Avaya, spun off from Lucent Technologies in 2000, faced a dilemma that often strikes technology firms as they hit their stride: Many of its customers were making the shift from commodity buyers of telephone equipment to strategic buyers of communications solutions. With nearly 1 million customers worldwide, including most of the Fortune 500, Avaya found itself with many strategic buyers, yet few truly strategic customer relationships.

To build deep and meaningful relationships with executive buyers and influencers, the company stepped out of its product- and technology-centered comfort zone and launched a ground-breaking customer council program for the senior-most executives of Avaya’s most strategic customers.

This ITSMA Case Study explores the genesis of the program, outlines the core principles that guided the creation of Avaya’s councils, and highlights the impact they have had on the organization’s thought leadership, solution development, and sales.

Key takeaways include:

• Executive-level customer relationships can provide critical insight into the larger marketplace during times of rapid transition.
• Fostering many-to-many interactions among peers in a council setting can take customers out of the sales cycle, magnify the impact of executive-level relationships, and create meaningful dialogue about customers’ fundamental business challenges.
• Third-party guidance and support to maximize professionalism, ensure objectivity, and foster trust with customers can contribute substantially to council success.
• Leveraging the insight and impact of customer councils across the entire customer base—and the organization itself—requires an integrated approach involving thought leadership, broad programs for executive relationship management, and focused dialogue with sales, R&D, and other internal audiences.