Insights and Metrics

Customer Advisory Board Insights and Metrics

Ignite Advisory Group continuously improves our methodology for delivering Customer Advisory Councils.

Proven Track Record

By tracking our customers’ results over time, our research reveals that Ignite-managed Customer Advisory Boards typically achieve the following measurable ROI:

• 95% of executive customers are retained
• Nearly 10% increase in new business from these customers by year 2
• 36% increase in executive customer satisfaction among member organizations
• 9.4 out of 10 average score on meeting feedback surveys

Tapping Business Guidance

Ignite Advisory Group helps manage your program from the start to deliver insights and intelligence that can be directly applied to various aspects of your business.

Customer advisory boards provide a clear window into short and long-term goals of your top customers. That business guidance can sharpen your market approach with a clearer customer lens.

• Validate or re-focus corporate strategy direction
• Balance budget allocations and investments – from marketing to R&D to business operations to sales
• Strengthen core value propositions
• Expand or add new product or service categories
• Identify new viable market/industry segments
• Propose or discourage merger and acquisition targets

Early Sales and Marketing Intelligence

• Active dialogue with members also yields tactical insights such as those described below.
• Early warnings about shifts in product/service utility or disruptive business forces
• Feedback for new product or technology approaches
• Beta test candidates for your new products/service
• Reveal competitor tactics and strategies — successful or flawed
• Identify reference strength among members – prioritizing your champions

Gaining Industry Impact

The greatest benefit a Customer Advisory Board can yield is to impact the greater good for the industry. Ignite Advisory Group has experience with a number of customers that have achieved significant industry impact. Active subcommittee focus on a specific issue around which all members can contribute is the key ingredient for such impact.

• White paper publications or editorial placements by the Customer or Partner Advisory Board
• Industry forum speaking opportunities, typically by a leading Customer Advisory Board member co-presenting with a company subject matter expert or other authority from your firm

Well-led subcommittee initiatives must have a clear objective, meet frequently enough to sustain interest – either monthly or every six weeks – and demonstrate progress to members. The sponsoring company is the editor for the work products and must achieve consensus among the members.

A byproduct of the Customer Advisory Board specific work products is that they can be adapted into vertical or horizontal work products for the sponsoring company.

Capturing Actionable Insights

Converting insights into metrics is a company-specific activity based on its chosen objectives. A typical report card might be similar to the following.

Business Guidance