Essential qualities of AR objectives: alignment and measurability
SageCircle stresses the need for good strategic planning. Creating the right objectives is perhaps the most significant aspect to advancing the AR program within your company. AR objectives must exhibit two qualities:
- Direct alignment with overall company goals
- Measurability
When establishing goals and objectives for the AR program, top-performing teams first focus on determining whether a candidate objective directly aligns with a corporate initiative. For example, many AR programs initially suggest a goal similar to, “Get our executives more involved with the analysts.” But this goal has no explicit business value. Why does the program want to increase the visibility of the executives? In most cases when you review this objective the discussion leads to the understanding that analysts find meetings with executives more memorable and valuable, and messages from executives are considered more reliable. Having executives meet with the analysts increases the company’s top-of-mind with the analysts, which is one factor that affects analyst recommendations. The AR goal becomes, “Establish top-of-mind with key analysts covering the xyz market to promote inclusion on short lists”. Executive meetings are recognized as one tactic for achieving this goal.
The second hurdle for program objectives is measurability. To assess this criterion, effective AR teams attempt to define […]
Since 2000, SageCircle has helped analyst relations teams to focus on business value by encouraging innovative thinking that leverages insights and drives revenue.
Bottom Line: AR organizations need to plan their programs and resources to achieve most effectively their AR goals. An AR Strategic and Tactical plan should be a detailed roadmap that aligns programs and activities with corporate and business unit objectives, AR goals and the strategic initiative of driving sales.