Know your analyst to influence your buyer
Build long term relationships with real deal makers and breakers
| Knowing what these so-called "analysts" do, and how they make their money, is critical to a vendor's long term success, says William S Hopkins, chief executive officer and partner of Texas, US based The Knowledge Capital Group. Hopkins has made it his business to analyse the analysts. |
| He held an open session in the city, last week, to drum up subscription for a full-day workshop on how to handle analysts. Participants walked away at least seriously interested, if not smiling, for they could have done worse with the money for the fee, which was in dollars. |
| He was giving them invaluable insights into the mind of an analyst, having spent some 20 years of his own life with Gartner, carefully taking apart vendors of CRM software and services. |
| Among his Indian customers are Infosys, TCS and HCL Technologies. His global clients include HP, SUN, Peoplesoft and Cisco. Such successful vendors typically talk to their analysts up to three times a month, he told an audience of managers from mostly IT firms here. Gartner, and Forrester, he rated as being on top of the heap of "deal makers and breakers." |
| They authoritatively tell prospective "end user technology buyers" who to approach with a problem and what to expect in a solution. If your firm is not on the short list of probables they sugggest to a buyer, chances are, you'll never see the colour of the order. |
| Worse, if you think everybody has a price, you'll fail. These firms or their analysts can't be bought for their "business model hinges on their credibility." It relies on making the bulk (over 70 per cent) of the firms' revenues from the buyers. As for vendors, such firms also have clear policies in place to deal with offenders, he said. |
| There are other deal makers and breakers, such as large investment banks, but these are not necessarily accessible to vendors, and advising prospective clients on technology is definitely not on banks' agenda. |
| Firms such as Gartner or Forrester, or Ovum in the Asia Pacific region, wield enormous influence with buyers, starting with the initial vendor identification stage, Hopkins said. A vendor can't buy an analyst, but can buy an analyst's time. Using that time judiciously, is about "talking only half the time, and listening the rest of the time." |
| Most analysts worth their salt will already know a lot about a vendor they are evaluating. So, questions like "in what situation would you short list our firm?" will work, if asked directly. |
| So, if you are a technology vendor, an important rule is, "honesty pays." Honesty will also work, if explanations are direct, without starting with the phrase, "well... you know." |
| Analysts expect vendors to lie, so the way to blow them away is to be honest. For instance, if an analyst wants to know why a product launch is delayed, simply, and honestly, explain why. Do not start with "well... You know." |
| Hopkins' vocabulary rates others in the world of "analysts" as "talking heads," who give you publicity to "consultants/wannabes," who say nice things about you, to "point players," who are niche players and can be influential in their domain of expertise. All of these, including the deal makers and breakers, are in the business of influencing buyers and giving exposure to vendors. |
| Only the deal makers and breakers speak directly into the ear of the buyers, and so wield maximum influence. The others make large chunks of their revenues from the vendors themselves, so their utility should be optimised. |
| Going to the deal makers and breakers all the time is expensive and impractical. The trick is to find the right mix of "internal resources" and deal makers and breakers, and a combination of the rest. |
| DON'Ts |
| 1. Assume everybody that calls themselves, or gets called, an "analyst" is one 2. Use a "shotgun" approach to targeting analysts 3. Be intimidated by the analysts or be afraid to say "no" for the right reasons 4. Use long, unfocused or non-individualised presentations 5. "Spin" or explain, but answer their questions! |
| DOs |
| 1. Start by understanding the firms' business models and what they do 2. Identify and work with a small number of high-value analysts 3. Build relationships rather than chase transactions 4. Use short presentations focussed on business problems and how you solve them, not just technology 5. Listen and ask, don't just talk and answer |