have an even greater understanding of the value that our clients and their customers who participate in customer advisory boards gain from attending shorter, but more frequent virtual sessions.

I once considered January to be a sort of “regroup” month. I had some extra time to dig out from emails that I received during the holidays, look ahead to what was on the horizon for the coming weeks and plan accordingly. That was then and those were different, pre-pandemic times.

As we look to the dawn of a new day when people are vaccinated and COVID is not a daily worry, we ask ourselves – will we go back to an office to work? Will we ever be on planes as often as we were in 2019? Will we have Board meetings in person again?

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.

In a world that is full of tension and polarization, we look to our work to bring us salvation, sanity, and a sense of working toward a shared set of goals. We need to enter discussions willing to take feedback, and willing to be curious.

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.

We have all been affected by the COVID-19 health crisis. It has upended everyday life in ways that were previously unimaginable, and each of us has our own complex situation. What I’ve learned over the last month may have zero to do with customer advisory boards, but it’s still important as we all try to continue moving forward.

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.

In recent weeks and the health crisis that is COVID-19, the power of virtual meetings has never been so clear. Farland Group already uses virtual sessions to engage customer advisory board clients in-between the in-person meetings, and given the current environment, most (if not all) of our upcoming customer advisory board sessions are continuing on — in a virtual setting.