Companies experience many challenges related to creating and managing a successful Customer Advisory Board or Partner Advisory Board. Some of those challenges include:
- Establishing and maintaining executive commitment. Developing a shared vision or theme that helps to keep executive commitment in place and the members engaged.
- Recruiting the best and the right members for the board
- Creating powerful content that keeps members engaged
- Keeping the board’s momentum going throughout the year with continued effort
- Generating ongoing ROI and value to the company by showing the impact of the advisory board
Without Executive Commitment, a Customer Advisory Board will Fail
While there are many Customer Advisory Board challenges, in this video 7 of 10 series, we focus on the importance of executive ownership and commitment and how a lack of executive commitment will kill a Customer Advisory Board.
This scenario is one we have seen: mid-stream into the full execution of the Customer Advisory Board, the executive sponsor leaves the organization. The new executive that becomes the executive sponsor of the Customer Advisory Board has not been involved from the beginning, does not understand the value, and he or she does not support the Customer Advisory Board.
How do you establish executive ownership? Align the Customer Advisory Board with corporate objectives and strategy, along with ongoing communication
Establish executive commitment by making sure that the Customer Advisory Board objectives are in alignment with corporate objectives and strategy, such as entry into new or adjacent markets, new product launches, M&A, or new pricing and procurement models.
Engage your executives year round, not only at the Customer Advisory Board face to face meetings. Provide updates to your executives on a regular basis on key milestones leading up to the face to face meeting and in between meetings, such as reviewing the members and each session of the final agenda, and communicating outcomes of the advisory board meetings as well as strategic benefits achieved. Involve your executives in internal and external communications about the Customer Advisory Board, including memos, a press release or a blog post.
Find out if the Customer Advisory Board executives are being measured or compensated on metrics related to customer satisfaction, C-SAT scores or NPS, customer loyalty, or Voice of the Customer. Connect how the Customer Advisory Board will impact those metrics and this will influence the commitment of the executive.
Some key questions to ask to tie the Customer Advisory Board to corporate objectives are:
- What are the corporate objectives right now?
- What is the business strategy?
- How is the Customer Advisory Board mapped to the business strategy?
Watch the video to find out more key questions to consider that will help to ensure that your Customer Advisory Board is aligned with corporate objectives.
Check out the other videos in the series on Why Customer Advisory Boards fail:
- Part 1 of 10: It’s too much work
- Part 2 of 10: Short term thinking
- Part 3 of 10: CAB confusion
- Part 4 of 10: No peer exchange
- Part 5 of 10: Unrealistic timing and expectations
- Part 6 of 10: Lack of creativity and vision
