1. CUSTOMER ADVISORY BOARD.ORG
Maturity Benchmark

2. Explanation of Maturity Model & Benchmark
We developed the Customer Advisory Board Maturity Model to help organizations understand, plan for and assess the performance of their advisory council initiatives. Our members use it both as a Customer Advisory Board management checklist and as an organizational road map. At the Customer Advisory Board .org association, we use it to organize our research, our conference session programming and our training services so that our members can easily connect the dots and use the association’s content in their strategic planning.
This model articulates two concepts required to advance the business of Customer Advisory Boards. First, it defines the 7 key competencies required to build successful client advisory councils. Second, it articulates how these competencies progress from organizations that have developed their programs through a ‘trial & error’ approach to those that have embraced world-class best practices and professional help. First published in 2010 it is widely used today by Customer Advisory Board .org members and beyond to:
1. Evaluate and assess their organization’s Customer Advisory Board program through gap analysis
2. Understand the expertise and skill sets required for successful advisory council development
3. Develop a road map to advance Customer Advisory Board efforts in their organization
4. Educate and manage expectations for the advisory board among executive sponsors, stakeholders, sales and account management
5. Create training for those tasked with developing or improving a Customer Advisory Board or facilitating an advisory council meeting.

3. Customer Advisory Board Maturity Benchmark Model
Program OUTPUTS Program INPUTS
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Strategic Alignment
Member Engagement
Program Management
Content Creation
Actionable Insights
Internal Influence
Measurable Success
Average
Best in Class
Based on survey of 50+ programs

4. Different Stages of Customer Advisory Board Meeting Maturity
The following describes Stages 1-3 shown on the CAB Maturity Benchmark Model:
STAGE 1: The vendor presents 80% of the time. This is a poorly executed advisory board that has been convened without the necessary research into top of mind topics for members, in advance. The vendor is left to do all the talking due to a lack of insight into the board members’ challenges in advance. The vendor struggles to get 12 people to attend a meeting, and the members typically delegate their attendance to more junior colleagues.
STAGE 2: The vendor presents 50% of the time. The board has yet to develop trust, member engagement is relatively low, board objectives are not clear and the vendor doesn’t create the platform for in-depth discussion between members and between meetings.
STAGE 3: The board views the vendor as a partner. The partner presents 20% of the time while board members are talking 80% of the time. This represents a well-designed advisory board. The company has selected hot topics that are top of mind for members. The focus is on peer exchange and actionable insights. There is a clear sense of accountability and direction.

5. Core Competencies of a World Class Customer Advisory Board
This presentation contains best practices related to each of the 7 core competency areas:
Strategic Alignment
Member Engagement
Program Management
Content Creation
Actionable Insights
Internal Influence
Measurable Success

6. 1. Strategic Alignment
The CAB program has an identified executive sponsor
The executive sponsor’s ‘customer-facing’ direct reports are members of the CAB steering committee
The top issues and opportunities facing the executive sponsor in growing the business is reflected in the CAB’s objectives
The CAB mission & objectives are clearly communicated to the members
The CAB manager meets with the executive sponsor and steering committee regularly to align the CAB objectives with the current corporate strategic objectives
The members are aware of the company’s growth strategy and are able to reference it during their interactions at the board meeting
The executive sponsor meets with the board members regularly throughout the year to provide updates and discuss strategic decisions they face

7. 2. Member Engagement
Members are fully engaged in meetings and take every opportunity to actively engage in discussions
Members are engaged in the agenda creation process
There is a high percentage of attendance at all meetings
Members do not delegate their participation to more junior colleagues
Members complete the required pre-reading and activities prior to every meeting
Members are polled frequently on the satisfaction with the program
A member feedback survey is completed at the end of every face-to-face meeting with very positive results
Members contribute to the creation of deliverables through task forces/sub- committees in between advisory board meetings
Members volunteer to present case studies
Members are scored on their level of engagement and participation in the board annually
Peer networking exists between members

8. 3. Program Management
The board is managed by a program manager with experience in managing CAB’s or a consulting company with CAB expertise
An ideal member profile exists and the board is comprised of the optimal mix of clients from different industries, titles, geographies and organizational size
Documented processes exist for identifying & recruiting board members, creating agendas, onboarding members, engaging internal stakeholders, communicating to board members, producing meeting reports, retiring members etc
A steering committee exists of the most senior executives internally who are responsible for action the the customer insights collected
The status of action items agreed by the board are maintained and reported back to the board throughout the year
A process exists to disseminate the customer insights effectively to all the internal stakeholders
Account managers are kept abreast of key insights gathered from their individual customer’s interaction in board meetings
Trained facilitators (ideally external) are used to ensure the goals of each session are achieved through an interactive and equitable exchange
A charter exists detailing the member commitment and governance structure of the board
A meeting kit is produced for every face to face meeting consisting of the meeting theme, charter, attendees bio & headshots, agenda
A communication plan and timeline is communicated internally and externally of all board activities planned for the next 12 months

9. 4. Content Creation
There is a pipeline of key topics for the board to focus on
An interview process exists to gauge members interest and thoughts on proposed agenda topics
The results of member interviews drive the content creation process internally
A theme exists for each meeting and there is a logical flow to the session topics in the agenda
Subject Matter Experts are engaged in content creation to develop the host company’s strategic perspective on key topics
The executive sponsor and steering committee provides input throughout and ultimate sign off on all agendas
Detailed facilitation plans are developed for each advisory board meeting session, including the use of visual aids, small group breakouts, insight capture process and ideation techniques
The advisory board is given the opportunity to access unique content only available under NDA in this forum
Members are leveraged to help generate content for board reflection
An onboarding information pack exists to help new members come up to speed on the corporate strategy, market positioning and board discussions

10. 5. Actionable Insights
The insights to be collected from every session and the format are agreed in advance of every meeting
Host company employee attendees are engaged in engaged in capturing insight during every sessions
A tracking process with systematic follow up exists to ensure the action items are worked on internally and the results reported back to members
The board reviews past accomplishments and outstanding items at the beginning or every meetings
Members are engaged in working on action items to drive towards mutually beneficial deiverables

11. 6. Internal Influence
The executive sponsor and steering committee members turn to the CAB program manager to help solve strategic challenges that require customer input
The output of the CAB is effectively communicated internally so it has a far reach within all parts of the customer-facing organizations
The CAB is perceived as a tool to help in strategic decision making processes; such as product roadmaps and potential partnerships
The business value generated from the advisory board is communicated through internal newsletters, posts etc
The members participating in the advisory board are known and recognized internally in all their touch points with the organization
The sales and account management teams understand the benefits the advisory board can bring to them and actively pursue nominations to ensure their top clients are represented on the board

12. 7. Measurable Success
The executive sponsor has agreed the advisory board’s goals and associated metrics for 1-3 years
A clear ROI can be calculated for the board
Recruitment targets are agreed and achieved
Examples exist of the host company’s strategy changing based on board member input
Scorecard metrics exist where relevant covering areas such as sales, marketing, product development, innovation, loyalty
The CAB manager is able to compare the results of the advisory board to non-advisory board members in terms of growth in annual customer spend, loyalty, satisfaction or other suitable metrics
The CAB manager can list deliverables created from the board or having board member input

13. WHAT NEXT…
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