Comments on: 16 best practices for creating customer councils http://www.christopherakoch.com/2009/07/16-best-practices-for-creating-customer-councils/ Marketing and Sales Strategy for B2B Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:57:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Chris Koch http://www.christopherakoch.com/2009/07/16-best-practices-for-creating-customer-councils/comment-page-1/#comment-123 Chris Koch Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:03:14 +0000 http://chriskoch.wordpress.com/?p=141#comment-123 Very important addition, Eyal. Thanks. Very important addition, Eyal. Thanks.

]]> By: Eyal Danon http://www.christopherakoch.com/2009/07/16-best-practices-for-creating-customer-councils/comment-page-1/#comment-122 Eyal Danon Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:26:49 +0000 http://chriskoch.wordpress.com/?p=141#comment-122 Chris - thanks for coming up with this list. I would add that unless the CEO of the company that is sponsoring the CAB is truly committed over the long run, most companies just spend a lot of time and effort designing and creating an advisory board, just to find that there is no support at the top. By that time you have made some promises to your customers and that creates an unhealthy situation. So, make sure you have the "C level" green light before designing and running an advisory board! Best, Eyal Chris – thanks for coming up with this list. I would add that unless the CEO of the company that is sponsoring the CAB is truly committed over the long run, most companies just spend a lot of time and effort designing and creating an advisory board, just to find that there is no support at the top.

By that time you have made some promises to your customers and that creates an unhealthy situation.

So, make sure you have the “C level” green light before designing and running an advisory board!

Best,

Eyal

]]> By: Chris Koch http://www.christopherakoch.com/2009/07/16-best-practices-for-creating-customer-councils/comment-page-1/#comment-121 Chris Koch Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:09:49 +0000 http://chriskoch.wordpress.com/?p=141#comment-121 Great advice, Rob. Thanks. Great advice, Rob. Thanks.

]]> By: Rob Leavitt http://www.christopherakoch.com/2009/07/16-best-practices-for-creating-customer-councils/comment-page-1/#comment-124 Rob Leavitt Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:11:42 +0000 http://chriskoch.wordpress.com/?p=141#comment-124 Hi Chris -- great list here. What always surprises me, though, is the gap between theory and practice. Many of the companies I work with and talk to about councils "know" most of this, but rarely do they actually operate this way. Part of the problem is simply time: Doing councils the "right" way generally requires a substantial investment in time from a number of relatively senior folks, both to work with council members in an ongoing way (not just at meetings) and to work the resulting isight back through the organization. This often gets cut short. But another problem is conceptual. Getting truly strategic value from councils requires not only "no selling," as you say, but an even more fundamental shift in thinking toward genuine engagement on core market issues. Even when council managers resist the temptation to toot their own horn, they often keep the conversation on relatively tactical issues like current offerings and relationships rather than more forward looking dives into emerging issues and problems. Finally, there are still real issues around capturing and articulating the value the councils can bring; absent compelling measures (which do exist!), it's always hard to justify the full investment required to follow through on the best practices you've outlined. Maybe that's a subject for another post! Hi Chris — great list here. What always surprises me, though, is the gap between theory and practice. Many of the companies I work with and talk to about councils “know” most of this, but rarely do they actually operate this way.

Part of the problem is simply time: Doing councils the “right” way generally requires a substantial investment in time from a number of relatively senior folks, both to work with council members in an ongoing way (not just at meetings) and to work the resulting isight back through the organization. This often gets cut short.

But another problem is conceptual. Getting truly strategic value from councils requires not only “no selling,” as you say, but an even more fundamental shift in thinking toward genuine engagement on core market issues. Even when council managers resist the temptation to toot their own horn, they often keep the conversation on relatively tactical issues like current offerings and relationships rather than more forward looking dives into emerging issues and problems.

Finally, there are still real issues around capturing and articulating the value the councils can bring; absent compelling measures (which do exist!), it’s always hard to justify the full investment required to follow through on the best practices you’ve outlined. Maybe that’s a subject for another post!

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