve already begun together.
STEP 2: Use Momentum Before It Disappears
But while you’re working through that internal shift, your client is experiencing something different — momentum.
Right after a planning session, your client is more committed than they will be at any other time.
But that momentum fades fast:
- The urgent replaces the important
- Good intentions get buried
- Business as usual takes over
- The plan becomes a PDF in a drawer
If you don’t intentionally carry momentum forward, real change stalls.
And if you helped create the momentum, you also have a responsibility to protect it.
That’s not selling. That’s duty of care.
To your client and the impact you’ve already started.
STEP 3: Make the ‘Next Steps’ Simple (Options Remove Pressure)
Clients don’t want to feel pushed, they want clarity.
At the end of the strategy session, never leave the question “what happens now?” hanging in the air. Give them clear, structured choices that make progress feel easy and natural:
🔹 Option 1: Client-Led (Self-Directed)
For clients who want to take the lead and drive the plan themselves.
✓ They walk away with a roadmap that gives them clarity and ownership of their next steps
✓ The client owns the next phase
✓ Quarterly check-ins are included in the strategy session cost
You’ve developed the roadmap together, but your client may prefer to take the wheel from here — sometimes because of cost. Your role is to ensure they leave with clarity and ownership of the actions ahead, and to lock in quarterly check-ins straight away.
These check-ins keep your client accountable to someone other than themselves and give you a natural opportunity to stay connected and demonstrate the value of more hands-on support in the future.
→ Low pressure. High goodwill.
🔹 Option 2: Accountability Partner
A monthly rhythm that keeps the plan alive, and keeps them moving working towards goals set in the original strategy session.
- One session each month
- Actions tracked and measured
- Scoreboard updated
- Roadblocks solved in real-time
→ Consistency = actual movement
You lock in a session every month, track progress, remove roadblocks, support them through the hard patches and reset the focus for the next month. Even one step forward is still a step closer to their goals — and that’s what matters.
Example pricing: $500–$1,000/month
(You can scale based on confidence and market.)
🔹 Option 3: Full Financial Performance Program
This is where real transformation happens — with a tangible return on investment.
Led by you and supported with monthly guidance, this option brings the strategy to life through consistent review, prioritisation and adjustment. Each month you’ll guide the client through:
- Dashboards
- Budgets and cashflow
- Leading indicators
- Strategic adjustments
This is the program that keeps the plan alive, builds momentum and helps the client stay aligned to where they want to go — not slip back into old patterns.
→ High support. High momentum.
Example pricing: $1,500–$2,000/month
STEP 4: Lead With Numbers, They Remove Hesitation
Don’t rely on the feel-good energy from the strategy day.
Show them:
- Profit potential in dollars
- Time regained, through focus
- Risks avoided by early intervention
- Speed of progress they can reach with your support
The clearer the business case, the smaller the hesitation or pricing objection.
Advisory isn’t about pressure. It’s about partnership and proof.
A Final Thought
Advisory isn’t just profit-improving work. It is life-changing work.
Remember the business owner who…
- is burnt out after 10+ years and misses family time
- risks their life savings to chase a dream
- has potential but no progress
- is full of energy and ideas but lacks a plan
Your guidance might save them years of stress, confusion and missed opportunities.
So, here’s the real question: Do you truly believe in the power of the work you do? Because when you do, selling doesn’t feel like selling at all.
It feels like helping someone build the life they’ve been working so hard for.
If this has sparked something for you, hit reply. I’m always up for a chat about how to make advisory feel easier and more impactful.
Brent Szalay — If this has sparked something for you, hit reply. I’m always up for a chat about how to make advisory feel easier and more impactful. I have always believed accounting is more than planning sessions and spreadsheets, and about standing beside and advising small business owners as they grow, find clarity and build something they’re proud of.
