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Explaining the Value of Analyst Relations to Salespeople Industry analysts play a critical role in the sales cycle. From their unique vantage point, sitting between vendors and end user organizations, they foster an important dialogue between the vendor's lofty vision for the market and actual user needs on the ground. Their influence in helping buyers short-list vendors according to product requirements should not be underestimated. While industry analysts will never blatantly endorse one vendor's product over another, they can validate the choice of a particular vendor for a specific application or scenario. Obtaining customer references willing to speak to industry analysts is easiest when the customer is also a client of the analyst firm - i.e. when the vendor and the firm share a common customer. If at all possible, the Sales & Marketing organization needs to find out to which analyst firms its best evergreen customers subscribe, because analysts will not reveal their client lists to anyone. Matching common customers is the most frictionless way to schedule reference interviews for analysts, as it usually puts the customer at ease and eliminates any need for the analyst to sign an NDA agreement. Do not assume that just because your customer is also a research client, they have already spoken to the target analyst about using your technology. Although long-term customers are the kind most requested by analysts, robust AR programs also need to cultivate and disseminate references using the newest and latest products to fulfill communications objectives. Here is an easy way to think about this. During any given Quarter, AR reference needs should map directly to the current requirements of the Sales organization for its own references. Customer success with recently released products provides critical proof to analysts and prospects alike that the vendor has found market traction with its most recent offerings. Customers who have purchased but are immersed in the planning and implementation stage can still communicate value to analysts. In the process, these customers look forward-thinking. Most important, salespeople need to understand that the customer need never go public with its support - one dramatic difference between analyst and press reference requirements. Train the sales field on the nature of industry analysts and their influential role advising prospects. Compensate the sales person for his or her participation in making the AR program successful. In the process, the Sales organization may perceive AR as aligning behind its own objectives. Sales folks are predictable creatures - they respond very well to money! Give them extra cash for bringing new customers as AR (or PR) references. Marketing knows that press articles and analyst reports on customers ultimately help sales, but without a formal compensation structure, the typical salesperson will have no motive to help out. Train and retrain the field so they fully understand how the program works. It's easy to recognize a program that's working - sales reps inform AR in a timely way about significant repeat orders, competitive wins, or successful go-live projects as they occur. Finally, respect the sales person's relationship with the customer, and assure him or her that AR's involvement will in no way jeopardize this important bond. Tell them that AR will look for a "win-win", where the customer's communications strategy and business goals can be matched directly to their use of the product. Tell them you will guard the customer's privacy, respect their schedule, and help them navigate any necessary internal approvals. Last, inform them when the customer has successfully participated, and been rewarded for doing so in the salesperson's name. Given the considerations outlined here, Analyst Relations teams should impress upon salespeople that customer participation provides the ideal way to turn skeptical analysts into advocates that can help the vendor play in more deals, shorten the sales cycle, and ultimately help them close more deals. Find out more about INFLUENTIAL's Analyst Relations Services Home | Approach | Services | Background | Clients | Contact | News | Also Influential | Buyer2Brand Blog |
