Prior to the meeting, your team will have worked with each board member to identify targets of opportunity. It will be important that each member be involved in targeting at least one major source of business by the time the first meeting occurs.
OK, John – we’re almost done – thanks for hanging in. An Advisory Board normally meets four times a year. Two of the meetings are face-to-face – with one of them coinciding with the company’s annual strategic planning retreat and the other occurring six months later. The other two meetings are normally teleconferences. But most of the work of the board is done via direct contact between individual members and the company’s senior team – that means you and your most senior associates. Work, sometimes on a daily basis, with individual members to target, pursue and capture significant revenue opportunities will be your principal focus with the board. From our experience, you might end up spending as much as half to two-thirds of your time working with an active Advisory Board. The percentages will be higher for your senior business development team members.
While you and your team will be working with board members, I will be managing the Board. We will continually assess Member’s productivity, search for new members, advise you on the expansion of the Board and on a whole range of other issues. We will facilitate meetings and conduct debriefings with each board member.
Well John, that’s it in a nutshell. Take some time and think on it. Visit my website and read the articles posted there. And, when you are ready, let’s schedule a meeting at the Rocket Science office to answer any questions and decide if we are going to do this.
Summary
So John leaves with lots to think about and probably a decision to re-read the book and some of the articles on the website. His senior team will probably be introduced to the idea of an Advisory Board and receive reading assignments as well. Time will tell what he decides.
My experience is that one in three decides, after such a lunch, to begin immediate discussions about having me build it a board. Of the other two, half come back within six to nine months for the same purpose. In a serious way the process filters out those who would not make good candidates. Not bad for a pleasant lunch!
But the one or two that do are in for an amazing ride to a new future for their company.
© Dr. Earl R. Smith II
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Related Articles:
- Amazing Pace: Turbo-Charged Business Development
- Turbo-Charging Business Development
- Advisory Boards as Business Development Engines – The Beginnings
- Dysfunctional Advisory Boards – A Family of Problems
- Five Reasons Why Business Development Is So Difficult To Get Right
- Seven Reasons Why Advisory Boards Don’t Produce
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