Last year, Intuit Mailchimp launched its inaugural Customer Advisory Board (CAB), an assembly of high-interest customers and partners that meets regularly to discuss how various Mailchimp initiatives impact the user experience, and the inaugural 11-member board spent 2022 pushing us to be better. This year, Mailchimp is proud to reaffirm our commitment to this initiative and announce the 2023 Customer Advisory Board, a group of new and returning members from 16 organizations that will continue to weave the customer perspective into Mailchimp's bright future.
CAB representatives span a wide range of industries, business sizes, and locations, and their contributions reflect many different backgrounds, specialties, and experiences. What these customers and partners share in common, though, is a knack for tackling complex, evolving problems that could be indicative of larger trends for Mailchimp’s own wide-ranging customer base.
"We're very intentional with how we recruit those customers to ensure we get a diverse group of voices at the table," says Erika Putinsky, Vice President of Customer Education. "That's when the richness really starts to bubble up, not only for us as we explore improving the product, but also for the customers and partners. They're hearing how somebody else does it, hearing a new vision or approach."
On the customer side, this year the CAB welcomed Becca Nelson and Laura Santiago of The Produce Box, Madi Mullen of Libro.fm, Regan Bercher of The Gathering Spot, Andrea Mathee of Network For Animals, Phillippe Tardif-Michaud and Alexa Polichronis of Moving Waldo, Richard Howeson and Charlotte Donnelly of uTalk, Caitlyn Shaw of Gear Patrol, Clara Martinez of Civitatis, and Eduardo Rocha Abichequer of Yuool.
Representing the Mailchimp Partners on this year’s board are PJ Simmons of Whiteboard, Sam Insalaco of theBREWROOM, Claire Witz of Claire Witz, Lauren Oliver of StrategiQ, Javier Moral of Disruptivos, Néstor Tejero Bermejo of Agencia Reinicia, and Minaz Noormohamad of Wired Messenger.
At the first CAB meetup, which took place virtually in March, these CAB members shared a granular view of the unique challenges that come with scaling a business, digging into the products and implementation aids that might move the needle for their companies or their clients. Members also spoke directly with Mailchimp Chief Executive Officer Rania Succar, Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Taite, and Chief Product & Design Officer Jon Fasoli, as well as other Mailchimp leaders. Conversations between customers and executives have become the norm at CAB’s quarterly meet-ups—one of several benefits offered to this group of influential users.
"It’s always been really important to us that this board benefits both Mailchimp and the CAB members themselves,” explains Putinsky. “It shouldn’t be all about continually taking—beta this, demo that, ‘tell me what you think.’ What we're trying to do is to give these customers something in return."
This month, the team builds on that idea with Mailchimp’s first-ever in-person Customer Advisory Board meetup at the company’s Atlanta headquarters. Over 2 days, members from around the world will gather for workshops, panel discussions, and social events that continue to foster innovation, improvement, and trust. In true Mailchimp fashion, there will be some fun along the way—and, Putinsky hopes, ample opportunity for CAB members to forge connections with each other.
"I'm just as excited about side conversations that will happen between sessions or standing in line for a cocktail," says Putinsky. "We've got people moving, people interacting in-person. That's where we get that opportunity to really hear their dreams or find common ground."
Each year, Mailchimp assembles a new board in order to gather fresh, diverse insight for continuous growth. CAB is a one-year commitment, and customers who are interested in next year’s CAB recruitment process can reach out to cab@mailchimp.com for more details.