In the first part of our three-part interview with Dave Eckert, he outlined the foundations for the sales enablement of analyst relations. In this article, he outlines what AR must and must not do, as well as brutal truths about how to gain the resources needed. What analyst relations must provide to sales We’re going[…]
After getting sales enablement basics in place, we want to win some sponsorship. The first thing we need to do is to find somebody in sales who can really help us out. What we’re looking for is someone who can educate you on how the sales team works. You can plant some seeds that talk[…]
Dave Eckert, who led the SageCircle analyst relations consultancy, is one of the most experienced veterans of the analyst relations community. His work helped SageCircle stand head and shoulders above other firms on issues of sales enablement. Duncan Chapple had the chance to interview him. In the first of three SageTalk posts based on that interview,[…]
On March 3rd 2014, Kea Company announced its purchase of SageCircle. It’s great news for the analyst relations profession. We are excited that Dave Eckert will be joining our advisory board, and look forward to Kea’s role in developing SageCircle’s contribution. The press release explains that SageCircle has developed an immense reputation: “The integration of[…]
Focusing on the IT analyst business, its beginnings and weaknesses in the original model bringing technology and business together over the course of the last 20 years. Panelists: Jonathan Yarmis with Gideon Gartner and Carter Lusher Click here or on the graphic to play the video sagecircle.com
Software vendor ZL Technologies has sued Gartner, Inc. about the impact of the firm’s research on its business (see the court documents on its website). Needless to say, this has gotten the attention of twits and bloggers. Here are two example blog posts
There are legitimate criticisms about any particular firm’s research methodology, whether a standalone piece of research or a recurring research deliverable like IDC’s market share models or Aberdeen Axis. SageCircle, vendors, and others have certainly given Gartner suggestions for improving the Magic Quadrant in private meetings, on blog posts, and in public forums like the Gartner Quarterly AR Call. And to be fair, Gartner has tweaked its methodology a little for the Magic Quadrant over the years, but probably more in response to the Forrester Wave than what they hear from the vendors.
There is also the issue that many technology buyers who use the Magic Quadrant as an input to decision making do not know how to […]
One of the continuing myths in the IT industry is that Gartner demands payment from vendors for placement on its research. This even came up in a comment – anonymously posted of course – on a blog post written by Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst Tom Bittman (bio, blog, Twitter) called A Rant – My Integrity as an Analyst.
SageCircle knows this is not the case from personal experience, but also because we get collaborating evidence from our clients. Just last week we were on an inquiry with a client, a small software company, who was included on a Magic Quadrant in the Visionary square months before they even considered signing up for a Gartner contract. The reason for the inquiry with SageCircle? In the draft update of the Magic Quadrant their dot had moved to the left. Yikes. However, the reason for the less favorable position had nothing to do with their client status or the size of their contract. Rather it was because they had not noticed that the lead author on the Magic Quadrant had changed. Once we figured this out, they understood that their problem was that they had never briefed the new analyst.
We also know of large vendors who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with Gartner year in and year out only never to get onto a Magic Quadrant on which they wanted to be included.
However, in the past it has also been true that some unscrupulous Gartner sales representatives have played the research placement card when they desperately needed to […]
This post is one in a series of case studies on analyst relations teams have worked with their sales colleagues to grow the company’s top line. Readers that have AR-sales stories they would like to turn into case studies are encouraged to contact SageCircle. We will do the work of creating a case study at no charge.
About the Company: The IT vendor in this case is a multi-billion dollar server and storage hardware company that sells to large enterprises with a direct sales force. The analyst relations (AR) team consists of one director and three AR managers. There is a formal but early stage AR-Sales Partnership program in place.
Situation: This project was kicked off by an email from a sale representative to the analyst relations (AR) lead on the AR-Sales Partnership program requesting assistance. The email read in part:
“…IT shops in large healthcare organizations are very project driven. They get funding for special projects, approved by the Board of Directors, which are unpredictable at best. …
Recently, we were approached by <prospect> to provide a hardware quote for about $1.2Million of servers and storage. They have been tasked to present the platform solution to the <prospect> Board of Directors and one of the issues they need to address is server and storage life cycle. In support of their ROI analysis they needed an unbiased 3rd party statement on server refresh. That is where this request is coming from. …”
Action: The AR manager worked with the sales representative to arrange an inquiry with an advisory analyst to discuss server refresh decision methodology and how to create a business case to present to the Board of Directors. The steps that AR took were: […]
