Kudos to the Institute for Industry Analyst Relations for persuading IDC’s Insights businesses to stop demanding sales lead information from companies wanting to brief Insights analysts.
In a recent post on the IIAR’s blog,one IIAR board member noted how the IDC units were requesting information that was not relevant to the briefing process. David had this to say:
For example, alongside the regular stuff (eg what’s the briefing about, who would it be with, tell us about your company), Energy Insights wants to know:
* Who is the head of marketing for your company? (Name, title, email, and phone)
* Who is the head of product marketing for your company? (Name, title, email, and phone)
* Who is responsible for your company’s strategic planning? (Name, title, email, and phone)
* Does your company use market research to assist in strategic planning?
* Does your company currently have any relationships with other market research firms?
* Would you be interested in learning more about our services in your market area and the benefits of having a relationship with Energy Insights?
In a response yesterday evening, IDC’s Miriam Butcher accepted the comments, adding that “We appreciate your concern and, therefore, we will change the form across all 6 units.”
It’s an excellent expression of IDC’s growing responsiveness to the analyst relations community, and sets a standard for other analyst firms to match. The IIAR should be congratulated for this modest victory, which should set the standard for the industry.
