Gary Vastola, Vice President of Field Marketing & Service Support from Xerox and I participated in a Whale Hunters Expert Series call last week. The call and discussion was focused around the common challenges companies faced as they closed out 2011; flat sales, retention, and customer satisfaction issues. 

As we kick off the New Year companies want to turn the tide towards exponential growth.  The quickest way to achieve exponential growth is by focusing on your most important customers at a decision maker level.  That sounds so simple but so many companies become distracted trying to do that with all their existing customers. The truth is that all customers are all not worthy of that type of attention and resources.  As we all know, if you don’t prioritize your efforts than the efforts get diluted and so do the results.

Once you have focused on your most important customers at a decision maker level, the next question is what do you do with them?  The days of “howdy calls” are over.  You remember those days, an executive comes in to visit one of your important customers and basically the executive takes them to breakfast, lunch or dinner or meets in their office to introduce themselves and talk about sports and something else that is meaningless.  The executive leaves and the customer executive is thinking nice guy, but I don’t have time to waste doing that again. One way to engage your decision makers in a meaningful valuable way is through an Executive Sponsor Program (ESP).  An ESP is that one on one relationship (executive to executive) that is outside of any sales transaction.  When launched well, the results are undeniable.  

• Read ALL materials prior to the event.  Write questions in the margins.  Highlight key ideas, areas you don’t agree with, and points that concern you.  Review and scan to stay fresh.
• Make an effort to meet everyone prior to the meeting session, especially if there is an opening reception.  Meeting your peers prior to the meeting helps the meeting itself move along more quickly.
• Be brief and concise with your comments so conversation keeps moving and everyone can have an opportunity to contribute.
• Ask questions that bring out depth behind the comments.
• When possible, try to remain for and participate in optional social activities.  Getting to know fellow members helps for in-session success.
• Constructive criticism is welcome.  Even greater value is gained when a solution is offered for host consideration.
• The host organization asked you to be on the Advisory Board because you impressed someone with your talent and insight.  Leveraging your customer status will diminish your credibility and frustrates your fellow Advisory Board Members.
• Stay engaged throughout the meeting.  You would be surprised what information you can learn, relationships you can forge, and influence you can extend during refreshment breaks.
• On occasion, some have found their emotions taking over.  In those instances, take a mental break.  You can always reach out to the facilitator at a break.  He/she may be able to help guide the conversation more appropriately to avoid an uncomfortable situation.

• Done right, an Advisory Board is synonymous with continuous improvement and can be transformational.
• An Advisory Board implies that change is about to happen. After all, that’s why you are investing in it! You see the need for change (a new direction, increased sales, improved relationships, etc.) and realize that your customers can provide you with the guidance you need to make it happen.
• Stakeholders inherently resist change, so communicate progress early and often.
• Culture impacts an organization’s ability to change, so build a tolerance for ongoing change into your corporate strategy. 
• Change doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes time and requires a certain set of skills, so designate a change agent/architect to manage the process.    

Are you on the “right stack” of mail?   

When you are doing something new, you fall into the classic “you don’t know, what you don’t know”.

 When you are planning your inaugural Customer Advisory Council you need to ask yourself….are we on the right “stack of mail”?  To set a Customer Advisory Council up for success long term you need to be focused on three main things:

1. Business Alignment – Alignment surrounding the priorities, content, members and outcomes gets the team focused around driving the results you desire.
2. Sponsorship – Who is your overall program sponsor?  If you don’t have one, you need to find one or you will not be able to keep the council headed in the right direction over the long-term.
3. Insight Execution – Gaining the right insight and executing on this insight is vital to success.  Insight execution is a lot like strategic planning.  You have to decide and communicate what you will and won’t do back to your members as well as internally within the company.  

I have observed several organizations spend valuable time, money and resources focused treating this like a trade show event.  They are more interested in the “glitz and glamour” then on making sure they have the foundation build for long term success.  Three of the most common pitfalls when setting up an inaugural Advisory Council are:

1. Finest Resort– Selecting a fabulous location is great to get your members to the first meeting, but it won’t keep them coming back.  You have to set the right environment in the inaugural meeting and execute on what you heard to keep them coming back.  There is no need to spend $450/night for a hotel room.
2. A/V and Travel companies- A successful Advisory Council meeting does take a lot of work, however, hiring an A/V company and/or a travel company to manage 14-16 people is not necessary.   If you plan for enough in advance, you will have the resources to handle the logistics for the meeting.  Your most strategic customers don’t want a production.  They want an intimate environment with you.
3. Expensive Gifts– Buying your customers expensive gifts is not necessary.  Companies waste so much time here.  Your most strategic customers aren’t coming for the gift or a fancy glass name plate.  They are coming to spend time with your executives to learn and share insight.

When you stay on the right “stack of mail” and focus on building internal alignment, sponsorship and insight execution you will set your council long term for success.