Month: May 2008

The value to team collaboration – The ROI of an Analyst Relationship Management System [part four]

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icon-tools.jpgThis is the fourth in a series of posts that will explore the resources required and the advantages gained in using a formal analyst relationship management (ARM) system.  In this post we investigate how these systems can enhance collaboration.  Other posts will explore metrics and look at the values that can be obtained.  Your comments are encouraged.

It is 11 PM, do you know where your analyst is?

AR teams should know the perception of analysts long before the curfew of a Magic Quadrant.  Getting blindsided by a presentation, or knowing you have been dropped from a short list is never fun.  There are many ways to determine current analyst perception – but one not to be overlooked is simple team collaboration.  This becomes especially true with larger AR teams, or those that are organizationally or geographically distributed.

Tracking your AR activities and the perceptions that analysts have about your company is not an individual effort, but requires teamwork.  Methods that promote easy sharing of […]

What to do when analyst firms lays off analysts

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SageCircle has learned that IDC has initiated a round of analyst layoffs. At this time the exact number of staff and coverage is not known. AR teams need to hope for the best for their favorite IDC analysts, but plan for the worst.

Of course, layoffs impact real people with families and obligations. Often AR people are genuinely friendly with the analysts they work with and this sort of news can be a shock. Unfortunately for AR professionals, analyst firm layoffs also raise important issues that need to be addressed ASAP no matter how much sympathy they feel for the analysts caught in the layoffs.

The stark reality is that an analyst firm will not admit that […]

Steps for AR teams for starting with analyst blogs

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Welcome members of Forrester’s AR Council. Here are those steps A through F that I rattled off at the beinging of the panel. I also put in links to directories of analysts blogs and Don Bulmer’s blog. If the session ran out before we got to your question or you want more depth, leave your question as a comment and I’ll answer it.

In case you’re wondering what this is post is about, today SageCircle’s Carter Lusher was a member of the “Analyst Relations 2.0” panel at the Forrester Analyst Relations Council (ARC) meeting, which was co-located with Forrester’s IT Forum. The focus of the discussion was on analyst blogs and how AR teams need to think about them. Other members of the panel included analysts  Jonathan Eunice from Illuminata and Dana Gardner from Interarbor Solutions. Besides Carter on the AR services side was KCG’s Bill Hopkins (Tekrati’s Barbara French could not make the meeting so Bill took her place). The whole circus was moderated by Forrester VP Laura Ramos. The panel and audience discussion was quite lively, fun, and raised a number of issues.

 One of the requests by panel organizer Trisha Mirel was that we give the AR managers in attendance a list of practical action items to start incorporating analyst blogs into how they work. Obviously, this is something SageCircle has covered on a number of occasions (see our series of posts on social media). The more important recommendation is that interacting with analysts via their blogs should be part of an overall social media plan incorporated into the strategic AR plan. Getting started is quite simple with a few steps that go from A to F: ask… begin… conduct… develop… educate… forward…

 SageCircle Technique:

  • A = Ask your top analysts about their current or planned blogs, either under personal or firm brands
    A = Ask you customers about where they go for information and advice for product decisions
  • B = Begin to add analyst blogs to your overall AR plan, especially the […]

Getting value out requires putting effort in – The ROI of an Analyst Relationship Management System [part three]

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icon-tools.jpgThis is the third in a series of posts that will explore the resources required and the advantages gained in using a formal analyst relationship management (ARM) system.  In this post we review some best practices in using a system.  Other posts will explore metrics and look at the values that can be obtained.  Your comments are encouraged. 

Data entry needs

A good ARM will allow you to append interaction information to each analyst record.  This information can include personal entries about analyst perception, but most significantly it can be the corporate memory of analyst interactions.  By recording the date, type, and results of each interaction with each analyst you build a history that is available to the entire AR staff as well as new members. 

We have heard comments from AR managers who believe that data entry into any ARM takes too much effort and the value is not worth the work involved.*  This is a short sighted view for several reasons.

  • Generating metrics – SageCircle is a strong believer in metrics. If you don’t record your activities and […]

AR-Sales Partnership case study – Using a teleconference to raise Sale’s awareness of the analysts and improve AR’s strategic standing

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icon-dollar-euro.jpgWho: Director of Analyst Relations at a mid-sized enterprise software vendor

Situation: The vendor’s previous CMO would not permit AR to interact with Sales so there was no outreach to the field on analyst impact and how to leverage positive analyst commentary. After a change in both the CMO and AR director positions the situation changed. The new AR director proactively sought permission from the new CMO to start interacting with Sales, which was granted with enthusiasm.

Process: The AR director teamed with the VP of field sales support to determine the best venue and outline for an initial presentation about the impact of the industry analysts. It was determined that […]

Best practice for responding to analyst draft research

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This best practice comes from guest contributor Gerry Van Zandt (Twitter handle), AR manager with HP Services.

Often (as you know) analysts will provide drafts of research notes or event-reaction pieces to vendors to review for inaccuracies.  You have a limited opportunity to provide a response or comment and need a process for action. Here are tips on how best to respond to draft research:

  • Be prompt — Help the analyst(s) by meeting the often very tight deadline they are providing for feedback. Respect the analyst’s business and don’t […]

How does one become an analyst? [AR Practitioner Question]

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question-mark-graphic.jpgAt a recent client meeting we got an interesting question: How does a person become an analyst? Is there certification? A test?

At this time the requirements for becoming an analyst consist of ownership of a laptop, cell phone, business card and an opinion. A website and / or blog are nice, but not required. There are no educational requirements, no state certifications, no tests to pass, no professional licenses to acquire, no World of Warcraft guilds to join, or secret handshakes to learn. Direct experience as a vendor or end user is not a requirement either as firms hire people straight out of collage and even outside of the tech industry as well.

Obviously, an individual has to be smart and insightful to be successful as an analyst. But to become an analyst one only has to be hired by a firm or hang out one’s own shingle.

While this statement produces chuckles and rolling of eyes in AR training or meetings with clients, there is both a serious issue and a real opportunity for AR teams in this reality. The issue is […]