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B2BStrategy5 min read
The customer advisory board that earns its name
Most customer advisory boards are quarterly thank-you dinners. The few that work are uncomfortable — for the company.
A customer advisory board is supposed to give the company hard-to-get feedback from buyers who care. In practice, most CABs become a relationship-building event where the company shows off, the customers nod politely, and nobody walks away changed.
What makes a real CAB
- Customers who are willing to disagree publicly, not just praise privately.
- An agenda built around their problems, not your roadmap.
- Visible follow-through — last meeting's feedback shapes this meeting's update.
- A small enough room that the conversation is real, not performative.
If you're not nervous, it's a dinner
A good CAB makes the company uncomfortable. If you leave feeling validated rather than challenged, the room was politely letting you down easy. The point of the format is to hear what your internal feedback channels won't tell you.
A customer advisory board that only flatters you is a list of references, not a board.