How Analyst Relations Programs Can Maximize their Role and Value for their Companies

Analyst Relations professionals, or those handling the function, play a significant role in supporting their company’s marketing, sales, communications and strategic functions.?To the extent that they can successfully make the most of their analyst relationships, their companies can derive tremendous benefits. ?However, the stated goals of AR do not always meet the realities of how companies practice it. And the disconnect makes the engagements with analysts that much less productive or worse.

To construct this article. I recently conducted 20 recent telephone interviews with analysts, practice heads and senior sales and business development professionals across a full spectrum of firms in terms of size, scope and focus.?I also drew upon my history in the analyst space which has entailed engaging both from research and business development perspectives

The discussions addressed:

·????????What elements of Analyst Relations practices were effective with analyst firms and which ones were not.

·????????How vendors were missing opportunities to better leverage the variety of analyst firm offerings.

·????????How the commercial aspects of the analyst world create friction in the relationships between AR and analyst firms.

The dominant themes that arose from the discussions are presented below.

AR Practices that are effective and not so:

Companies either treat AR as a strategic function or place the role within corporate communications. Each area fulfills important roles for companies, but they have distinctly different objectives. Marcom is messaging, narrative and spinning and placing AR in the Marcom domain tends to lead to more friction between the vendors and the analysts. Quality analysts are quite put off by Marcom tendencies in having analysts act as part of the company’s marketing and messaging channel.

Analysts value having a relationship with AR people who get them the information they need and connect them with the right people inside the company. When AR plays gatekeeper too often and makes getting information difficult analysts are prone to bypassing the function altogether. Inevitable that analysts will create relationships they will leverage but AR does itself no favors by not being responsive or not providing access.

Good analysts are open to being influenced by vendors, but they want qualified data. Approaching them with unsubstantiated claims or with no means to verify leaves good analysts skeptical. Worse is when firms simply expect analysts to accept their narratives.?It turns them off and even more so when the business side of the equation is leveraged. This last action does damage to the relationship and whatever influence or mindshare the vendor was hoping to gain.

Candor and professional respect play much better with them

Regular engagements vs ad hoc or situational outreach would produce better results. When there is a certain cadence to interactions that the parties follow it makes the flow of information to analysts much smoother and potentially reduced the negative responses and surprises that a vendor may encounter. Analysts have multiple clients and companies that they follow. It becomes impossible for them to drop what they are doing and needing to suddenly get up to speed on a vendor’s initiative.

If a company operates within multiple verticals or segments with multiple analysts operating within them then it can become too challenging to engage everyone. Nonetheless, activity, strategy and considerations still need to be communicated to the market as the analyst community will still likely be writing about companies or making media comments. If AR is not going to engage personally then be sure to make it possible for analysts to follow along with what the vendor is doing. Find ways to provide information that analysts can use.

Where are there opportunities to provide more value?

Some AR programs and professionals are very heavily invested in influence and generating sales leads and give less attention to advisory, messaging and data that firms offer. This is a mistake. Many analysts have real world experience in leading product groups, GTM efforts, have created technologies or sold them. Their insights can be useful if engaged properly, especially in the initial stages of a product, strategic initiative or launch plan.

Another point that was raised was AR needing goal alignment with internal stakeholders. What problems exist from a strategic or tactical perspective that an analyst firm can support? Having AR plugged into what’s needed is crucial.?If AR isn’t aligned with supporting the company fully or limits its focus to improper metrics, it isn’t maximizing its own value.

Companies have significant investments in products, strategies, and messaging. Founders have vision, leaders have targets to hit, and marketing needs to sell the story. Hearing that the strategy or implementation is a miss may hard for some to hear but engaging analysts that tell leadership what it wants to hear is self-serving and destructive.

A question that arises, is it the fault of the company’s AR program for shielding the company from criticism or is it a reflection of company culture where there is no value placed on outside thinking or constructive feedback?

Companies can be too myopic by focusing on a select few firms and missing other valuable thought leaders and potential influencers. Good people work outside the big 4 of Gartner, IDC, Forrester and Omdia. Talented people leave large firms and go to work in boutique firms, start their own or go independent. Start-ups may grow in both size and importance and wind up absorbed into larger firms. Or they may become leaders in their space. Some firms have their own events, media platforms or excel when it comes to promoting their own research and brands. Some have major presence in the trade media a company’s customers look to for news and trends.

Manage the business relationship properly!

Analysts are time constrained with the variety of tasks they are required to perform. They cannot take briefings from every company that reaches out and surprise, clients are generally going to be prioritized when time is limited.?Having a business relationship in place gets a company access.?Maximizing engagement opportunities from the service agreements and programs works to further increase mindshare within firms as well.?

If an analyst is important enough to reach out to for briefings, then they or their firm are likely to believe a vendor is a candidate for their programs. Briefings may very well be treated as a sales opportunity either during the time or after the fact. The P/L practices and accountabilities of the particular firm as well as the analysts themselves will vary. Professional firms do not sell opinions, but they are not acting as not for profit entities either.

Be honest and authentic about the interest in firm. Analysts understand that not everyone they talk to is going to be a client but still likely that their sales colleagues are going to call on a vendor or continue to look to grow the relationship. This should not be awkward or a surprise. It is unwise to tell an analyst there is interest then ignore the sales call from their colleague. It will not likely impact their assessment of a company, but it does not help a vendor either.

Holding a business relationship over the head of an analyst is a really bad practice. No one respects the firms that sell out their objectivity, but analysts and their firms generally take umbrage with being asked to change their opinions or beliefs based on who is buying or who won’t buy if they don’t.?

Final thoughts:

The analyst business is highly nuanced with a broad ecosystem of providers and thinkers who possess a variety of skillsets. Successfully managing and leveraging the full value of relationships with influencers, experts and thought leaders is crucial in AR can support their companies’ leadership, sales, strategy and execution. Identifying key analysts and treating them as trusted partners is one way to accomplish AR’s goals.?Other way forward is for AR to challenge its own practices and consider the myriad of engagement possibilities beyond briefings, “messaging” and trying to score up sales leads.

The world continues to accelerate forward with new technology introductions, paradigm shifts and societal movements. Tech vendors need to identify actionable trends and opportunities. Analyst firms offer companies of all shapes, sizes and foci a wealth of insights that can impact the bottom line and long-term success.

Is your company making the most of these opportunities?

Bio:

Robert Nolan is the founder of ilumatech (www.ilumatech.com), a professional services firm that specializes in supporting industry analysts, information providers and consultants to maximize their market potential. During his career Robert has worked primarily in technology subject matter areas with a special attention to new and emerging market segments.?Robert has worked in a variety of leadership roles throughout his career including sales, marketing, and business development and practice managing director. He has founded his own company that provided industry analysis-based reports and services and worked for and consulted for other boutique firms.??