Leaving a PAC with a plan is great, but failing to follow up is a loss. AchieveUnite has formed PAC communities that are actively bridging the gap between an in-person or hybrid advisory council event and actual, pen-to-paper follow-up actions. Hosted on a regular cadence, driven by expert facilitation, and injected with industry thought leadership- we’re connecting partners and vendors to drive Partner Lifetime Value®.
As the post-pandemic world becomes more of a reality, people are eager to travel, meet, and re-connect. The human element has been lacking for well over a year, and with proper safety measures, Advisory Councils are once again an “in-person” event. This presents an opportunity to create a fun gathering where people re-kindle friendships, create new connections, and share elusive and candid conversations. Viewed from the lens of a vendor who wants to take a stand on building communities, advisory councils create a foundation for business outcomes. Fostering this environment requires adherence to the five tenants of a successful Advisory Council.
1. Prepare – Seemingly obvious, yet brimming with potentially costly miss-steps, the preparation phase digs into the details and establishes partner priorities. Not calibrating your message, agenda, and speakers to partners will infallibly create a bad experience. Advisory councils are about the partners, not the vendor.
2. Drive – Driving an advisory council, a breakout session, or any meeting in between is critical to avoid rabbit holes. Third-party facilitation naturally breaks this cycle, as the neutral 3rd party can always jump in, course correct, and move the agenda forward.
3. Listen – It is all about the partner here. The partners in the room are not random; they are the most strategic in your portfolio. Their initiatives, feedback, business plans, and routes to market are true gold and should be nurtured and harvested after the event concludes.
4. Make it Fun – It is not quite a party, yet an advisory council ought to come close to that feeling. Especially in person, making it fun is fundamental to building the relationships that drive mutually beneficial outcomes.
5. Follow Up – The step most often missed, following up, is where actual change occurs. Listening is critical but avoiding the question, “now what?”, creates a cycle of partner frustration. All too often, we have heard partners say, “we talked about this at last year’s PAC, and nothing happened.” Visionary changes established at a PAC are too often lost between an advisory meeting and the never-ending fountain of “day of” business needs – deal escalations, channel conflict, product launches, program changes, and the rest – all drive decidedly necessary noise into the cycle. Backed by a guiding principle of “listening” to partners, we are finding significant demand to close this divide between advisory council meetings.
It’s time to take a fresh look at partner listening discipline, ensuring advisory councils aren’t a one and done event.
AchieveUnite works with companies to develop Partner Advisory Councils and overall listening programs. When you entrust AchieveUnite to facilitate your programs, we advocate for your organization, position the company as flexible and best in class, and help increase the level of authentic value-based conversations between you and your partners, especially in a virtual video-based setting. Reach out to us today to learn more!
