Eight analysts and AR professionals made some great suggestions in the wake of my post on Seven mistakes that will kill your pitch to analysts. I though I’d share their ideas here.
Lisa K Stapleton: I once listened to someone who said they were going to talk about four main points. As we were listening, he kind of mentioned three and went on and on and on about one of them. Thank God nobody had a digital camera around to catch the panicked looks on our faces when, after TWO HOURS of this rambling mess of a presentation, he said, “And on to my SECOND POINT…” I did the math, and at that point, I decided maybe it was worth gnawing off an arm or a leg with my own teeth if it got me out of another six hours of that stuff. As the Teletubbies say, “Run AWAY! Run AWAAAY!”- Steve Blood: I’d add “Presenting competitive firms analysis, particularly of market shares”. While there is respect for competitor firms, we only ever truly believe our own numbers 🙂
- Heidi Schall: I find it still hard to make companies understand that an analysts feedback – whether positive or negative – is the most valuable thing they can get from the relationship.
- Gabriel Cosmin Gheorghiu: Even though some analysts may like it, I find it silly and childish to bash your competitors.
- Andrew Rose: Completely agree about the timing – don’t waste 15 min of your pitch telling the analyst about a market situation that they already know about. It wastes your time and frustrates the analyst.
- Mark Levitt: I would add the all too common tendency to either ignore or bash rather than acknowledge competitors. Analysts welcome opportunities for open and honest discussions of real and perceived differences about which customers care greatly.
- Simon P. Jones: What about the old chestnut of “let me read that before you publish it” from an over-tired executive who isn’t quite sure of the difference between press and analysts (and hasn’t read the briefing book or listened to the pre-brief).
- Dan Kusnetzky: don’t forget presenting the analyst’s own research back to him/her as the main point of the session.
