Category: AR best practice

SageCircle defines “best practice” as the approach that is generally accepted. Superior alternatives that are not generally accepted are “leading-edge practice”, not “best practice”.

Involving the analysts – The need for early and often

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sagecircle-need-for-early-and-often-200w.pngToo often, communications and IT vendors wait until a few weeks prior to a major announcement to brief the analysts. This is a problematic practice for a number of reasons which we will investigate in future posts.  Perhaps the most important is that the advisory analysts are talking continuously to many people that fill many roles. When analyst relations (AR) teams are not involving the analysts early and often, the vendor is missing the opportunity to influence all these other people.Advisory analysts (i.e., analyst firms where enterprise IT managers are a major part of their client base) talk or interact with IT executives, IT buyers, financial analysts, reporters, vendors, bloggers and others. Concurrently, the analysts are preparing and giving speeches, writing research, conducting teleconferences and so on. All of these activities are intertwined and occur frequently (click on the graphic to enlarge). Without information from the vendor, analysts will not be able to […]

Analyst Hierarchy of Needs — Part two — Emphasis Changes Depending on the Situation

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hierarchy-by-professional-needs.jpg The SageCircle Hierarchy of Analyst Needs provides interesting insights into the professional and emotional needs of analysts (see Part one). What makes this model powerful is the application of the Hierarchy to specific relationships. In the graphic to the right we illustrate that the level of analyst (see Know your analyst – Novice, Luminary or Sage) can have a dramatic impact on their relative needs relative to the level of the pyramid of needs (see below).

The novice analyst typically is trying to get up-to-speed on his or her market coverage that encompasses a number of vendors. The novice usually has many questions, both basic and advanced, that they are desperately trying to get answered. As a consequence, their need for responsiveness and basic outreach is disproportionately larger than their need for personalized outreach or making an impact.

Contrast the novice’s needs profile with that of a sage analyst. The sage already has a […]

The value in the Analyst Relations Diagnostic™

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SageCircle AR DiagnosticOne of the SageTools that SageCircle has devoted a significant amount of effort in building is the Analyst Relations DiagnosticTM. It represents such a significant research investment and a major advancement in evaluating AR programs that we decided to trademark it. In addition, it’s one of the coolest tools this long-time analyst has seen.

The AR Diagnostic evolved as we worked to develop a systematic approach for evaluating AR programs. We had to balance gathering a comprehensive set of information with putting too much of a burden on the AR manager. In addition, the AR Diagnostic had to make analysis efficient while yielding insights that supported pragmatic recommendations. The approach selected uses text questions (e.g., AR goals for the year, concerns, executive perceptions) to gather overview information about the AR program and a detailed questionnaire that asks the respondent to answer “Yes”, “Somewhat” or “No” to statements.

SageCircle created this tool to permit quick data capture and automatically generate graphs (click on example to enlarge) showing where the AR program tracks against SageCircle’s AR Effectiveness Matrix. Using this tightly packaged information, the strategist can then create an individually tailored analysis and […]

Be Analyst Centric, not Company Centric

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One of the greatest failings of inexperienced AR teams, and occasionally even seasoned AR professionals is not focusing on the analyst needs.  In a recent post about the Analyst Hierarchy of Needs we explained some issues of content.  However, schedule is also a major consideration.  Too often the AR plan is driven in the same manner as PR – with a focus on the company events, announcements, and products.  Analysts live on a different timetable and are focused on clients, markets, and trends.  Their needs, for scheduled research documents, potential speaking events, and in responding to client inquiries are the driving forces – not your announcement timetable.

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As you develop your interaction calendar and plans for analyst contacts you need to focus on […]

Commenting on analyst blogs to build relationships with analysts on the cheap [Startup Saturday]

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rocket-for-startups.jpgOne of the challenges for startups is how to build relationships with analysts when they do not have a services contract. Because many analyst firms put the analysts behind a paywall, startups cannot call up the analyst for an ad hoc conversation. Yes, one can do some relationship building via briefings and informal interactions at events, but not having client inquiry takes an important tool out of the AR tool box. Luckily, there is a new avenue for building relationships without requiring client status and that is commenting on the analysts’ blogs.

More and more analysts are writing blogs, either directly tied to their firm or as a personal branding tool. In addition, savvy analysts are using their blogs as idea development platforms to incorporate a broader community into their research work. This increased usage provides a huge opportunity for startups – and any AR team – to develop top-of-mind presence […]

SageCircle’s “Analyst Hierarchy of Needs” – Part one

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SageCircle’s Analyst Hierarchy of NeedsWhy is it that some analysts are content with receiving a newsletter while other analysts always demand access to the vendor’s CEO? In this post we introduce a model that defines a hierarchy of analyst needs.  Application of the Hierarchy can help AR programs prioritize initiatives and focus communication and interaction strategies based on a new understanding of analyst motivations. In addition, the Hierarchy provides an essential component for manager and executive AR training as it explains the need for specific AR strategies and activities.

SageCircle developed the “SageCircle Hierarchy of Analyst Needs” after conducting literally thousands of industry analyst interactions, both surveys and interviews, while doing measurement engagements like the AR effectiveness study, spoken word audits and analyst conference surveys. Through pattern analysis, it became apparent that the analysts had common professional needs and expectations. By drawing parallels between Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and this similar observation about the analysts, we can better understand analyst behavior and AR programs can develop more effective strategies for managing and maintaining relationships.

Levels of the Hierarchy

The levels of the analyst needs pyramid (click on figure to enlarge) are, from lowest to highest,  […]

Potential analyst inquiry topics for IT and communications vendors

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icon-phone-headset.jpgSageCircle constantly recommends that communications and IT vendors take advantage of their inquiry privileges with analysts and actively work this activity into their interactions plan.  In last Saturday’s post (click here) we encouraged startups to use inquiry and suggested some techniques that are valid for all vendors.

Inquiries are a great way to stay “top of mind” with your key analysts between major events or announcements.  In addition, you can use inquiry to enhance the analyst relationship as long as you avoid idle chit-chat and ask questions of substance. 

Some potential topics that might be appropriate for a vendor inquiry with an analyst might include  […]

You could end up buried deep in the “Niche” by insisting on being added to a MQ before you are ready

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Niche = “Losers” on the Magic QuadrantGartner’s Magic Quadrant is probably the iconic piece of analyst research. With its visibility and status, it also has enormous influence on vendor sales opportunities, especially when it comes time for IT buyers to draw up the all-important vendor short lists.

Because of this influence on short lists, communications and IT vendor executives sometimes obsess over the “MQ” for their markets and put great pressure on their AR teams to get placement on MQs they are not on. This can actually be a counterproductive move because vendors who really should not be on a MQ will get stuck in the lower left hand corner (click on graphic to enlarge). Even thought this part of the MQ is labeled “Niche,” too many IT buyers translate that label into “Loser.” Getting perceived as a “Loser” can put a vendor’s sales at a disadvantage in trying to get into an opportunity because it is so much more difficult to explain away why you are not a “Loser.” than explaining why your company was not included on a version of a MQ.

Some Gartner analysts publicly admit that this mental relabeling occurs and try to mitigate […]