by Betsy Burton
I recently had a great conversation with the CEO for a small technology and service provider (TSP). During the conversation the person mentioned that they weren’t working with any analysts or focused on analyst research because they “didn’t have an analyst relations (AR) person.” And, they were not likely to have the ability to have a resource in that role for at least another year.
It struck me that this company thought they couldn’t engage with any analysts for either briefings or research because they didn’t have an AR person in place. The reality is that there is a lot of research value, engagement/advice value, and briefing value that an organization should partake-in even without a formal AR role in place.
In this blog we explore how organizations might engage with analysts without a defined analyst relations role.
What is the Role for An Analyst Relations Person or Team?
Analyst relations people can play a very important role in your organization when engaging with analysts; it is a messaging, coordination, and advisory role.
The analyst relations person can be critical for ensuring that analysts get a consistent message for a provider’s products and services, particularly in larger organizations with a diverse set of offerings. Analyst relations people can also help manage the coordination of a briefing or engagement meetings (e.g., ensure the right people are engaged, backgrounds, and context are known, etc.). Analyst relations people can also be a great source of advice about what research is available, what markets, services, and technologies analysts are seeing emerge or mature, and which trends are getting the most interest and hype.
Your business can and should engage with analysts even without a defined analyst relations role.
Don’t Wait Till You Have an Analyst Relations Person To Seek Analyst Advice
There are many ways organizations can and should engage with analyst, even without an AR role defined, including:
Research:
Organizations don’t need analyst relations resources to use the research analysts are creating. As a client, you can just search the research site, join research communities like Aragon Research’s Yammer Groups, look for the latest research, read their blogs, listen to a webinar, or watch Aragon’s Research visual research. These resources are all available to clients to help you develop effective products and compete in your markets.
Briefings:
You don’t need to be a client to brief an analyst. And, you don’t have to have an analyst relations person, particularly if you are working in a start-up or smaller growing technology service provider. Read the blogs an analyst is writing or view the research summaries; have an idea of what the analysts are saying. If there is an analyst or analyst firm writing or speaking about your market, offer a briefing to see if the analyst is interested in hearing about your products and services. They may or may not accept the briefing due to bandwidth or focus. However, the key is to follow what the analysts are writing and saying, and seek opportunities to engage.
Inquiry or advisory engagements:
While you need to be a client to do an inquiry or have a deeper advisory session, you don’t need an AR person to host. At Aragon Research, inquiries and engagements are done under a client NDA, so you can ask whatever you would like to help you learn more about a market, customer needs, technology evolution, strategy and positioning, potential customer markets, etc. The key is that an inquiry and advisory session is focused on how the analyst can help your organization reach its goals.
Bottom Line
An analyst relations person can help navigate analyst sources and interactions/engagements effectively. However, if your organization is growing and not ready to hire an analyst relations person, you should still engage with analysts for both your own research and education, and as a potential coverage area.
- To get advice from an analyst, sign-up as a client, read or watch their research, schedule an inquiry, and listen to their webinars.
- To brief an analyst, read their blogs and research, and then position how your offerings relate to, extend, or enhance their research.