Volume 1: Is your Company Ready?

Written for senior executives, Volume 1: Is Your Company Ready? is a quick read sharing how innovative companies are using advisory boards to validate their business strategies, connect with their best companies, and sustain their competitive advantage.

Volume 1 assists leaders in assessing their company’s organizational, operational, and cultural readiness of embracing a CAB. CABs are not appropriate for all companies. This booklet tells you what to look for. In addition, you’ll find a case study on how one CEO hardwired his CAB into his annual planning process, thereby ensuring the questions he asks customers are relevant to the business decisions he and his team need to make. You’ll find answers to many of your CAB questions here.

Table of contents include:

1. Is your company ready for a CAB?
2. The CAB and the “Voice of the Customer” model
3. Using the CAB to tune your strategic direction
4. Top 10 List: an executive’s guide for what you need to know about CABs

Volume 2: How to Execute a World-class CAB meeting

Volume 2: How to Execute a World-class CAB Meeting is written for first-time CAB managers and those who want to hone their advisory board skills. This is the operations manual dedicated to your success. It comes complete with timelines, case studies, techniques, and templates that you can put to immediate use.

This is the operations manual I wish I had 15 years ago when I was tasked with running my first CAB meeting. My success would not have been possible without the coaching and expertise offered by many of today’s best CAB leaders. CAB advocates from Aspect, AT&T, Citrix, HP, Oracle, NFI, Rackspace, Siemens, Wells Fargo, and many others helped me bring these pages to life.

Table of contents include:

1. Countdown to a CAB (a timeline for implementation)
2. Selecting customers
3. The invitation process
4. Selecting the venue
5. Building the agenda
6. Preparing content
7. What to expect from your facilitator
8. Information capture & dissemination
9. Setting a budget
10. Ground rules for employees
11. Frequently asked questions

CAB Checklist

A CAB expert can help you get the most out of your CAB program and every meeting. However, not all facilitators are alike. Ultimately, your decision on who to partner with should be based on your specific interests and business requirements. If you decide to outsource this function or run it yourself, this checklist will help you deliver a winning CAB experience.