Understanding Industry Analysts and What They Bring to Tech Companies
11/19/2009
By Micky Long
Arketi Group
When correctly engaged, analysts can play a major role in the course of bringing a product or solution to the market. Analysts can help technology companies better understand complex markets, avoid costly mistakes, pinpoint competitive threats and evolve offerings to better match buyer’s requirements.
Industry analysts are primarily known for their research, which is invaluable to technology firms seeking to determine how their products and solutions can be best positioned within highly competitive markets. The marketplace insights and knowledge can help companies determine their market challenges and how to best overcome them. Digging down into offerings and solutions, the right analyst can become a valued member of your product strategy group, suggesting functionality needed to improve an offering’s chances of success.
This benchmarking and research helps corporate executives in three key ways:
- improving their competitive position and financial performance,
- prioritizing improvement areas,
- leveraging technology.
But, analysts walk a fine line between recommendation and endorsement. To retain their objectivity, analysts do not endorse specific companies or products but they often will endorse the approach or model behind an offering. Analysts will often work with companies to present their research to the marketplace as general industry trends and research, rather than straight head-to-head comparisons among competitors.
Analyst Briefing Preparation
Companies need to understand who they are scheduled to speak with once they begin seeking briefings with analysts. In addition to a polished, on-point presentation, it is vital to ensure the right people are present for the briefing. For example, bring the CTO if the briefing is with a technology analyst; a CMO should present to a marketing analyst; and the CEO is always a good move when speaking with business or financial analysts. Here are five components to consider for the all-important analyst briefing:
Understand the importance: Treat the briefing like a million-dollar sales call. Act as if you’re dealing with your biggest prospect throughout every phase of the briefing.
Over prepare: The presentation should deliver a specific, tailored message to the analyst. Testing the proper technology, especially if conducting a remote briefing, is highly recommended.
Be interactive: Build in question breaks, allowing opportunities to engage the analyst in discussion. This also prevents analysts from multi-tasking and forces them to focus on your presentation.
Be honest: Most analysts are trained to see past the vendor pitch. Genuine dialogue is appreciated by the analyst. Installations that do not go as planned are okay; analysts understand no installation is perfect.
Follow-up: Ensure action items resulting from the briefing are handled in a timely and effective manner. Provide a list of customer references to the analyst, because they will ask for them.
Analysts appreciate hearing about new product launches, significant customer wins, or if a product or solution is gaining traction. Providing analysts with a steady stream of news releases on relevant topics can help your company keep this important group of influencers in the know, and can spark valuable conversations.
Analysts have much to offer technology companies, but it is up to the company to have a presentation that is rehearsed, researched and anchored with customer experience if they want to capture analyst mindshare.
Micky Long is Vice President at Arketi Group, a high-tech business-to-business public relations and marketing firm. Previously, Long was a research director in the Strategic Service Management Practice at the Aberdeen Group. He is on the board of TAG Marketing Society and on the board of advisors for Sales and Marketing Executives International’s (SMEI) Atlanta chapter.