Don’t walk into Clearspire‘s D.C. headquarters and expect to be impressed. Spartan furnishings and a simple glass sign adorn the waiting room. You may not believe you are in the right place–the offices lack the posh trappings of an emerging law practice competing against the top 200 firms.

Yet they represent the [...]]]>

Don’t walk into Clearspire‘s D.C. headquarters and expect to be impressed. Spartan furnishings and a simple glass sign adorn the waiting room. You may not believe you are in the right place–the offices lack the posh trappings of an emerging law practice competing against the top 200 firms.

Yet they represent the new face of the legal profession. And they are winning global Fortune 500 clients by focusing not on the quality of their office trappings, but on the way in which they deliver and manage client engagements. Other B2B companies would be wise to learn how Clearspire is changing the client rules of engagement in a traditionally secretive, high touch, low-tech field.

Corporate counsel clients have the right to demand changes. Years after corporations have complained about billable hours and unnecessary fees, most law firms are still deploying industrial age business models to serve their clients. The “hours for dollars” approach to delivering knowledge work simply goes against the grain of delivering value. Professional services firms often promote rainmakers who bill the most hours.

Clients get the short end of the deal in this scenario. They are afraid to pick up the phone because the meter starts running in 1/10 hour increments.

In today’s flat world, pedigreed resumes and upscale, wood paneled offices no longer cement client relationships. Value does.

Let’s establish what I mean by value before we share some of Clearspire’s value secrets. In today’s business world, value is a by-product of several factors:  the perception of your brand, your ability to communicate your brand clearly and ethically, and how consistently your brand and delivery mechanisms align to ultimately create a positive client experience. Creating value is one part art, one part science. It takes a blend of great listening skills, the ability to think on your feet, and the courage to be provocative.

Clearspire is committed to creating more value, and putting an end to the law industry’s dysfunctional behavior. Furthermore, they have the technology and commitment to prove it. Co-founders Mark Cohen and Bryce Arrowood invested their own funds and 2 1/2 years of R&D to build a technology platform called CORAL.

Since they launched CORAL earlier this year, it delivers on these promises:

1. Fixed project fees, established in advance of the engagement–no billing surprises.
2. A highly secure technology platform to collaborate real time with clients and team members, post questions, review briefs, and more.
3. Clients receive a project plan that clearly outline how and when a client engagement will be completed.
4. Efficiency bonuses are shared equally with legal team members, the client, and Clearspire (the firm) when an engagement is completed ahead of schedule.
5. Clients are not subject to “fee padding” to support exhorbitant bricks and mortar offices.
6. Collaboration trumps hierarchy. Clearspire’s team members do not boast fancy, formal titles. Everyone is a partner.

As co-founder Bryce Arrowood puts it:

Over the last 100 years, the law firm business model was predicated on billable hours. We felt that there was an opportunity to take that model and turn it on its head by re-aligning the incentives of the lawyers who do the work, the law firm that provides the service, and the clients who consume the work.

Here are four Clearspire-inspired strategies that any B2B company can implement:

1. Align your proposals and engagements around a client initiative, not your deliverables and outputs.
2. Create services and deliverables that allow your client to re-use the content without re-engaging your firm. Inside CORAL, Clearspire provides client with templates they can re-use in the future.
3. Identify the thought leaders in your industry and educate them on your value-based model. Prior to launching CORAL, Arrowood and Cohen started working with the major legal thought leaders across IT, academia, and industry associations.
4. Look beyond your services offering to refine your value proposition. CORAL is the hub of Clearspire’s culture and value proposition, not their employees’ resumes and pedigrees or a fancy office.

The verdict has been reached: Antiquated “hours for dollars” business models deserve a life sentence. Clearspire’s solid defense team ensures corporate client budgets and relationships receive the protection they deserve.

Watch my interview with Bryce – 9 ½ minutes:

Click the image above or here to watch the video.

Lisa Nirell helps companies grow customer mind share and market share. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Sony, Wells Fargo Advisors, Adobe, Microsoft, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, FastCompany expert blogger, and author of the acclaimed EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company. Download your sample chapter and business energy booster survey at www.energizegrowth.com.

This post originally appeared on fastcompany.com.

[Image: Flickr user State Library of Victoria Collections]

copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Recently, on television, I caught an old episode of the All in the Family television comedy series. It’s still interesting to think about the iconic character, Archie Bunker, and his attitude toward race and social change.

My sentiments about Archie evolved over time. When I first learned of the concept for this situation [...]]]>

Recently, on television, I caught an old episode of the All in the Family television comedy series. It’s still interesting to think about the iconic character, Archie Bunker, and his attitude toward race and social change.

My sentiments about Archie evolved over time. When I first learned of the concept for this situation comedy, I agreed with observers who opined that it would trivialize the serious topic of racial prejudice and set back recently gained progress in the area of race relations. My initial viewing of the show affirmed my concerns.

For starters, the open expressions of prejudice angered and dismayed me. The idea that someone could build a “comedy” around behaviors and beliefs that had harmed so many was appalling. As the show matured, my anger evolved into a simmering resentment about the exploitation of such a serious issue. Yet, strangely, I continued to watch.

In spite of my initial anger and resentment, I eventually found myself viewing the show with almost no feelings. I simply watched as if I were an “objective” observer accepting what for many was an accurate portrayal of the American scene.

This acceptance mode gave way to a period in which I laughed heartily at Archie, sympathized with him or even empathized with his views; although, I in no way endorsed his thinking. Here is where I asked myself, “What’s going on? Why are you developing a strange fondness for this bigot?”

My appreciation for Archie has grown over the last few years, as I have continued to explore the nature of diversity and have gained – in my view – an enhanced understanding of Archie’s dynamics.

At a very fundamental level, Archie was a bigot. No doubt about it. But he was a different type of bigot. He did not emit the malice and hatred that I had come to associate with bigotry. Archie appeared to be a “benign” bigot who intended no harm to anyone. Perhaps Archie’s bigotry came across as less harmful because it was not confined to race alone, but ran the gamut of the human experience.

Indeed, Archie faced multiple challenges across a wide breadth of dimensions – race, gender, ethnicity, geographic origin, economic class, sexual orientation, age, and political affiliation, just to name some of the most frequently mentioned ones. Archie grappled with diversity and its inherent differences. He found it difficult to address mixtures characterized by differences and similarities. Hence, he was severely “diversity challenged.”

This state of being “diversity challenged” can exist independently of bigotry. One can be a bigot and not be “diversity challenged,” and one can be free of prejudice and still be “diversity challenged.” This offers one explanation as to why Archie’s prejudicial behavior projected little hatred or malice. His behavior was not driven by hate, but rather from the frustration of an inability to effectively address a growing number of diversity concerns.

At still another level, Archie struggled with change. He vehemently disliked change. In one episode, as Edith brought him a glass of beer, the following exchange occurred:

Archie: Why are you bringing me my beer in a glass? You lose so much to the air.

Edith: Archie, I thought it would be a nice change.

Archie: Well, remember this! I don’t like change!

This dislike for change came through loudly and clearly. “Those Were the Days” served as the comedy’s introductory theme music. Everyday, Archie came home at six, expecting his dinner on the table and nobody in his easy chair. In one episode, his daughter Gloria declared, “Daddy, I don’t want to end up like you and Mom. You do the same thing everyday!” But this predictability and lack of change constituted Archie’s very essence.

Norman Lear, the creator of All in the Family, once commented, “Many found Archie to be a despicable character. I did not. I saw him simply as a man struggling to deal with change.” In this context and in a time of rapid change, Archie’s prejudicial expressions conveyed little hate, because they were really cries for help from a proud and confused man.

So, what lessons can we learn from Archie Bunker in terms of race and racism? Certainly, the elimination or containment of prejudice alone will not be sufficient to bring substantial, sustainable progress in race relations. Archie’s problems with race grew out of his prejudices, his inability to deal with diversity in general, and his struggles in general with change. In other words, racism was not the only causal factor.

Any effort to enhance race relations must operate on at least three levels: (1) elimination/containment of bigotry, (2) expanded individual and societal capability for dealing with diversity, (3) and improved ability to accept and implement change. A most sobering and disturbing reality is that our society and corporate America have for the last forty years or so focused primarily only on the first level. We still have a long way to go.

In this context of multiple causes, we must exercise care in diagnosing and interpreting racial incidents. For example, in analyzing corporate racial conflicts, care must be taken to determine the principal cause of the dynamics, such as racism itself, inadequate diversity management, and/or an inability to deal with change. Effective remedies require accurate diagnosis.

To say that more than bigotry can undergird poor race relations does not minimize prejudices or the need to contain them. The point is that other dynamics can be in play.

The notion of multiple causation has helped me understand why I was laughing at Archie. I laughed not at his bigotry, but rather at that part of him struggling with diversity and change. In my view, many of us share with Archie these diversity and change struggles independent of any prejudices we may have.

Finally, obsession with racism can blind us to other situational dynamics. Over the years, I have read much commentary about All in the Family, but I have never seen it discussed from the perspective of dealing with change, or even from the perspective of Archie’s struggles. Instead, the focus has centered on his bigotry.

The lessons above suggest that improving race relations is much more complex than we earlier assumed. Continual progress will require that we broaden our perspective about the multifaceted and often emotionally provocative issues concerning race, diversity, and change.

Dr. R. Roosevelt Thomas, Jr., is the CEO of Roosevelt Thomas Consulting & Training (RTCT) and the founder of the American Institute for Managing Diversity. He has been at the forefront of developing and implementing innovative concepts and strategies for maximizing organizational and individual potential through Diversity Management. He is the author of Building a House for Diversity; Beyond Race and Gender; Redefining Diversity; and Building on the Promise of Diversity.

I met Shane, a dubiously anointed “star salesperson,” on a client assignment in San Diego. He piloted the biggest customers. When I worked [...]]]> When your biggest customer calls with an emergency request, do you dial 911? Chances are you are setting off unintended fire alarms – and causing your profits to lose altitude.

I met Shane, a dubiously anointed “star salesperson,” on a client assignment in San Diego. He piloted the biggest customers. When I worked with the General Manager of this $40M software division—his boss—I noticed how Shane could turn the entire support and customer service organization into a tailspin with one email. I cringed when I witnessed how his knee-jerk reactions drove adrenaline levels to an all-time high. Things became so heated that the CEO ultimately reassigned him to another division. In fact, he committed an even greater sin: he promoted him to VP of Sales.

Over the years, Shane’s General Manager was equally to blame. He fostered a customer-driven culture. And, as a B2B business leader, you may be unconsciously acting the same way. This behavior is guaranteed to stall your growth and burn out your best people.

First, let’s draw a distinct line between customer-focused and customer-driven cultures.  Think of customer-driven companies as those firms who will go the extra mile for every customer, no matter how large or small. They allocate their best resources to every account. And the founders probably invest at least half of their time with customers. Read on for a more exhaustive list.

Conversely, customer-centric companies put customer needs (latent and overt) front and center when making important growth decisions—not all decisions. They treat clients in accordance with their values. But they are unwilling to sacrifice their relationships and principles to make one more sale.

Contrary to common wisdom, every B2B firm is not in the customer service business. My auto mechanic is. And guess what? If they mess up my new Audi SUV, I will complain and find another one.

Here are common traits of client-driven cultures. If more than three ring true for you, it may be time to re-visit your true purpose and ways of operating:

• Your clients comprise most of your social circle.
• At least 20% of your revenue is derived from one large client.
• You deploy an arbitrary resource allocation process.
• Your delivery resources are at every beck and call of the sales organization. This encourages artificial “rush” jobs accepted and done at the expense of Developing.
• Principals are deeply involved in delivering service and making sales calls. Every project is unique because clients demand changes, solutions, and change orders—at no extra charge.
• You encourage personal boundary “erosion.” After-hours calls and pages are worn like a badge of honor. Your team cannot enjoy a meal without their smart phones beside them to harass their dining companions. If your sales, marketing, and support people are encouraging your clients to call them on a 24 x 7 basis, and they sleep with their smart phone at bedside, then you are a client-driven culture (not to mention dysfunctional. Would you want to be married to that person?)
• Suit vs. creative mentality. According to David Baker, founder of Recourses and author of Managing Right the First Time, “’Suit’ is shorthand for account executives. In a business that’s focused too much on saying ‘yes’ to clients, they often make promises that the creative types or technicians have to fulfill, cleaning up after the suits.” This will kill profits and morale in a heartbeat.

Imagine if my local airport – Washington National– were run this way. Any self-appointed “important person” would fight to control their own runway. The gates would admit passengers on a first come, first served basis. Air traffic control would be rendered useless. The inmates would indeed be running the asylum.

Shane cannot be trusted roaming the airport terminal without adult supervision. Nor are your teams if you have given them carte blanche to rule the airways with customer driven behaviors. Act now before the controllers (your customers) go on strike.

Lisa Nirell helps companies grow customer mind share and market share. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Zappos, BMC Software, Adobe, Microsoft, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, FastCompany expert blogger, and author of the acclaimed “EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.” Download your sample chapter and business energy booster survey at www.energizegrowth.com.

[Image: Flickr user Ed Yourdon]

This post originally appeared on fastcompany.com.

Copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Mike, a 20-year veteran of organizational development and nationally-known executive coach, shared [...]]]> As I sat across the City Club table from Mike (whose name was changed to protect his identity), I realized the economic recovery was not yet in full swing. And the stress and strain of just making a living is affecting experts at all levels.

Mike, a 20-year veteran of organizational development and nationally-known executive coach, shared the current state of his business. I set the meeting because a mutual friend suggested we connect. As a perennial connector, I wanted to know how I could support his company’s growth. I asked him what kind of ideal client he was seeking. Mike’s response surprised me.

“Any company who will hire me.”

Really?

Mike was more stressed about his future prospects than I expected. Here’s a top notch business advisor with a established D.C. following who is lamenting the challenges of marketing in this economy. How is he coping? He is taking on government contracts at a low hourly fee. He regularly donates his keynote speeches and seminars to trade associations in hopes they will someday compensate him for his time. He’s still waiting. Sadly, he has reverted to the “hours for dollars” model that I vehemently oppose.

The pressures of coping with today’s mercurial economy has not averted professional services firms and B2B companies (except for the remoras who have attached themselves to speedboats such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Twitter).

Riding out the recession will take more than a good product or service and a relentless commitment to marketing. It’s going to take intestinal fortitude. Here are some approaches that my best clients have taken to achieve all three:

1. Develop a written bridge plan to eliminate less than ideal clients.

Mike would serve himself well by developing a small network of less seasoned, high potential coaches and referring his clients to them while seeking out projects that bring out his gifts and talents. A conceptual bridge plan doesn’t count and seldom gets implemented. Activate your brain by documenting your plan and share it with trusted colleagues.

2. Find your center. Meditate.

My friend Steve, a brilliant 35 year business veteran and two-time CEO, meditates daily with a long hike in nature. I joined a year long mindfulness meditation group with Jonathan Faust in Washington, D.C., a city I affectionately call “the capital of human suffering.” Practice yoga. Even ten minutes a day will make a difference in how you cope with the global gravitas that surrounds us.In challenging times, over-achievers tend to over-invest in over-doing. Balance out those tendencies with some over-being time.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Administration has invested in a number of mindfulness programs to help thousands of veterans suffering from PTSD. If Western bureaucracies the size of the DVA are willing to try new modalities, why can’t you?

3. Get serious about referrals.

I am amazed by the number of seasoned executives who are afraid or ashamed to ask for them. Your clients WANT you to succeed. My recent survey of 100 business owners revealed that one of their top three challenges is generating more referral business. Nearly one-third indicated this was a serious concern. Don’t let this issue persist. Develop an outreach program to thank your past clients for their support and faith in your company’s abilities. Contact at least three clients a week. Prior to speaking with them, research their LinkedIn connections and volunteer affiliations. Then ask them for very specific introductions. Set a specific time to follow up within two weeks. This will ensure they make the promised introductions. Rinse and repeat.

Breakfast with Mike gave me a wake-up call. Let’s hope these business recovery accelerators shield you from self-proclaimed sugary social media panaceas and empty marketing calories.

Lisa Nirell helps companies grow customer mind share and market share. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Zappos, BMC Software, Adobe, Microsoft, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, FastCompany expert blogger, and author of the acclaimed EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company. Download your sample chapter and business energy booster survey at www.energizegrowth.com.

Copyright 2010, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

[Image: Google PicassaWeb]

Jim Bampos, VP of Customer Quality at EMC Corporation, was one of [...]]]> When you can attribute a 20% revenue gain to a customer centric culture or program, you get noticed. And that’s exactly what happened to several Voice of the Customer thought leaders during the annual Allegiance Engage Summit 2011 in Deer Valley, Utah.

Jim Bampos, VP of Customer Quality at EMC Corporation, was one of the show stealers–and for good reason. Unlike many companies who talk a good game about putting customers first, EMC can prove it.

EMC dances on the leading edge of the Voice of the Customer (VoC) movement.

Click here to watch the 7 minute Jim Bampos EMC interview.

VoC programs emerged from the market research milieu. This term describes the in-depth process of capturing a customer’s expectations, preferences and aversions. Specifically, VoC systems produce a detailed set of customer wants and needs and prioritizes them in terms of relative importance and satisfaction with current alternatives. Highly evolved VOC program leaders also analyze and act upon free form customer comments from multiple sources, including call centers, salespeople, Twitter, etc.

VoC solution providers such as Allegiance, based in South Jordan, Utah, have flourished in response to the VoC movement. EMC became one of their early adopters out of necessity.

Although EMC was enjoying double digit growth, it was facing intense competition. They needed to think differently about the customer experience. Says Bampos, “We really did not understand the full customer life cycle from the time that they were made aware of our solutions to the end of life of our products. The professional services organization was the first to launch a pilot VOC program to bridge the gaps between the customers and the internal support organization.”

EMC’s VoC pilot program gained traction within two years. Since launching the VOC program, they have witnessed a 30 point Net Promoter Score improvement and over 20% revenue increase–representing hundreds of millions of top line revenue.

Other competitive industries are following suit. During her Summit keynote presentation, Bonny Simi of JetBlue also shared details about their Voice of the Customer program. “Our mission is to bring humanity back to travel. How can you know how you are doing without asking your customers?” Simi, an accomplished business strategist, Olympian and airline captain, described their palpable two year VOC journey. Simi and her team juggle 50,000 survey responses per month and 1.6 million Twitter followers. Gathering and analyzing customer data is a small piece of the VoC puzzle. She spends a great deal of time demonstrating the value and ROI of their program, as well as gaining sponsors across departments and locations.

Click here to watch the 5 minute Bonny Simi JetBlue interview.

The right survey tools can help smooth out the VoC journey, but should not precede solid branding, a customer-obsessed culture, and strong executive sponsorship. Bruce Temkin, founder of Temkin Group in Boston Massachusetts, emphasizes that companies need to master four customer experience competencies in order to become truly customer-centric: purposeful leadership, compelling brand Values, employee engagement, and customer connectedness. Temkin posits that “It turns out that companies are only as strong as their weakest link. VoC Programs are often an important tool in building the Customer Connectedness competency. We recently had more than 200 large companies complete our competency assessment and only 3% ended up at the highest level of customer experience management maturity, what we call a Customer-Centric Organization.”

After spending three days with over 300 VoC zealots, these statistics do not surprise me. The majority of companies attending the Engage Summit are still in the early stages of determining the ideal data collection and validation methods. VoC leaders still spend most of their time discussing the right listening posts, choosing the questions to ask, and debating ideal metrics to use.

Clearly, most B2B companies have a long way to go towards becoming truly customer-centric. Allegiance is clever enough to create an annual event that attracts fervent customer evangelists–half of whom are not yet their customers–to accelerate industry adoption.

If your company is considering a VoC program launch, beware of the rush to select a technology solution. First, invest the time in defining the purpose of your program. Executive support will take time. Tell people why you are embarking on the program, and how you will use the customer data once you have collected it. VoC programs typically provide these benefits:

1. A detailed understanding of the customer’s requirements
2. A common language for the sales, marketing and product development teams going forward
3. Valuable, real time input to set appropriate design specifications for the new product or service
4. A springboard for innovation.

VoC evangelists Bonny Simi and Jim Bampos have their work cut out for them. With only two years of VoC under their belts, the journey ahead will be met with some resistance. Let’s hope they focus their energies on the art of enchantment and influence, and leave the community building and tool making to market leaders such as Allegiance.

Lisa Nirell is the “Chief Energy Officer” of EnergizeGrowth® LLC. She advises B2B companies who aspire to create sustainable companies by attracting great customers.  Companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Wells Fargo Advisors, and dozens of mid-market companies have worked with Lisa to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.  Visit www.energizegrowth.com and http://blog.energizegrowth.com to assess your company’s readiness to grow by downloading your complimentary Wealthy Company Scorecard.
Copyright 2010, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

The EnergizeGrowth® Plan Review Process will help.  I have led [...]]]>

In my previous post, I shared the most common obstacles to implementing your business development and growth plans.  Now that you have identified these saboteurs, and you have chosen to rally your most trusted advisors to keep you on track, how will you use their time wisely?

The EnergizeGrowth® Plan Review Process will help.  I have led over 100 plan reviews in the past decade using this approach.  Benefits far outweigh the time and effort you will invest. For example, teams have discovered vulnerabilities in their plans that they otherwise would have entirely missed. Within just a short time, the process gives you a holistic view of the company’s growth potential from the perspective of customers, adversaries, and senior management.

View and download the EnergizeGrowth® Plan Review Process by clicking here.

Business growth reviews take discipline–and they can also be highly rewarding.  This process removes some of the fear and mystery.  Let me know how yours progresses and post your comments here.

[Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net]

[This post originally appeared in FastCompany.]

Copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Lisa Nirell is the Chief Energy Officer of EnergizeGrowth®. She helps companies grow customer mind share and market share. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Trend Micro, Zappos, BMC Software, Microsoft, IBM, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, business columnist and the author of “EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.” To download your five complimentary educational bonuses and sample chapter, visit www.energizegrowth.com and register for EnergizeNews.

Launching and implementing your growth plan entails risks.  Plans often expose underlying conflicts within the organization. It may disrupt the status quo, the ways decisions are made, and strain [...]]]> As you approach the end of the first quarter of 2011, your growth plan and marketing activities are well underway.  How will you keep them fresh and relevant?

Launching and implementing your growth plan entails risks.  Plans often expose underlying conflicts within the organization. It may disrupt the status quo, the ways decisions are made, and strain the most established relationships among key players. How can you prevent current operating norms and B.S. (Belief Systems) from dictating, derailing, or delaying your growth plan?

The first step is to understand the main causes of plan derailment. Here are the most 9 common ones that I have observed over the past two decades:

1. Lack of communication — The plan doesn’t get communicated to employees or allies who keep on working in the dark.
2. Mired in the day-to-day — Managers consumed by daily operating problems lose sight of long-term goals. Today’s technical outage, employee resignation, or client emergency will happen. The question is: how well are you structured to delegate some of these emergencies to others who can handle them?
3. Out of the ordinary – The plan is treated as something separate and removed from the management process.
4. People perceive vision, mission and value statements as fluff. How did that limiting belief become part of your company culture?
5. The plan is reviewed too infrequently to stay relevant. If you are relying on one annual retreat to review your plan, you might as well not have one. It has already become obsolete.
6. Conducting business as usual after a live planning meeting. How often have you seen teams leave a planning session and quietly comment about “getting back to normal again?”
7. Failing to make the tough choices. A solid, well thought out plan will reveal deficiencies in your team, your marketing plan, your funding, or your capacity. Are you ready to fill those gaps and relieve people who are a poor fit in the new organization? Or, do you tend to hope they will leave on their own accord? Will you need to meet with your banker and request a higher line of credit?  These are challenges you must confront, not ignore.
8. Lacking a scoreboard: Are you measuring what’s easy, or what is important?
9. Neglecting to benchmark your company against the competition. Remember that your biggest competitors may include Inertia, Inc. and Not Invented Here.

You can overcome these common planning mishaps.

For best results, regularly share the strategic plan with other stakeholders like investors, customers, alliance partners, etc. An “open book” approach will likely generate more helpful ideas and suggestions about the future of your business.In our next post, I will show you a process to guide the reviews and turbo-charge your teams.

[Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net]

[This post originally appeared in FastCompany.]

Copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Lisa Nirell is the Chief Energy Officer of EnergizeGrowth®. She helps companies grow customer mind share and market share. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Trend Micro, Zappos, BMC Software, Microsoft, IBM, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, business columnist and the author of “EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.” To download your five complimentary educational bonuses and sample chapter, visit www.energizegrowth.com and register for EnergizeNews.

During my interviews with advisory board experts and over two dozen B2B firms, I discovered nine strategies for designing an effective CAB. Many of [...]]]> Our previous post outlined the essential definition and purpose of a customer advisory board (CAB). If you are embarking on this effort, be prepared for the potential to generate breakthroughs you never imagined.

During my interviews with advisory board experts and over two dozen B2B firms, I discovered nine strategies for designing an effective CAB. Many of them shared some impressive ROI from their program. These strategies will give you a foundation for success and will minimize time-wasting planning activities.

1.    Define the purpose of your CAB. As stated earlier, do not confuse a CAB with a focus group, product user group, one time symposium, or client recognition event. According to Simon Angove, CEO of GMT Corporation, “Our advisory board has four key goals. First, we want to get our clients involved in early release programs so they can act as references when the product is released. Second, our board formally influences our products’ strategic direction. The result is a better quality product that is field-proven. Additionally, the board members act as ‘trusted advisors’ s on how GMT can act on key trends. Finally, the board provides a formal channel through which customers can share best practices and offer advice.” It’s no accident that GMT has boasted a 95 percent client retention rate over the past five years.

2.    Create a written profile of the ideal CAB member. Keep your executive team at bay, and do not invite anyone until the profile is documented. For example, do you want them to be influential industry pundits? Are they passionate about some aspect of your business, such as employee development and retention, marketing, or federal tax laws? If you strictly invite your biggest clients or industry celebrities, you may later be thrust in an uncomfortable position to fire that member.

3.    Give yourself ample time to recruit members. Bob Arciniaga, founder of Advisory Board Architects, asserts that “most people don’t understand that building an advisory board is going to take 150 hours and 4-6 months to identify and recruit members.”  Provide member candidates ample time to consider your invitation; with their busy schedules, they may need at least a month.

4.    Establish clear expectations with potential new members. A minimum of five days’ effort per year is a common time requirement. Much like a board of directors, your CAB needs time to prepare for meetings, contribute to the agenda, and reach out to other members for input.

5.    Keep the group small and intimate. Among the twenty-eight B2B companies I interviewed, those with longstanding, highly collaborative groups averaged six to fifteen members. When groups expand beyond that size, they are forced to divide the group into special interest areas, and managing discussions can become unwieldy.

6.    Mix it up. C olin Gounden, President and Chief Marketing Officer of Integreon, hosts a board which comprises an equal number of existing clients, top-tier clients, and a few prospects. The group also includes one or two industry thought leaders and executive board members. He has found that a variety of backgrounds creates a draw.

7.    Address the compensation issue early. At a minimum, plan on covering out-of-town members’ travel and living expenses. If they are locally based, provide a modest but memorable event at an upscale location. As a special bonus, consider donating fees to their favorite charity. Some firms deduct their advisory board fee (typically $500-$1,000) from a future engagement or product invoice.

8.    Develop a written advisory board member agreement. This should include an indemnification clause that holds members harmless from any damages, losses, suits, and fines against your firm. The agreement should also stipulate time expectations and grounds for termination. I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. Consult your legal team to generate a simple, straightforward agreement.

9.    Stay fluid. Since every CAB has a shelf life, be prepared to replace up to a third of your members every year. You will achieve milestones that your group helped you reach. As your company reaches the next level of growth, naturally seek out different talent. Ask your group to recommend new members. Their willingness to help is a clear sign that you have succeeded with your CAB.

Bob Arciniaga, founder of Advisory Board Architects, comments that “most B2B and professional services firms (e.g., legal, financial, engineering, staffing, architecture, etc.) can be helped by a CAB, as their businesses are highly competitive and commoditized with few differentiating factors between them. Having a group helps a firm understand how it can better market, price and service those clients to meet their exact needs while expanding its market penetration. In these challenging economic times, who couldn’t benefit from this type of business intelligence?”

I couldn’t agree more.

[Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net]

[This post originally appeared in FastCompany.]

Copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Lisa Nirell is the Chief Energy Officer of EnergizeGrowth®. She helps companies increase their wealth, improve their performance and attract great clients. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Trend Micro, Zappos, BMC Software, Microsoft, IBM, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, business columnist and the author of “EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.” To download your five complimentary educational bonuses and sample chapter, visit www.energizegrowth.com and register for EnergizeNews.

If you were the VP of Marketing of an Atlanta-based technology firm three years ago, chances are you were not having fun.

Jill, the VP, was working diligently in her office one day when the CEO walked in to pay a visit. The CEO, Don, proudly announced that he was ready to fund a customer advisory board [...]]]>

If you were the VP of Marketing of an Atlanta-based technology firm three years ago, chances are you were not having fun.

Jill, the VP, was working diligently in her office one day when the CEO walked in to pay a visit. The CEO, Don, proudly announced that he was ready to fund a customer advisory board (CAB). The company just recently received a hefty VC financial boost, and the CAB would help them grow faster.

Or so he hoped.

Don hand-picked the members he wanted to invite–over 30 individuals–and Jill had no say in the group nominees. Over a two year period, the CAB experienced sixty % turnover. Group members were tired being used primarily as a test bed for new innovations. The CAB disbanded with little fanfare.

When I recently interviewed more than 30 B2B companies with CAB experiences, similar debacles were reported more often than you would think.

What is a CAB?

If you are considering building a CAB program for your organization, tread carefully. Begin first with understanding its true purpose.

A CAB is defined as an ongoing customer membership program. Ideally, it contains fewer than 16 members. Well designed programs help B2B companies:

• Refine and validate strategic plans.
• Radically improve customer service.
• Uncover new product and service opportunities and ideas.
• Deepen customer relationships.
• Provide value added, confidential discussion forums for customers and industry allies.

Here is what a CAB is NOT. It is not a collection of hand-picked friends and diehard fans who will perpetuate groupthink.

The Purpose of a Customer Advisory Board

Customer advisory boards differ from focus groups, impersonal satisfaction surveys or celebratory recognition events. They are infinitely better than relying exclusively on your sales team to report second hand information. Most importantly, they serve to create a long-term, collaborative container for deepening your customer relationships and community impact.

While researching companies who deploy CABs, we found that their sponsor companies had several common traits:

• They are sincerely growth-oriented.
• They believe in gathering unfiltered feedback to refine their future plans and services.
• They are passionate about developing trusted advisor relationships with senior decision makers and industry influencers–and making a difference.
• They need to adapt quickly to industry and regulatory shifts to ensure continuity.
• They are action-oriented, and are willing to implement actions that advisors recommend.

If these traits describe your firm, you may just be well-positioned to build a strong CAB program. In our next article, we will discuss nine strategies to design an effective Customer Advisory Board and myriad examples of companies with high performing boards.

Until then, keep your office door closed and your CEO distracted.

[Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net]

[This post originally appeared in FastCompany.]

Copyright 2011, Lisa Nirell. All rights reserved.

Lisa Nirell is the Chief Energy Officer of EnergizeGrowth®. She helps companies increase their wealth, improve their performance and attract great clients. Since 1983, Lisa has worked with Trend Micro, Zappos, BMC Software, Microsoft, IBM, and hundreds of entrepreneurs in nine countries. Lisa is also an award-winning expert speaker, business columnist and the author of “EnergizeGrowth® NOW: The Marketing Guide to a Wealthy Company.” To download your five complimentary educational bonuses and sample chapter, visit www.energizegrowth.com and register for EnergizeNews.