Last week the IIAR hosted a discussion group in which members directly tackled issues relating to the industry affecting both analysts and analyst relations professionals.
Led by Ed Gyurko, IIAR Board member, the conversation addressed how AR professionals can better communicate with analysts and get stronger internal buy-in. Duncan Chapple, MD (Lighthouse AR) told members, “Most analysts now receive far less information from vendors and as a result are much less likely to recommend vendors than they were a year or two ago. That slows down the sale cycle.”
Chapple went on to provide some useful tips for AR professionals, such as promoting analysts and using metrics more. He said, “We have to take the facts back into vendor organisations and explain it’s not just about Gartner and Forrester but communicating with all those analysts who influence the purchasing cycle”. This follows on from an earlier post where Chapple provided tips for analysts.
The impact of this crisis is two-fold, affecting both analysts and AR professionals, as said by Phil Fersht, CEO & Head of Research (HfS Research). “I am generally concerned about the future of the industry – for both analysts and AR folks. Something’s broken in the industry and I think we need to fix it.”
Fersht went on to talk about the importance of two-way communication but was wary of some social media channels like twitter saying, “Twitter is just a massive poster board. Some analyst industry folk seem to spend their whole day on it and people are starting to question what else they do all day. Maybe check it once or twice a day but don’t spend hours on there. Start to think more about relationships, hot areas of interest and pick the phone up to talk to your top analysts and find out what they’re writing about. They’ll welcome the call!”
A full transcript of the call is available to IIAR members and can be found on huddle.
