As we at Farland Group gear up for the end of 2020, and prepare for customer advisory board meetings for 2021, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I would best describe this year in one word — adaptability.

Co-creation, brainstorming and an interactive give and take that occurs in a successful sales exchange is a very successful approach for presenting to a Customer Advisory Board. Here are tips of what works and doesn’t work in developing a powerful presentation to a Customer Advisory Board.  

Before COVID, we would often hear from business leaders about the challenges they faced surrounding talent and resources. Executives were seeking peer advice on how to invest in current employees to keep skills fresh and up to date. They wondered if new entrants in the market had the more creative, innovative skills needed. And, they wanted to understand the best way to reskill employees — through in-house training, external partners or a combination of both.

If you are looking to launch a virtual Customer Advisory Board here are five things to consider before you do so.

Country music has never been my thing. New age / pop country, maybe sort of, but music by the likes of Dolly Parton did not appeal to me. Simply put, it wasn’t relatable. However, that quickly changed when our Farland Group President, Jane Hiscock, mentioned a podcast about Dolly Parton (full disclosure she wasn’t a big Dolly fan before the Podcast either).

Our recent qualitative interviews for several upcoming Customer Advisory Boards indicate that C-level executives are looking for peer groups to share experiences with and engage in discussions about how to to move forward in the uncharted waters post COVID-19.

Meeting facilitators are critical assets for in-person and virtual board meetings. Farland Group has facilitated virtual sessions successfully with executive leaders for more than 10 years. Here are some tips on how to do it well.

As you look to what your priorities are for the future — whether for the rest of this year or next, or five years on the horizon, have you wondered whether you’re making the right decisions? Is your strategy for X, Y, Z sound, and if not, how should you tweak it? How can one gather outside perspectives, advice and feedback that are unbiased? Maybe, starting a customer advisory board is the right answer.

How organizations can help build a sustainable environment, and on a global scale, has been front and center over the last year. We see it on the news, when reading online content, and we hear it from clients in our work at Farland Group — sustainability has increasingly become a topic of interest for many on our customer advisory boards.

We hear about many different strategy areas and areas of investment from clients for the customer advisory boards and councils that we help facilitate at Farland Group.