Mar 18, 2022 · 25m · saastr
Building a Successful Customer Advisory Board in the Enterprise | Mapistry VP of Customer Experience
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Maya Colato, VP of Customer Experience at Mapistry, outlines a comprehensive framework for establishing, executing, and scaling an enterprise Customer Advisory Board (CAB). She details how cross-functional alignment, strategic recruitment, interactive meeting facilitation, and closed feedback loops transform customer insights into measurable product innovation and business growth.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
Jason as informed peer 0.0 Guest teaching 0.0 Guest disagreement 0.0 Jason pushing back 0.0
speaking balance: gold is Jason, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 0:52 Clarifying CAB boundaries
In a non-adversarial solo keynote, Maya firmly clarifies what a CAB is not, ruling out product focus groups or corporate boards of directors.
Hardest push from Jason ▶ 14:49 Audience agreement interjectionThe audience member provides a brief supportive confirmation during the presentation, representing the only conversational interjection.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 19:11 RFP strategy educationMaya presents an actionable case study on leveraging an active CAB to address complex enterprise RFP requirements.
Jason holds their own ▶ 22:15 Operational lesson on subcommittee designMaya demonstrates practical organizational expertise by explaining how client feedback forced a shift from industry-segmented to role-segmented subcommittees.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Jason as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Jason pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defining the Customer Advisory Board and Value Proposition | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | This is a solo presentation by Maya Colato outlining the definition, history, and strategic value of a Customer Advisory Board at Mapistry. With no host participation or pushback, the dynamic remains purely educational and collaborative. | |
| Building the Foundation: Internal Alignment and Budgeting | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Maya explains the importance of internal alignment across product, customer success, and marketing teams as well as budgeting for in-person events. The segment is delivered entirely as an instructional monologue. | |
| Drafting the CAB Charter and Value Incentives | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The speaker outlines the process of drafting a formal CAB charter and articulating mutual value incentives for enterprise customers. No host involvement or conflict is present. | |
| Candidate Selection and Executive Recruitment Strategies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Maya discusses member segmentation across industry and role, along with executive recruitment tactics. The segment proceeds as a structured, non-adversarial solo talk. | |
| Structuring and Executing High-Impact Quarterly Meetings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The presentation covers quarterly cadence planning, virtual breakout structures, and follow-through on past feedback. It remains an uninterrupted monologue. | |
| Meeting Dynamics, Open Discussion, and Post-Meeting Reflection | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Maya focuses on facilitating balanced room dynamics between introverted and extroverted attendees and conducting post-meeting retrospectives. The tone is practical and advisory. | |
| Realized Business Value and Enterprise Sales Impact | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The speaker demonstrates how CAB feedback influences product roadmaps, employee onboarding, and winning enterprise RFP bids. The monologue continues without interruption. | |
| Key Operational Lessons Learned and Structural Adjustments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Maya reviews operational adjustments including shifting subcommittees from industry-specific to role-based formats and lowering homework expectations. There is no host challenge or disagreement. | |
| Final Summary and Core Strategic Takeaways | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | The speaker concludes the presentation with four summary takeaways for building an effective CAB. The session closes cleanly with no debate. |
Statements from this episode (11)
Colato: Group customer forums reveal holistic feedback faster than one-on-one meetings
“At the end of the conference, we realized that the level of feedback was invaluable, because yes, of course, we were doing discussions one-on-one with our key customers, but those were really just puzzle pieces of the puzzle. This group dynamic allowed us to s…”
Mapistry launched its 2020 Customer Advisory Board with 27 members across two subcommittees
“Fast forwarding again to twenty-twenty, we had our first round of cab calls in Q-two. We ended up with two subcommittees, which I'll dive into how we were structuring that, with 27 members total, about half each of executive and practitioners, and a mix of ind…”
Colato: Mapistry reimbursed CAB travel costs without direct financial compensation
“In Mapistry, we wanted to do an in-person com, or in-person cab calls, but with COVID, obviously that didn't happen. We did have the discussion of, we weren't at a place where we can financially compensate folks for joining the cab. But we wanted to reimburse …”
Colato: Mixing legacy and new customers on advisory boards drives peer learning
“There is seriously some value by adding new customers to your cabs, too, because their experiences with your sales cycle, with your onboarding processes are fresh on their mind, and they'll be able to put that perspective into the mix. And one great, ah, value…”
Maya Colato: Limit Quarterly CAB Agendas to Maximum Two Themes
“So what you want to do is narrow it down to one, maybe two themes for each quarter, but make sure you're rotating these themes, so again, you can follow through with your objectives. I highly don't suggest going over two, just because you're diluting the infor…”
Colato: Mapistry runs internal retrospectives immediately after every CAB meeting
“Three ways that we've done that in our own practice is one, create retrospectives with your leadership team after every meeting. So after a cab call, bring together your internal, ah, stakeholders. Ask them questions like, what went well? What did you love? Wh…”
Mapistry uses recorded CAB calls to accelerate Account Executive onboarding
“When we hire a new AE, they have access to our recorded cab calls, and that allows them to learn very quickly how our customers are talking about us, how, ah, they make decision making, or how they make decisions to buy the software, and how they want to see u…”
Colato: CAB members carry vendor advocacy across job changes
“CAB is a great way to build customer advocates. Our CSMs saw these kinds of changes in the relationships and conversations that we were having with folks, and if folks jump from company to company, they'll be able to bring those stories with them and bring you…”
Colato: Mapistry leveraged its CAB in a Fortune 500 RFP response
“On the right hand side is a screenshot of an RFP from a recent Fortune 500, ah, deal, and in section 6.8, they asked how, how they can actively voice, participate, and influence the products that they were, ah, that they might buy. In our response, of course w…”
Structure Customer Advisory Boards by job role rather than industry
“The first was members value knowledge from diverse industries. So, I did mention before that we had two subcommittees. Originally, we structured them, ah, by industry type, but after the first round of calls, there are customers vocalize, like, yeah, I really …”
Colato: Continuously Pipeline Customer Advocates to Backfill CAB Attrition
“Lastly, ah, turnover, acquisitions, and churn affect attendance. So I'm sure you all understand what all those three terms mean, but what this alludes to is that when, if you've drafted out your key players once throughout the year, continue to build that list…”