Integrating your ARM into your daily activities using an Outlook plug-in
We often hear AR teams complain about the difficulty getting full team participation in their Analyst Relationship Management (ARM) application. It seems that some team members don’t appreciate the value or perhaps are not sufficiently trained. When only part of the data is entered it limits the ability to generate metrics or encourage good collaboration.
Dave was speaking with the CTO of ARInsights the other day during one of the periodic calls we have with them about ways their product can more effectively manage an AR program. The discussion was about their soon to be released Add-In for Outlook 2007. Just as with the 2003 version this code helps to integrate their ARchitect product into the normal work day and automate data entry.
If you send an email to one or more analysts, even using blind carbons, the integration allows you to create an interaction and post the data directly into the ARM. This makes tracking activity such as sending out quarterly earnings, press releases, or simple exchanges very easy. You can also track your email threads automatically – allowing team members to know about activity with analysts you have in common.
Forward planning is critical for an effective AR program. Integration between your Outlook calendar and ARchitect enables you to easily create future interactions, add then to your personal Outlook, log them to ARchitect, and display them on […]
Since 2000, SageCircle has helped analyst relations teams to focus on business value by encouraging innovative thinking that leverages insights and drives revenue.
The last few days have been interesting regarding the layoffs at Gartner and AMR. Laying off workers (about 1% of analysts for Gartner so far), canceling unprofitable events (such as Spring Symposium), and so on are so typical for any company in this economic environment. In fact, more layoffs or other services cancelations would not be atypical. 
At all times, but especially during a recession, analyst relations (AR) programs need to effectively communicate to executive sponsors and other internal stakeholders the business value delivered by AR. Unfortunately, too many AR teams are so focused on interacting with the analysts that they do not do a good job telling their stories to their colleagues and the people that hold the purse strings. This can be a fatal mistake as AR is competing for resources – executive bandwidth for briefings, budget and headcount. Not communicating about business value means being at a disadvantage during budget discussions. 
Controlling spending is a high priority for most vendors during a recession. For analyst relations (AR) teams this mandate causes angst because it means cutting spending with analyst firms, usually a big part of AR’s budget. Discussing this issue has become an increasingly common inquiry for SageCircle strategists as clients work through budget cutting scenarios. 
As pointed out in past posts (see 
n: A calendar listing anticipated analyst research report publication dates. Because few analyst firms do publish formal editorial calendars, comprehensive Analyst Editorial Calendars have to be built by the core AR team. A variety of intelligence sources are used to gather information for the calendar. These include holding formal and information conversations with analysts by the extended AR team, asking questions during scheduled interactions, analyzing past research publications, and anticipating work for upcoming conferences. The Analyst Editorial Calendar feeds into