In an ideal world an analyst would be positive about a vendor simply because they had the best product. This is not an ideal world. The reason why AR has seen such success in recent years, is that vendors have tapped into the fact that they can influence what an analyst says. One of the best results I have ever had was when my client was highly recommended despite them having a ‘rubbish, legacy solution’.
How can this happen? Aren’t analysts sages who know everything?
Sadly not. AR is in the business of improving perception. We are not in the business of playing fair.
I have found though that AR can improve an analysts perception and therefore influence by adopting the ‘Analyst Perception Triangle’.
The methodology behind this is very simple. I run an audit of the analysts in a vendors space and query on three distinct criteria (namely: contact; value and reputation).
1) Contact:
Does the vendor know who their influential analysts are? Does the vendor speak with them frequently enough?
If the scores are low in this area then more interactions are needed.
2) Value:
When the vendor speaks with an analyst, do they do a good job?
If the scores are low in this area analyst briefing training is needed.
3) Reputation
When the vendor speaks with an analyst, does the analyst agree with their point of view?
If the scores are low in this area then the vendors messaging should be refined.
As an example, take the case of Betamax. Most pundits knew that they had a superior product to VHS and yet their sales were woeful in comparison. Why did VHS succeed – simply because they spoke to the right people at the right time, with the right message in a coherent manner.
There are many such audits in the AR world – what I like particularly about this one, is that it provides the important ’so what’ criteria. Understanding what the next step is, once an audit is completed is vital to a successful campaign.
AR can positively influence an analysts perception of a vendor simply by following this methodology. Of course, this is not an end in itself but merely part of the programme. I am not saying that it will always work, but I can say with some certainty that if a vendor does not follow it, then they will more than likely fail.
If you would like more information about this audit (I haven’t even discussed the qualitative side) then please let me know.
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I would be interested in hearing about the qualitative side of your analysis on improvig analyst perception and perhaps some particular methods to do so.
Thanks Nancy – I will be writing a separate post detailing the micro aspects of the quantitative and qualitative segments of the audit in the near future.
Hi, Where can I read more on this?
If a vendor wanted to know who the influential analysts were, they could learn this pretty easy by simply observing what their large customers have on their blogrolls…