As a card-carrying research nerd, I am a big proponent of gathering “voice of the customer” data, and using it to optimize marketing activities and supporting operations.
Many companies, however, do not have a research budget. Establishing a board of advisers is a great low-cost alternative.
You don’t need to be a large corporation to recruit a board of advisers. I’m not referring to a traditional board of industry and business experts; rather, an advisory board of key customers.
The purpose of having a board of advisers is to give your best customers an opportunity to share their preferences, perceptions and suggestions.
Recruit 12 to 15 customers for a term of one or two years… staggering terms will ensure continuity. Not every customer adviser will be able to attend every meeting, so you’ll want a large enough group to account for a 75 percent attendance level. It is also good to switch out board members to keep them from getting burned out, and to glean fresh input and ideas.
Your board of advisers should meet two to four times a year. Depending on whether you are a business selling to consumers or selling to businesses, you would conduct lunch or dinner time meetings. Consumers usually prefer evenings, and business customers typically prefer daytime meetings.
You will also want to offer an appropriate incentive, such as free or discounted products and services. We have a Bay Area client who holds two board meetings per year at destination locations like Las Vegas. They pay for their advisers’ airfare and hotel, which is an ample recruiting incentive — in fact, it has become a coveted position.
It is best to have different agendas (or conversations) to accomplish different objectives for each meeting.
You can use your board of advisers meetings to learn about how customers experience your products, services and people.
These adviser meetings are also great opportunities to share new ideas about your products and promotion.
I’ve facilitated board of advisers meetings where customers determined new product attributes, and even product names. You can also run advertising concepts and promotion ideas past your advisers to get their feedback.
Think about how your business can make the best use of an advisory board; then recruit a diverse group you feel will represent your customer base. Don’t just recruit a fan club; rather, go after the customer segment that you want to replicate.
There is no better way to understand how customers experience your brand than to ask them. Anything you do to enhance your customers’ experience usually results in higher customer satisfaction, loyalty and referrals.
The key to success is acting on the input of your customer advisers…and doing so will likely boost your business.
Andrew Ballard is the president of Marketing Solutions. For more information, call 425-337-1100 or go to www.mktg-solutions.com
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