Professionally Speaking

by David Kliman, CMP

Originally published in The Meeting Professional - April 2003

Successful organizations routinely solicit, respect and act upon the opinions of their customers. They employ various strategies to ascertain their customers' needs and desires and, in turn, their business soars.

Customer advisory boards represent one particularly effective approach to achieving this goal. Since the 1980s, I have served on customer advisory boards for several major and niche meeting and travel industry organizations. These groups reviewed and provided strategic feedback to the organizations regarding their sales, marketing and operational plans.

I've served on advisory boards charged with reviewing everything from new wine selections (that was fun) to development and renovation plans involving multimillion-dollar budgets (also very interesting). Customers convene with architects and designers, chefs and food and beverage executives, trainers, housekeepers and virtually everyone else involved in the selling, marketing, financing or operation of a hospitality company.

Of course, boards like these are not limited to the meeting industry. Savvy organizations in a myriad of business sectors convene such groups because they realize that understanding their customers is essential to serving their needs better than the competition does.

Members of advisory boards are not paid for their service or time (although their travel, lodging and meal expenses are often covered by host organizations), but they do get a huge return on their time investment through networking opportunities with industry leaders, valuable education and industry exposure. In short, these boards are classic win-win propositions for panel members and the organizations they advise.

Much has changed since I began working in this business in the late 1970s. The notion of lifetime account management and employment is far-fetched in today's economic climate. Unchanged, however, is the concept that excellent client relationship managers embrace every tool at their disposal. By understanding their customers' hearts and minds, companies have a better chance at developing lasting, profitable accounts.

Consider these tips to revealing the "voice" of your customer:

• Create meaningful client relationships that enhance customer loyalty. When strong business alliances are established, customers become a powerful, ad-hoc sales and marketing force. Focus on ways to nurture and build these relationships.
  

• Improve the leverage of sales, marketing and operations planning and spending. Develop a relevant sample of your target audience and use them as a sounding board to preview, critique and modify sales, marketing and operational plans. If you're a planner, seek out companies that not only want and value your business, but also respect and act on your feedback.
  

• Reveal new revenue opportunities and allow your customers to drive remarkable ideas. Clients' ideas are excellent catalysts for creating market-centric, customer-focused innovations that may facilitate new revenue streams and operational efficiencies for your organization.

Strategically linking customer feedback to critical company plans and processes is simply smart business. Rest assured that if you don't do it, your competition will.