When our founder, Tim Miles, wrote an article recently with 21 points of advice for small business owners, he suggested forming a customer advisory board. Why not regularly invite some of your customers to give you unfiltered feedback about what you could be doing better?
Hearing directly from your customers on a regular basis in a meaningful way helps your business succeed. A heightened awareness of problems that your customers have and questions they are asking is essential to that success, and an advisory board can be the link you need to that success-essential information.
1. An advisory board promotes good will by involving members of your community. I asked a good friend of mine about her experience serving on a high school advisory board for a local department store. She pointed out that the store became known as a business that cared about young people. By involving high school students in an advisory capacity, store management helped these young women gain confidence and acquire business skills at a critical time in their lives.
2. An advisory board is most successful when that board has a specific assignment. My friend enjoyed her involvement because the mission of the board was clear: to learn about the retail business, to be educated about product lines, to promote the store, to provide feedback to buyers and to have fun. Be sure to delineate exactly what you want your advisory board to do.
3. An advisory board is only effective if management is willing to act on their recommendations. As my friend says, “If you ask your customers to be on an advisory board, make sure you have real work for them to do, and be prepared to hear their opinion, and if needed, act on it.”
How will you gather these valued advisors? Using your social media, customer email list, customer clubs, or walk-ins, there are different ways to form an advisory board:
Formal – Ask those interested to fill out an application, give a brief phone interview and follow up with a formal invitation to join or a polite letter of decline. Have a detailed agenda and a calendar of meetings set for the year ahead.
Informal – set a time and invite a bunch of interested people to join you for a meeting or meal. Let the group determine the agenda and set their next meeting time.
Only you can determine which method (or a combination of the two) will work for your business and your customers. When choosing advisors, look for qualities that match your goals and values, and for individuals who will speak truth into your process.
- If you want advisors that will learn more about your type of business, look for curiosity and entrepreneurial interest.
- If you want advisors that will give feedback about product lines, look for passion and communication skills.
- If you want advisors to promote your business, look for networkers with effusive personalities.
- If you want your advisory board to be fun, look for people you like.
- If you want your advisory board to be effective, look for a few of each personality type mentioned above.
Consider forming an advisory group for your small business. An advisory board can help you create good will for your community, help your business grow, and just might be the link you need for connecting more deeply with your customers in the year ahead.
For further consideration, check out these articles:
Why You Need A Customer Advisory Board from Huff Post
8 Steps to Creating an Effective Advisory Board from Entrepreneur
How To Assemble an Advisory Board from Inc. Magazine