Hi! đ Apologies for the delay, technology betrayed me once again!
Welcome to the next episode of The CMA Newsletter where 300 marketers get better at building Customer Marketing programs and strengthening relationships with their customers in less than 5 minutes.
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Hope you enjoyed Part 1 on CABs! We left off with the invites. I will be going into both in-person and virtual event planning in this episode.
In-Person
To date, I have always picked hotels for my CABs or attach to a user conference. The energy at conferences is typically high and really ideal for conducting these types of gatherings. Think about it, all of your customers are together in one place. Why wouldnât you take advantage of Customer Advisory Boards; video testimonials; executive lunches; roadmap sessions?
While registrations are trickling in, I highly recommend ordering your customized items as soon as possible. This includes gifts, notepads, pens, tablecloths with branding, and signage (order one generic Customer Advisory Board sign that you can use for every event and one that mentions the location with arrows pointing the way).Â
To keep me organized, I created this checklist for hotel events:
[Â ] Space (table/chair rentals)
[Â ] Food (& COFFEE!)
[Â ] Internet
[Â ] Branded Signage (in lobby & outside of door)
[Â ] Projector (laptop, slides, activities)
[ ] White Board or Super Sticky Easel Pad
[Â ] Branded Notepad/Pens
[Â ] Printed Agenda
[Â ] Branded Decor (if not branded, Amazon for colored linens)
[Â ] Exclusive Customer Gifts
[Â ] Printed Name Tags
[Â ] Centerpieces (Trader Joe's <-- click the link to see the latest flowers for the month)
I have never received a massive budget for these events so I bring a lot of my own stuff. (Name tags, agenda, flowers, table linens)
**Lesson Learned** As soon as the customer confirms, ask them about their dietary restrictions so you can accommodate. I thought of everything (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, etc) until a customer asked me if there was alcohol in the dessert. Some religions do not allow the consumption of alcohol. The particular dessert I chose, Chocolate Anise Pot de Crème, has 3 tablespoons of Sambuca. Who knew?
Another lesson, donât assume internet access is free. The space I secured was, at first glance, pretty reasonable. But things started to quickly add up. I was shocked when they charged $30 PER PERSON for internet. If you have 20 customers and 5 internal folks thats an extra $750 for INTERNET ACCESS!
**Lesson Learned** If you are doing it at a conference, I was thinking that I was being nice by having it start at 9 a.m.âseeing as I planned it for the last day. That way, I figured, our customers could sleep in and not rush. Turns out they were ready to start their day at 8:00 a.m. and were waiting around for the event to start. I was actually embarrassed!
There is just something so special about in person events that I miss so much. If it is your first one, consider hiring a videographer to create a sizzle reel. Here is the one I made. This gets people pumped about the next event!
Virtual Event
Ugh Virtual CABs⌠Snooze! Kiiiiiiding đ¤Ł
So I call my CABs - âCustomer Advisory Breakfastsâ. Still a CAB but doesnât give off the vibe that they have to commit to being on a board.
Letâs start with invites:
Now I love me a good ol fashion direct mail piece as the invite! Here is what I sent (sticking with the breakfast theme):
THE SEND
Ember Mug
Branded bag of Coffee
Paddle for Auction
Notecard
Custom Box
Paddle for an auction?! What the?
Yes, I hired a real life auctioneer! So after the roadmap discussion, I had him auction off those features we just went through to be built the following quarter. Everyone loved him! His name is Frank Bizarro and he killed it! Feel free to contact him. He is very inexpensive and the activity was so full of energy and humor. Here is a video clip of him doing the auction.
I believe the paddle evoked intrigue and was responsible for my 90% attendance rate. They wanted to attend just to see that the hell we were going to do with that paddle.
Itâs important to have an activity at both in person and virtual CABs but keeping up the energy virtually can be tough. (Call Frank đ)
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Equally as important is to have customer speakers who are seeing ROI with your platform, as well as advocates who recently finished beta testing a new feature. Some customers will join just to hear those testimonials alone.
I keep my virtual events 75-90 minutes. Here was the agenda for this particular CAB with Frank.
AGENDA
I like to end the event with a special announcement. Iâve done the launch of a new advocate program, a community launch, referral program, etc. Lastly, I usually present them eGifts for attending or a credit to a virtual swag store to pick out a gift of their choice.
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Crap, Iâve run out of time again. See you next week for metrics & follow up as well as that CAB program brief you can clone!
Jump to Part 3 here!