Advisory board helps firm focus.

Does the idea of a customer advisory board sound reasonable for your company? It did to Bill Capraro, president of telecom firm CIMCO Communications Inc., and he says the idea has been a boon to the business.

Capraro says the 18-year-old firm, which has just under 3,000 customers and focuses on services like outsourced voice and data management, instituted the customer advisory board (CAB) concept a couple of years ago on the suggestion from a vice president of marketing. The board currently has 12 members, with four rotating off each year and four new members coming on; it meets quarterly at the company's Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., headquarters.

Capraro says he and several other management representatives attend each meeting, which lasts several hours and includes a dinner. CAB members aren't paid, and some come "a good distance," he says. "They see a lot of value in it because we really take to heart what they tell us.

"The simplicity of the board concept is what makes it work," Capraro adds. "We don't want to overburden them or give people responsibility. It's easy to get to, and they get to share ideas."

Capraro says that CIMCO invites a guest speaker to educate the advisory board on a subject after getting a consensus beforehand on an appropriate topic. The meetings put CIMCO in a position to pick up intelligence on developments it might not know about. "New things always happening, and no one knows better than the customer what's out there," he says.

So, how has the CAB helped? "We changed our brand--it was outdated and didn't represent the company," he says. "The CAB helped with that. When we rolled out a new Internet product, we got development help from them. They helped us determine features, service levels, etc."