Five things stand out from vendors’ responses to a survey we conducted after our Analyst Relations roundtable at the English Speaking Union.
- When asked what inhibitions vendors faced getting their message across to the analyst community answers focused around too much choice. Results are that vendors are showing a general lack of knowledge about the analyst world. Navigating the sea of analysts and finding the right individuals for their firms, with knowledge of their industry and needs, is proving difficult.
- Vendors strategically implement information uncovered from research reports and use analyst materials to drive sales and marketing activities. Initiatives cited include competitive intelligence, sales collateral, trend analysis, business planning, market trends, and other areas of value.
- Positive feedback to vendors from analyst reports were rare. Prospects who refer to analyst feedback on vendors tend to point out any negatives that were discovered.
- A vast majority of vendors surveyed believe that they are not getting the most out of their relationship with analysts. Main reasons listed were lack of resource, time commitment, and lack of communication on behalf of the analyst teams.
- Analysts (including analysts who call themselves consultants or advisors) are often thought to have bias, especially if most of their revenue comes from vendors. Sometimes the effort put into staying informed makes analysts seem very process-driven but less strategic than expected.
What light can market research providers shed on these tough issues? Vendors and analyst relations professionals wanting to get a better picture of what analysts are getting and right, and wrong, can take a look at the Analyst Value Survey. It shows which firms are most independent from their commercial relationships, which create the most value and which are the best in the key vertical markets and research areas.
