Customer Advisory Boards
Welcome to the largest international industry association and community of Customer Advisory Board managers worldwide. Our mission is to:
- Share best practices among Customer Advisory Board practitioners internationally
- Match companies embarking on Customer Advisory Council's with Customer Advisory experts
- Promote Customer Advisory Boards as a proven method for increasing sales and customer loyalty in organizations worldwide
If you’re managing or planning a Customer Advisory program then please download our Customer Advisory Board Strategy Guide, register for our next Conference to network and share best practices with other Customer Advisory Group managers, or view the Customer Advisory Board Member Research.
What is a Customer Advisory Board?
A Customer Advisory Board (CAB), also known as a Customer Advisory Council or Group, is a B2B growth strategy. A CAB involves regularly convening a group of influential customer executives who have a vested interest in overcoming industry challenges and shaping the corporations strategy. A well designed CAB will enable all members to develop solutions to grow their businesses.
Why create Customer Advisory Boards?
Business is personal. Now more than ever its imperative to build deeper relationships with your best customers. It's well known that your top 20% of clients typically generate 80% of your revenue. Engaging key players in these accounts in a Customer Advisory Council will deliver:
- Early warnings of shifts in customer needs and emerging opportunities (Market Research)
- New Product Development feedback (Innovation)
- Less customer attrition and churn, especially among Customer Advisory Board members (Customer Loyalty)
- Advice on approaching and appealing to similar customers, including referrals (Sales)
- Intelligence on competitor's tactics and strategies - what’s working and what’s not (Market Intelligence)
A Customer Advisory Board can drive significant new revenue if managed effectively.
"Is a Customer Advisory Board a focus group?" No! Here's why:
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Membership is typically made up of 10-30 senior executives (not necessarily the end product users) normally representing the 20% of your customers that generate more than 80% of your revenue.
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Topics of discussion tend to be more strategic than tactical.
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Customer Advisory Council members participate on a voluntary basis for the opportunity to influence company direction, in a way which is beneficial to their own needs, as well as the wider customer base.
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There is an expectation that the organization will follow through on key recommendations made by it's Customer Advisory Group members to ensure their continued participation and client satisfaction.
"Can you run a Customer Advisory Board successfully online?"
This year we’re seeing more companies move their CAB’s online, as people become more reluctant to travel and best practices for new online technologies have evolved. The benefits are:
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Reduction in the costs of managing a CAB by converting in-person meetings to online meetings
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Scalability, by enabling multiple CAB's worldwide to be managed centrally online and get more customers
involved; the average CAB has 5-10 people attending a meeting in-person, online CAB technology enables multiple CAB's of up to 50+ members. -
Ability to engage Customer Advisory Group members more frequently online throughout the year to gather more insights.
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More actionable customer insights as transcripts of all conversations are automatically captured online for further analysis.
Please ask us a question using the Customer Advisory Board Contact form.
