Analyst Relations
If you sell to government or Large Enterprise, a proactive and engaging Analyst Relations program will be vital to your success.
Analysts work with both Buyers and Sellers albeit in very different ways. They work Buyers on a range of strategy and procurement issues, helping them chart their business course and find the right equipment, software, structure and processes for their growth. On the Seller side, they do the above as well, and in the process are a key referral source. If they understand what you do, how you’re different, and who you work with best, they can be an extremely valuable source of pipeline.
What do analysts do?
If you’ve heard of resources like the Forrester Wave, the Gartner Magic Quadrant, or the IDC MarketScape, then you get it. These reports evaluate solution providers within a given category (e.g. Marketing Automation platforms) and are widely consumed by enterprise buyers. If you’re less familiar, read this brief article to get up to speed on the different types of analyst firms and how they operate.
There are two key reasons why you need a thoughtful and engaging Analyst Relations program:
To seek guidance on your product roadmap
To get introduced to potential Buyers