Sunshine is breaking through the recessionary clouds of the past few years. Signs of cautious optimism are sprouting everywhere, giving hope that 2012 will be a pivotal year that will show continued improvement in the global economy. Many companies report a stronger-than-expected Q4, the DOW is moving forward, and most business people I know have greeted the new year with a smile. This is why now is the perfect time to plan your Spring Customer Advisory Board meeting.

Quietly over the past few years companies have been investing in a CAB program. They’ve carefully selected a dozen or so of their most strategic customers, engaged them in an ongoing dialog about their business plans, priorities, and trends shaping their customers’ businesses, and they’ve been listening. These companies are now poised to accelerate their sales pipeline in 2012 precisely because they’ve kept contact with the decision makers and invited them to influence the company roadmap. But it’s not too late for everyone else.

A CAB is unlike any other customer engagement program. CAB meetings are not sales meetings, but the outcome can dramatically impact a company’s roadmap and sales pipeline. The CAB meeting is not a glorified user group meeting, although it can promote education, engagement, and energy surrounding a company’s products and use cases.

CABs are strategic investments that cater to the long-term strategic relationship company executives have with their best customers. Companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 will tell you they are well worth the investment. And now is the perfect time to build your own plan.

Ready to get started?

Here are a few tips to set you on your way:

1) The CAB is a program, not an event. It represents a chapter in a continuing dialog. While the discussion at the CAB meeting will be center stage for a while, the most important discussions will take place offline and after the event. Keep that in mind as you plan your inaugural meeting. Follow-up is the key to a successful relationship with your customers.

2) It takes 12 weeks to plan. Avoid the temptation to throw a CAB together quickly. Your customers are busy people, just like you and your team.  You need a runway to get on their calendars, and a 12 weeks “heads up” is usually enough time. You’ll also benefit from having enough time to build, critique, and update your agenda as you work the CAB-prep process. Don’t allow company executives (or an outside facilitator) to parachute in at the last minute.

3) Do your research before you begin. Search for CAB best-practices online. I’ve put together a “CAB Resource Center” with links to a number of articles, case studies, and tips for success. Take advantage of these free resources.

2012 is the year of the CAB. Consider it as part of your integrated marketing campaign.

Good luck, and good marketing!

Technorati Tags: CAB, CABs, Customer Advisory Board, Customer Advisory Boards

Lately, I’ve received many calls from executives looking to start up a customer advisory board program for their company.  Inaugural CAB meetings are especially important because it marks the first opportunity to not only introduce your CAB program, but to also put your best foot forward and make a good impression.

I’ve been running CAB programs for clients for 10 years, and I have played with a variety of agenda models.  For running a first CAB meeting, I’ve found the following type of agenda to be the most effective.  (Other agenda models are used for successive CAB meetings.)  This article concludes with 3 rules for your CAB agenda.

DAY 1:

• Afternoon arrival
• Informal event (golf, tour of customer facility, etc) – optional
• Reception
• Informal dinner

(Use this time to make introductions so you don’t have to spend agenda time on this on the following day)

DAY 2:

• 7:30 am – breakfast
• 8:30 – Welcome and CAB overview
• 8:45 – Discussion topic #1 (i.e. how customers see their world)
• 10:15 – Break
• 10:30 – Host company overview (a la a “fireside chat” works best, not a corporate pitch)
• 11:00 – Discussion topic #2 (i.e. an investigation of possible investment opportunities)
• 12:00 – Lunch
• 1:00 – Discussion topic #3 (i.e. a timely “hot topic” as defined by customers)
• 2:15 – Break
• 2:30 – Customer prioritization (i.e. a ranking of the most important issues and opportunities raised today; how would customers like the host company to spend their money?)
• 2:45 – Closing comments
• 3:00 – Adjourn

WHY THIS AGENDA WORKS . . .

Rule 1: the agenda is all about the customer, not the host company!

Customers attend CAB meetings because they are eager to network with their peers and to discuss key drivers, trends, and issues that shape their business.   Executives have few opportunities to do this, and vendors who take the time to build an agenda around customer-facing issues will be rewarded with high attendance.  With that said, customers want to talk.  They don’t want to be lectured.

Discussion topic #1 should be focused squarely on the customer.  What are the trends shaping their business?  What do they care about?  What keeps them up at night?  Share a slide summarizing recent trends or analyst predictions.  Ask the customers to respond to them.  Do they see the world as analysts and press describe?  Or, do they see something different?

Company overview: Since this is the first CAB meeting, it is safe to assume that the attending customers may not share a common appreciation to the value offered by the host company.  Customers also appreciate having some one-on-one time with the CEO. Have the CEO provide a 20 minute “fireside chat” company overview.   This is a presentation with only a few slides (3-4!) where the CEO  talks about how he/she sees the industry growing/changing and how the company relates.

Topics #2 and #3 will be specific to each company.  However, they usually encompass an exploration of potential new investment/service/product offerings. While it is NOT appropriate to focus on specific tactical features, it is appropriate to ask customers how they view and prioritize various problem statements that the host company might choose to address with new product/service options.

Customer prioritization: Imagine a meeting room surrounded by annotated flip chart sheets taped to the walls.  A lot of information and ideas have been covered.  If we leave the meeting now, the host company may have trouble separating out the most important opportunities.  Conclude the meeting with a prioritization and ranking discussion with the customers.  Of all the ideas covered, how would they like the host company to spend their money?

Rule 2: allowing time for “aha!” moments

As good as our agenda is (and it is very good!), often times the most interesting “aha” moments come during the breaks and over lunch.  That’s why lunch is never a working meeting.

Rule 3: An agenda that respects the customers’ time

Why does the agenda end at 3 pm?  Shouldn’t we go until 6 pm or even extend another day?  Good questions.  Answer: no.  The higher the seniority of the attending customers, the  less time they have in their schedules to offer you.  There is nothing worse than having one or two customers leave in the middle of a discussion to catch a plane.  It’s disruptive and awkward for the remaining customers who will then start looking at their watches.

For the first event, have the meeting end at 3 pm so there is ample time for them to catch a flight back home.  The best feedback I’ve received in many of my CAB evaluation forms is, “I wish we had more time!”  Always leave them wanting more.  This is a testament to an engaging agenda that customers want to participate in.  This is also an open invitation for marketing and sales folks to follow-up with CAB members to continue the dialog long after the CAB meeting has adjourned.

These are just a few tips for setting up a world-class inaugural CAB agenda.  For more information, or to ask a question, please drop me an email at mikeg@kickstartall.com.

For more on CABs, check out my CAB Resources blog post.

Technorati Tags: CAB, CABs, Customer Advisory Board, Customer Advisory Boards

The DMA Northern California (DMANC) recently hosted a presentation by Scott K. Wilder, former GM of Intuit’s Small Business Online Communities. The topic: “Getting Closer to the Customer Using Social Media: A Case Study from Intuit.” Here are a few key “take-aways” from Scott’s presentation.

Leading companies, like Intuit, have a relentless drive to understand their customers. Intuit’s founder, Scott Cook, started the “follow me home” program in 1989 to observe real customers using Intuit products in their home environment.  It is part of Intuit’s culture to use every interaction with prospects and customers as a learning opportunity and to ask the “5 WHYS” – drilling down to the root of problems.

Based on this culture, it was natural for Intuit to embrace online communities with their customers. In 2003, Intuit started a Small Business online community then added Facebook and LinkedIN in 2008.  In 2009 the company built community right into their products. Users have become company ambassadors and today, 70% of users get their answers from the community site versus customer support – significantly driving down support costs. Intuit is also leveraging Twitter and observing customer-created videos on YouTube that showcase Intuit’s products.

Before you launch into your Voice of the Customer initiatives, consider Scott’s “Top 10″ list of tips:

1. Ask “what problem are you trying to solve?” Use objectives and metrics to build a business case. Be open to the unexpected.
2. Have a clearly defined learning plan including how feedback will be shared and used. Scott’s team reported on customer issues to cross-functional teams as well as externally on the community site. They captured the issue, a quote from the customer, a link to the customer’s post,  the action taken and the learnings.
3. Look at qualitative as well as quantitative feedback.
4. Understand technology adoption curve of your customers.
5. Understand how your products or services are being used in the customers’ environment  (ie: in their office)
6. Understand the ecosystem and persona of different types of users – their title, their job function, the type of company they work for, what’s important to them, how you can help them succeed.
7. Strive for continuous improvement in products and processes. Go for the unexpected “wow.” Scott often met with customers to have them help prioritize new product features by asking “tell me how to spend your money.”
8. Understand the difference between what customers “say” and “do.” Intuit uses Omniture to observe behavior as well as Radian6, Buzzmetrics and Google searches (which are free) to monitor what people are saying about the company.
9. Start simple. Don’t try to build every feature possible.
10. Learning can happen at any time. Learn => teach => learn.

At the end of the day, the best advice to truly understand your customer is to be humble and let the customer lead. According to Scott, “It is important to start simple adding only a few features at a time– and to be in a constant learning state of mind, listening to what the customer says, how they say it and the language they use.”

Scott recently accepted a new position as SVP and Social Media Architect at Edelman Digital. Edelman is the world’s leading independent public relations firm, with more than 3,500 employees in 51 offices worldwide. You can follow Scott on Twitter at skwilder.

Technorati Tags: DMAnc, intuit, Scott K. Wilder, Social Media, VOC, voice of the customer

There’s no question that 2009 has been tough on Customer Advisory Board(CAB) programs and events.  Many companies had little choice but to cancel or postpone their events this fall.  But good news is on the horizon.  The Dow has hit 10,000 and many expect signs of recovery to continue to blossom in 2010.  Kicking off or rejuvinating your company’s CAB (or Customer Advisory Council – CAC) program is an excellent way to strengthen customer loyalty and ensure you are on the right (roadmap) track for 2010.

I’ve been facilitating CABs and other executive summits and offsites for more than 10 years.   Here is a collection of articles that offer insights, tips, and best practices that will help optimize your program and build stronger executive relationships.

• Are you getting strategic insight from your best customers?
  Customer Advisory Boards help you validate and refine your product direction
• What Came First, the CAB or the Executive Relationship?
• CAB or no CAB? That is the question
• How Three Collaboration Trends are Reshaping Marketing
• Customer Advisory Boards: Frequently Asked Questions
• Expect More Out of Meetings: Professional facilitators can keep your meetings focused and productive

Technorati Tags: CAB, CABs, Customer Advisory Board, Customer Advisory Boards, Marketing, marketing programs, nurture programs

In his article, CIO Tells Us How to Sell to CIOs, Sridhar Ramanathan interviews Walt Thinfen, CIO of Visioneer.  This article is a timely reminder about the importance of customer relationships built on an understanding of the customer’s world.  Especially in this difficult economy, marketers and sales people can fall into the trap of myopic short-term thinking centered on making the quarterly number.  It’s easy to lose sight of the customer and the problems they are trying to solve. 

One excerpt that I really like is the following:

Vendors do, of course, need to do all the usual things like webinars, trade shows, datasheets, whitepapers, analyst briefings, etc. But I actually find the most valuable ones are opportunities to speak with fellow CIOs whether it’s on the golf course or in customer reference calls. I never turn down “lunch and learns” and events where I can have quality time with a peer.

There are two key elements interwoven into this quote from Walt.

1. Reading between the lines suggests that when all the features and benefits become commoditized, the executive relationship will become the only true differentiator.  This is where and why customer forums and Customer Advisory Boards (CABs) become so important. 
2. While the traditional “push” marketing tactics (like webinars, datasheets, etc) will continue to be important, they are not sufficient for successfully engaging CIO prospects.  Marketing teams need to consider “push” marketing tactics that make relevant content (information & experiences) available to CIOs in places where CIOs look.   Consider that in today’s Internet-based, social media-infused marketplace, 90% of the average sales cycle does NOT involve a sales rep!

Bottom line: the tough economy is causing marketers everywhere to rethink their approach in order to balance push and pull marketing tactics.  And, in the center of the marketing plan needs to be recognition and respect for the executive relationship.

Technorati Tags: customer marketing, executive relationship, Integrated Marketing, Marketing