QUESTION: So here’s the question: How do small, deeply focused analyst firms rise on the AR radar. Including at SageCircle?
This question came to SageCircle via a Twitter Direct Message. Frankly, it is a question that more boutiques should be asking and thinking about. This is especially true in the current environment where new firms are being launched adding to market clutter and large firms are vacuuming up mindshare and contracts through acquisitions and sale force expansions.
Something that boutique analyst firms and single practitioner analysts need to realize is that the vast majority of analyst relations (AR) teams are extremely bandwidth constrained and simply do not have the time to be constantly searching for new analysts to brief.
SageCircle Technique:
Marketing and Selling – This might sound like a cliché, but the boutique analyst firm’s best tools to get on the radar of AR are having effective marketing and selling functions. Merely being smart and having a nifty blog is not enough to get the attention of overworked AR teams. Of course, this is not unique for boutique firms but goes for any company. However, the attitude that “we don’t need formal marketing and selling” is a problem that is especially acute with analysts.
Invest in “Analyst Relations” – Sound ironic, eh? There is a small group of boutique analyst or consulting firms (see below for a list and links) that specialize in helping vendors or enterprises work more effectively with the analyst community. These firms often help vendor AR teams create or update analyst lists and answer inquiries about unfamiliar analysts who have requested a briefing from the vendor. Small analyst firms need to put together a program, much like vendor AR efforts, to brief these AR services firms about the analyst’s research coverage, business model and products, go-to-market strategy, and client success stories.
Get Listed in the Analyst Directories – There is also a small group of companies selling analyst information directories or databases (see below for list and links, and this post). AR teams use these electronic directories to create new or to refresh existing analyst lists. They can just go into the directory’s analyst search function, use filters like coverage or geography, and bingo! a list of analysts is generated. If the AR teams have bandwidth and are so inclined, they will do some additional research. However, if they are pressed for time, they might simply go with the list from analyst database. A consequence of this is that if an analyst is not in the database or the information is not up-to-date, then they might be left off of the list.
Don’t Be Arrogant – This suggestion might get the most negative response from the boutique and single practitioner community, but it is quite important. The biggest barrier for boutique analyst firms to overcome is their attitude that because they are smart and claim to be influential they are entitled to briefings and contracts from a vendor. This really turns off AR teams who encounter this attitude frequently and think “Who is this guy demanding my time and money?” Taking a more measured approach with vendor AR teams and demonstrating how you are relevant will garner more attention.
Analyst Directories or Databases
- Analyst Profiles (a division of Tekrati)
- ArchitectTM (by ARinsights)
- AR Intranet (by Lighthouse AR)
AR Services Firms
Public relations agencies with dedicated AR groups
Bottom Line: It takes work and the right attitude for boutique analyst firms and single practitioner analysts to get on the radar of vendor AR teams.
Question: AR teams – Which tools or databases do you use to track the changing analyst landscape?
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Tags: analyst relations, AR
Carter
Many thanks. Your advice is well taken. I’ve just had a go getting on to register my company with a few of these sites and made no progress… at least not immediately.
So, at the risk of sounding arrogant, perhaps you could ask you AR colleagues to be just a little more accommodating to independent analysts as well.
Best Regards
Martin
From Wendy Shlensky, Analyst Relations at Infosys, via Twitter @WLS26
introduce yourself & tell me specifically how you are relevant to me & my business.
Carter
On the EMEA front there are several PR agencies with strong AR Sunesis and Edelman to name but two and not forgetting the IIAR and of course (experienced) stand alone AR practioners e.g. Dom Pannell, Hannah Kirkman and Signe Loenberg – and me ;-))
I am sure there are others I have forgetten!
Marc
Carter, apologies for being late to comment on this post.
There are plenty of other techniques that smaller analyst firms can employ to attract the attention of AR pros, depending on the precise business model that they choose to adopt. At its heart, AR is fundamentally a marketing activity, which is why so many tech PR agencies (claim to) do it. AR pros want to make their employers/clients look good so they will sell more. Several analyst firms have realised this and ensure that at least some of their output is available via families of online publications/publishing networks. Others release all or part of their research for free to what can be a very wide audience. Being widely read does not imply any lack of independence. It does help with profile-building.
As I say, there are numerous other ways to get on the radar (and your list is certainly valid). Wendy Shlensky’s point above is well made, too – relevance is crucial; navel-gazing will not be rewarded, and nor should it.
The underlying key, though, is to consistently deliver excellent insight and actionable analysis to your target market. And repeat.
I know several analyst firms who are deemed by some ARs, both in-house and consultants, to be ‘low tier’ minnows, but who are among the four or five companies to be regularly briefed by some of the largest ICT vendors. To be fair, it’s as much the job of the AR pro to find this out…