From 90 Minutes to Strategic Infrastructure: How One Advisory Engagement Became Many

When organizations think about customer engagement, they often start with an event.

A meeting.

A panel.

A workshop.

But the best engagements don’t end when the session does.

They evolve.

The Initial Ask: Make 90 Minutes Matter

The And Group was brought in to support GHX at a loyalty program open-house event. The objective was clear:

Engage top customers to inform new solutions for lowering medical-surgical cost-to-serve between Providers and Suppliers — trading partners operating at the heart of the healthcare supply chain.

The guardrails were equally clear:

• Keep participants focused and productive

• Deliver meaningful insight in just two 90-minute sessions

• Ensure attendees felt the time was well spent

No pressure.

Within two weeks, we designed and facilitated two structured sessions:

• A 30-minute grounding panel to frame the issue and align perspectives

• Followed by small-group moderated discussions to generate ideas

• Culminating in large-group report-outs to surface patterns and shared priorities

The outcome?

• Above-average session ratings

• 30+ use case ideas generated

• 8 moved forward into development

On paper, it was a successful event.

In reality, it became something much bigger.

What Actually Happened

Something important shifted in that room.

Participants felt heard.The client saw firsthand how structured, well-facilitated dialogue could surface not just ideas — but alignment. And leadership realized that this wasn’t just about gathering input.

It was about designing a mechanism for ongoing strategic clarity. Shortly thereafter, The And Group was asked to extend our work.

Not for another event.

But to help build a series of constituent advisory boards.

From Event to Ecosystem: Expanding Advisory Engagement

We began facilitating advisory sessions across multiple stakeholder groups — thought leaders representing:

• Clinical responsibility

• Financial leadership

• Operational execution

Each group viewed the healthcare ecosystem through a different lens. Each had distinct priorities, constraints, and incentives.

By structuring advisory conversations within and across these constituencies, the client gained:

• Clearer insight into systemic friction points

• Deeper understanding of where value was created — and eroded

• Sharper articulation of their role at the center of the healthcare ecosystem

This wasn’t just feedback. It was strategy refinement through structured collaboration.

Why This Worked

Three principles made the difference:

1. Design for Mutual Value

Participants must benefit from the engagement — not just the company. When advisory boards feel like a transaction, they stall. When they feel like a partnership, they thrive.

2. Structure Drives Insight

Open conversation alone does not produce clarity. Thoughtful session architecture — stimulus, framing, facilitation — ensures energy translates into outcomes.

3. Continuity Beats Events

A single session surfaces ideas. An advisory structure builds shared understanding over time. The most effective organizations treat advisory boards not as meetings — but as strategic infrastructure.

The Broader Lesson

Customer Advisory Boards are not about optics. They are about disciplined listening.

They are about creating a forum where complexity can be surfaced and worked through — across clinical, financial, and operational realities.

And when done well, they do more than generate ideas.

They clarify identity.

They sharpen value propositions.

They align ecosystems.

That’s when advisory engagement stops being an initiative — and starts becoming a competitive advantage.

What started as 90 minutes became a multi-year strategic infrastructure for one of healthcare's most complex supply chain ecosystems. That didn't happen by accident — it happened by design.

The AND Group brings the structured facilitation, constituent expertise, and program architecture to turn a single engagement into something that compounds over time. Whether you're starting with one meeting or ready to build a full advisory ecosystem, we know how to make the first conversation worth having — and how to make it the first of many.

Your best customers are ready to tell you something important. The question is whether you have the right structure to hear it, act on it, and build on it. Let's talk about what's possible. Schedule a consultation with The AND Group today.