This article comes from Crystal Anderson’s talk, ‘Let's give them something to talk about: Creating a white-glove CAB experience’, at our 2023 Las Vegas Customer Marketing Summit, check out her full unedited presentation here!
Have you ever rushed to pull together a customer event, only to have it flop? Been there, done that!
As the Director of Customer Marketing at SheerID, I've planned, hosted, and followed up on countless in-person and virtual customer advisory board (CAB) events over the last few years.
Through both major successes and a few missteps along the way, I've been able to learn quite a bit about how to create memorable, impactful CAB experiences that customers couldn't stop raving about.
So today, I want to share some of my top tips for planning, executing, and following up on CABs. Giving you my best advice on everything from securing buy-in and choosing locations, to crafting agendas and follow ups that drive major outcomes.
Are you ready to become a CAB pro? Great, then let's dive in! 👇
- Why CAB events are worth the investment
- How to craft a successful CAB strategy
- The secret recipe for elevated CAB experiences
- Executing an amazing event
- Following up for maximum business impact
- Key takeaways to make your next CAB shine
Why CAB events are worth the investment
I won't pretend that planning CABs are easy. It takes many months of preparation, late nights and weekends, and a heck of a lot of coffee!
But the effort pays off in terms of deeper customer connections and insights that directly inform our strategy. Here are a few of the key benefits we see:
Validating plans and priorities
Nothing beats getting candid feedback directly from customers on what's working - and what's not. We shape our roadmap around their needs and pain points.
Increasing executive face-time
I'll never forget the shock I felt reading a Harvard Business Review study finding only 3-10% of CEOs regularly engage with customers. Our CAB events aim to help close that gap.
When customers get 1:1 time with our executives, it makes them feel valued. Plus - it helps our leaders make better decisions with customer perspectives top of mind.
Strengthening relationships
One of my favorite CAB moments was seeing two of our top customers, Princess Cruise Lines and Sleep Number, hit it off and explore the opportunity for a potential partnership on onboard amenities.
That never would’ve happened without our CAB bringing them together!
This strengthening of relationships is crucial, because you're building advocates and about 80% of your advocates will then increase their opportunities with you, whether that's an upsell or renewal.
Reducing churn
We also use our CABs to get ahead of potential churn risks. Feedback might reveal a customer success gap we weren't aware of, and so, by being proactive, we've saved accounts that otherwise might have left.
Clearly, CAB events deliver tremendous strategic value. But you have to lay the proper groundwork. Let me walk you through it.
How to craft a successful CAB strategy
You might be tempted to jump straight into date-picking and swag-ordering. But slow down! Building the right CAB strategy is absolutely essential.
Here are some of the key elements our team makes sure to address:
🎯 Getting cross-department buy–in
I make sure to sit down early with sales, customer success, product marketing, and our CEO to understand their goals for the CAB. Where can it make the biggest difference?
Getting their input and aligning your objectives upfront prevents conflicts down the road.
💵 Setting your budget
Will you host a virtual or in-person event? What types of activities or collateral do you want?
I map out costs early and get approvals before going too far down the planning road.
📝 Defining guidelines
- We created a CAB guidebook that covers things like: Target outcomes, criteria for selecting members, logistics methodology, and guiding principles.
- It's a great reference as we build agendas and recruit advisors.
🗓️ Building your timeline
- CAB planning is not for the faint of heart! I try to start 6-9 months out. Key milestones include recruiting, nominating members, sending invites, and completing prep work.
- Make sure to move fast on the logistics that vendors require - things like securing venues and room blocks.
🌎 Picking your location strategically
- One time, we hosted a CAB in Savannah and made sure it aligned with the Savannah jazz festival. It gave attendees something fun to do together after hours, on top of our agenda.
- Always have a Plan B location or virtual option too - I've had to make last-minute changes before, so make sure you’re able to pivot!
With your strategy set, let's talk about elevating the experience.
The secret recipe for elevated CAB experiences
You've put in the work to craft a solid CAB strategy and agenda. Time to focus on the details that take your event from good to extraordinary.
Here are some of my top tips:
Curation of your guest list
I like to keep a running list of potential members all year and our account managers and CSMs nominate engaged, outspoken customers continuously.
By always having a fresh roster of candidates, I don't have to scramble when planning season hits.
Creative, personalized invitations
Formal invites, I love this one, it's very hands on so you can be creative with it! We like to do ‘save the dates’, direct mail packages, and we also like to put in swag that fits the theme.
So for an event in Austin, we put a speaker in there, since Austin is all about the music, and we put earplugs in from one of our customers, Loop earplugs. We like to showcase brands that we work with, just to further emphasize the value of our customers to us.
We also get our executives to make personal outreach calls to top prospects. It makes a huge difference when the CMO calls them directly!
An customer-focused agenda
We interview attendees in advance to understand their priorities and build the agenda around them, so they understand the value they’ll be getting by attending the event.
We ask them what they want to learn about to ensure the agenda is customer-focused and so at least 80% of content ends up coming from customers, not our internal team.
Facilitation that fosters engagement
There’s a huge variety of facilitation techniques, ranging from breakout sessions to talks by external thought leaders, so you should make sure these choices are also customer-focused.
Sessions should be engaging, interactive and where customers can solve problems together and outside perspectives are provided.
Balanced mix of attendees
I'm careful to limit internal staff and keep our employee-to-customer ratio around 20/80, you never want too many cooks in the kitchen! We're there to learn from the customers' wisdom.
Okay, now you've got your plans and preparation in place. Here's how to flawlessly execute the big day.
Executing an amazing CAB event
After months of planning, it's finally CAB time! Here are some tactics I use to take our events to the next level:
White-Glove welcome experience
If you don't have a dedicated travel agency, I would highly suggest creating a custom travel itinerary that includes the hotel and flights - I also like to put the weather in there too!
It’s the simple touches that matter the most, I make sure to also confirm what networking events that they're going to be at, their dietary restrictions, even their T-shirt size, and when you send that out customers are always so thankful.
Icebreaker opportunities
I always organize a casual pre-event dinner or happy hour before things begin. Guests start connecting right away and they're much more comfortable collaborating the next day.
Ongoing Ways to Socialize
Add on activities. This could be anything from yoga in the morning or a run depending on how active your customers are!
Another popular one is professional headshots. A lot of the executives I've found have out of date headshots, because they just don't have time to take it. So have a photographer there and let them get hands on!
Dedicated handlers
I assign each guest a "handler" who helps personalize their experience, answers questions, and introduces them around, making profile sheets to push strategic conversations.
The real work takes place after the CAB wraps up though - follow up is crucial!
Following up for maximum business impact
After an amazing CAB experience, you have fresh momentum with engaged customers. Capture it through strategic follow up:
💌 Thank you notes - Right after the event, send quick appreciation emails. Handwritten notes delivered to their hotel rooms also go the extra mile.
📋 Document your learnings - Within a week, I send recaps highlighting key takeaways, feedback, and ideas. These then guide our plans moving forward.
📈 Map product improvements - I catalog feedback on where we should improve or enhance our products and share it with our development team, s we can create concrete roadmaps.
📣 Report back to CAB members - A few months later, I host a webinar just for our CAB members where I recap insights gained and walk through action plans they directly influenced.
Key takeaways to make your next CAB shine
After executing countless customer advisory boards, I've learned more than a few lessons about what works. Here are my top three tips:
- Listen and learn from customers - CAB feedback is a gift. Use it to validate plans and meet customer needs better.
- Forge trusted partnerships - Building relationships should be the priority. Revenue will follow.
- Stay nimble - Expect that plans will change. Be ready to adapt quickly and creatively.
The bottom line is commitment. When you invest wholeheartedly in your Customer Advisory Board, it will pay dividends for your business and customer relationships.
I hope these tips help you plan your own CABs that consistently wow your valued customers! Happy planning!
