|
|
|
Everyone Wins with a Customer Advisory Board
Customers are the lifeblood of
any business, but too many businesses don’t involve their customers in
planning for the future. Unless management knows what its customers
think – about the business, about the service levels, about the products
and about the way their needs are met (or unmet) it’s unlikely to ever
optimize its opportunities for success.
A Customer Advisory Board (CAB) eliminates this blind spot and creates a
productive interface between a business and its customer base.
Since the early 1990s RAN ONE and its forerunner, RAS have strongly
advocated the Customer Advisory Board as a means of gaining invaluable
feedback from the people who matter most – the sources of your income.
The usual structure for a CAB is a ‘focus group’ or panel comprised of a
representative sample of customers, chaired by an independent moderator
that poses topics for discussion and facilitates the group’s answers.
The feedback obtained is transmitted to the company’s management for
inclusion in considerations about the future of the business.
The CAB is a tested and proven solution that can eliminate dangerous
management blind spots. It can be used to obtain customer perceptions on
subjects as diverse as which new products should be considered to the
best way to handle customer complaints.
Viewlocity, a US-based firm that markets its products worldwide,
describes itself as “the global leading provider of visibility, event
management and optimization software for the adaptive supply chain”.
Product development at Viewlocity is guided in part by an independent
Customer Advisory Board comprised of a select group of customers.
Customer feedback is seen as critical to the Viewlocity product
lifecycle and has considerable influence on the direction of Viewlocity
and the company’s future business opportunities. Viewlocity management
representatives on the CAB include the Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Technology Officer.
Allen Systems Group Inc. in the USA adopts a similar ‘listen and learn’
approach. The company uses a CAB as part of its product development
structure. The board is seen as a forum that brings together strategic
customers and key ASG product strategists. Its members participate in:
• Identifying and sharing best practices in their organization
• Identifying strategic problem/enhancement areas and their business
priorities
• Discussing and challenging ideas where value is not clear
• Identifying potential new products required for future business
initiatives
All members of the CAB are customers of ASG and serve on the board for a
minimum of one year. The benefits of membership for customers include
their ability to influence the company’s corporate initiatives and
product directions and early access to ASG’s new products.
Stephens and Co in the UK conduct Customer Advisory Boards for other
firms. They are scathing about businesses that only guess how their
customers might respond to a new product and don’t ask for their advice:
“…they bumble along hoping for the best, never really understanding why
their customers react the way that they do.”
They point out that a CAB isn’t an expensive exercise and can actually
build loyalty and commitment from the customers on it. “You now have a
team of dedicated customers dealing with you regularly, keeping an eye
on your business, and helping you keep an eye on your competitors.”
SunGard, a company that markets disaster recovery and business
continuity products in North America and Europe, sees a CAB as a forum
for effective two-way communication between the company and its
customers. The board “has real influence on the quality, direction and
cost of SunGard services to ensure they continue to meet customers'
needs and expectations.”
Their CAB is made up of senior executives from companies representing a
cross section of SunGard’s customer base. It meets quarterly with
representatives from SunGard’s senior management team.
CAB members are invited to serve for three years, retiring in rotation,
but with the right to serve a further term by mutual agreement. At all
times the aim is to maintain a diverse representation.
Another global company, Akamai has a CAB with representatives from an
impressive list of companies including Apple, CNET, Coca Cola, Columbia
House Company, Hilton Hotels, Lycos, McAfee, Merck & Co., MTV
Interactive, Nike, Nordstrom, Ticketmaster Online and Wells Fargo Bank.
Akamai created its Customer Advisory Board in 1999 as a means to better
understand the business requirements of its more than 1,200 customers.
The CAB meets bi-monthly and communicates throughout the year to discuss
strategic updates on products and services.
For professional services firms the ‘C’ in CAB means “client”. The RAN
ONE user guide Running Advisory Boards for Clients and Team is a
comprehensive resource that contains a wealth of information on how
these boards can be convened and facilitated.
The CAB is a win-win situation for everybody and should be a part of the
thinking of every business.
|
|
