Latest IIAR Best Practice Paper – Making the Case for Analyst Relations

By Thomas Ryan (LinkedIn)

Over the past eighteen months, most companies have been seriously affected by the global economic recession. In many cases, budgets across all departments have been trimmed to the bone; but Analyst Relations (AR)  programs seem to have been particularly hard hit. Increasingly, AR teams are asking:

• What can we do to keep at least the base of our budget intact?
• How can I defend my AR budget?

or more generally,

• How do I make the case for AR?

The IIAR’s latest Best Practice Paper, “Making the Case for Analyst Relations,” identifies the four principles for building solid executive-level sponsorship for your AR program.  Each principle is explored in terms of how AR programs today are effectively – and ineffectively – applying the principle’s key elements.  Examples from successful AR programs are provided to illustrate how each principle can be adapted to your organization’s culture, objectives, and expectations.

Of course the current situation merely makes the need for pragmatic answers to these questions more acute. But it is perhaps even more important during periods of sustained market growth for AR to effectively apply these principles. Then, if market conditions again turn to the worse, AR will be in a strong position with well-established sponsors who clearly understand the critical value contributed by an efficient, optimized, and professional AR program.

IIAR members can download this whitepaper by logging into the members area at http://analystrelations.org/members-area: direct >link to the PDF< (members only)

• Making the Case for Analyst Relations by Thomas Ryan, Rob Kolokousis, Analyst Strategy Group, LLC, 2010