Companies often struggle to set a realistic timeline for planning their first—or next—Customer Advisory Board (CAB) meeting. This usually means that they have not left enough time to adequately launch their program and/or plan for their meeting. Sometimes it’s due to their eagerness to get started (which is great). More often, it’s because they underestimate the steps and time required to build a solid foundation.
Another common mistake? Having a CAB meeting date from the start—usually tied to some other event—then scrambling to “work backwards” through the planning steps. This creates unnecessary pressure and results in a rushed program that the customer CAB members will notice.
As such, here is a timeline for launching (or improving) your CAB program and planning your next meeting. Of course, some of these steps can be done “in parallel” without having to wait for completion of the previous one. Getting ahead will always help create a better meeting experience for everyone involved.
CAB Meeting Planning Timeline
8 months: start your CAB program
Target your first (or next) CAB meeting 8 months after you launch your program. This gives you time to secure resources and you should’ve already secured the budget necessary to fund such a program. You’ll want to gain consensus from your management team on what you hope to learn and accomplish with your CAB and establish a strong theme.
7 months: Complete your CAB charter
Your CAB program charter should include everything your CAB hopes to accomplish: its mission and goals, topics to be addressed and member participation expectations. A well-defined charter not only strengthens your program’s foundation but also plays a crucial role in attracting and recruiting the right members.
6 months: Complete all member recruiting
Only reach out to recruit potential CAB members after defining your ideal member profile, prioritizing nominations, and creating strong outreach materials. If done right, most of your customers will accept membership and eagerly participate in shaping your meeting agenda.
3-4 months: Complete member interviews, create agenda
You’ll want to create potential meeting topics and run these by your CAB members—ideally through interviews. Use those CAB member interviews to help prioritize agenda topics and potentially uncover other issues that are of importance to them. Once you have vetted all topics with your members, you can create an agenda that addresses their top concerns early in the meeting.
6 weeks: Finalize the agenda
Lock in the agenda and session leaders, typically from your CAB steering committee or internal subject matter experts. Hold up to three 1:1 planning sessions with each session owner, so they know how much time they’re allotted, why they are doing their session, and where they fit in the agenda. Provide them with the meeting PowerPoint template with prompts for questions to be answered.
2 weeks: Receive all session content
All session content should be received, reviewed, and optimized for engagement and how to best facilitate each session. Does a breakout exercise makes sense to capture input and meet session objectives? Are any additional visuals needed? Any recommended pre-meeting reading materials to help understand a topic?
1 week: Run through all sessions
By now, all meeting content should be reviewed and finalized, and host-company participants should be aligned. Is everyone in agreement with and understands the content? Everyone should also be clear on facilitation guidelines for the meeting, roles and responsibilities, and logistics and materials involved in session breakouts.
1 day: On-site prep meeting
A final on-site prep meeting is critical for all host-company meeting participants. Review meeting content, logistics, and CAB member account status. Ensure everyone understands their role, expected contributions, post-meeting follow-ups and what to expect afterwards.
0 day: Your CAB meeting!
All your preparations come down to this day. Your executives should be excited and confident that they have everything they need to host a successful meeting. Your customers will also be excited to meet each other and see their input reflected in the meeting agenda. Thoughtfully planned meals, breaks, and social activities will foster networking and follow-up collaboration.
1 month after meeting: Distribute meeting report, prioritize all actions
Once your successful meeting ends, the real work begins. Organize and prioritize the CAB member input, then share a detailed meeting report to all the members and internal attendees. Also share the report with everyone internally who was not able to attend the meeting. Additionally, review and prioritize all potential actions, assign owners and due dates, and ensure follow-through on each action.
A CAB Is Not a One-Time Event—It’s an Ongoing Program
After completing each of these steps, the countdown to your next meeting begins again. Typically, you’ll start planning 6 months ahead of your next annual in-person meeting.
In between in-person meetings, quarterly touchpoints are a great cadence. There may be some necessary follow-ups, workstreams or interim conference calls to gather your CAB members once again.
Managing a CAB effectively requires careful planning, strategic facilitation, and ongoing engagement. As CAB experts, we help guide you through every stage—ensuring your CAB delivers meaningful insights, strengthens customer relationships, and drives business impact. With our expertise, you can maximize the value of your CAB and create an experience that keeps your most important customers engaged and invested. Let’s connect for a CAB strategy call.
Ignite Advisory Group is the leading global authority on Customer Advisory Boards and Customer-Led Boards. Ignite’s proven methodology for managing and evolving Customer Advisory Boards includes a 4-stage process, encompassing 48 deliverables and measured by 20 metrics to deliver a clear ROI. To learn more about Ignite, visit our website, read our blogs, and follow us on LinkedIn. To find out how your company can benefit from Ignite’s CAB methodology and process, contact us today.