Pick One Area to Focus on for the Rest of 2021

Let’s pause for a moment. It’s mid-November, some of the major holidays are coming at us full force and you think your work is (sort of) winding down…. well, not quite! If you are like us at Farland Group, we’re already in the midst of planning for customer advisory board meetings taking place in 2022. And with only 6 weeks left in this year, if you had to pick one area to focus on, what would that be? My advice — aside from identifying future meeting dates, gathering input on meeting agenda topics for next year, and the usual housekeeping items — my top priority would be membership and recruiting. We know that establishing a customer advisory board recruiting pipeline is critical to keeping board membership consistent and stable; a pipeline enables you to easily track status throughout the year and send out new invitations on an as-needed basis. We also know that keeping your eye on membership and recruiting throughout the year is essential because executives and roles constantly turn over, especially given the impact COVID has had on resources over the last two years.

With that said, now is a good time to revisit that recruiting pipeline. There may be potential board members who previously declined invitations due to time constraints…or maybe you recently sent an invitation and have yet to receive a response — in either scenario, you have the opportunity to follow up and close the loop. Who knows — maybe you’ll add a new member just before you close out 2021!

As you think about what needs to be completed before year’s end, I urge you to reassess your customer advisory board membership. Do your due diligence now — close those loops on outstanding items related to recruiting and gather and vet a short list of potential new members to add. Doing this before the end of 2021 will help set up your customer advisory board in the best position possible for 2022 when it comes to membership and recruiting.