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”.

To boost credibility vendors should use candor about the risks with their products / services / markets

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Candor is an important tool for vendors to use when talking with industry analysts because it builds credibility and relationships. On the other hand, vendors that only talk about happy topics and put a rosy glow on everything can do significant damage to their credibility. I am not suggesting that vendors air their dirty laundry with the analysts. Rather, vendors should discuss real and known risks with products or markets and how to manage those risks. Frankly, the analysts are probably hearing all the downsides related to your […]

Gartner’s Spring Symposium is a fine opportunity for vendors competing on emerging technologies and trends

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logo-gartner-spring-symposium.jpgHmm, it’s early January, what to do? I know! For AR teams, it’s time for the big push to ensure the proper visibility at Gartner’s Spring Symposium. This is especially true for vendors that truly compete on hot tech, R&D and being on the leading edge. Spring Symposium has turned from deadly boring into an interesting opportunity to get visibility and recognition. Unfortunately, many vendors that should be mentioned at the “emerging trends” Symposium won’t be. Why? Most vendors are so focused on briefing analysts on today’s products or services that they do not get around to briefing the analysts on their work on emerging technologies and trends. There is still time to raise one’s profile, but the window is quickly closing. […]

Influence, spin or educate?

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Hmm, “influencing the influencers” is certainly a catchy phase and one that I have used many times in the past. However, the longer I was actually in AR the more I thought that this was a dead-end way of looking at what the AR profession should be doing – and most definitely not what the analysts and their end-user clients wanted us doing.  So how should we be thinking about this? […]

How is corporate AR different from product-centric AR? [AR Practitioner Question]

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question-mark-graphic.jpgLast week I had lunch with an AR manager at a software company where we had an interesting chat about “corporate” AR. She had always been focused on product-centric outreach and wanted to know what constitutes good corporate AR. That is a great question because most AR teams are focused on products for a good reason, but that means that corporate issues frequently do not get the attention they deserve. This is especially true for larger companies with a diverse portfolio of products and services since the analysts will often not see the forest for the trees.

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What am I missing? Why would a vendor brief a competitive intelligence firm?

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While an AR director, each time I received a call from a competitive intelligence (CI) firm analyst requesting information, I would politely decline. When asked why I had declined, I would respond “Why would I give you information that you will turn around and give to my competitors?” This CI types often tried to persuade me by suggesting that I did not want them to have out-of-date information because that could cause them to inaccurately inform their clients. “Hmm,” I would answer, “wouldn’t it be better for my company if you were giving my competitors and their sales representatives inaccurate information so they would be less effective in stealing sales from us?”
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The Payback for an Analyst Briefing can be Measured in Minutes

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As part of the ongoing struggle to convince their management about the value of analyst relations, AR professionals often prove the effectiveness of their AR programs by showing written research with mentions about the vendor. This type of metric is often shortsighted because it does not take into account the verbal delivery of research via informal conversations over the phone and at analyst conferences.Because the IT industry analysts that focus on advising IT managers (e.g., AMR, Forrester and Gartner) are on the phone every day with their clients, the payback for a briefing can be nearly instantaneous. […]

For PR… Why PR and AR need strong collaboration

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How often have you been part of this vignette? The scene: PR manager strolls into the AR manager’s cubicle.
 
PR manager: “Howdy. Can you get me an analyst quote on this topic for my press release? Oh, and an analyst that can act as a press reference would be great as well.”
AR manager: “Sure, shouldn’t be a problem. When do you need it by?” […]

Analyst myths revisited – “Analysts know everything” still #1 for IT managers and vendors

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There are several lists of myths about the IT analysts.  These include Tekrati’s Analyze This: 5 Myths About Analyst Briefings; KCG’s Under the Influence: Myths About International AR; and Valley View Ventures’ IT Industry Analysis Myths. There are probably other lists that I don’t know about, but suffice to say that are plenty of myths to go around.
 
SageCircle first published its list in early 2001 and tweaked it later that year. I’ve used that list ever since, including when I was the Director of Corporate AR at HP. While I have been tempted to add or delete myths, this is still a pretty good list.
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