You just got the fact check on a MQ , Wave, etc. It's bad. Your company looks bad.
Ugh. We AR people hate when that happens.
First off, NEVER promise an evaluation outcome. Results are out of AR's control. That makes the bad rating less painful personally.
Second, at this point there's little you can do. Try to respond with factual evidence that conflicts with the analyst opinion. Try to work your magic.
But, for the company, a bad evaluation can be a wake up call. It could mean a few different things, like:
The company is not aligned with the analyst's opinion of the space and customer needs.
The company has promised execution and not delivered.
AR has had a shortage of resources to work the relationship properly.
The process wasn't managed properly.
Little of this is AR's fault. To have a positive evaluation you need:
A year long process of relationship building and concept alignment.
Executive commitment and support.
Company execution on promises.
Proper AR resourcing.
Use a bad evaluation to get attention for the importance of a strong AR program, truly taking input from the analyst, using their terms and concepts and overdelivering on promises. Use it to move the company and your program forward.
Remember, for a bad evaluation it is essential to arm the salesforce. Competitors will use this against them and you have to enable them to respond with strong points and alternative research.
What do you think?
I couldn't agree more with the 3rd sentence. I would honestly question the maturity of a company that would even ask of this from AR - thank you for saying this out loud! A poor outcome (especially multiple years in a row) is the perfect time to focus attention on several things: market alignment, how the company is using analyst insight and advisory, a gut check on competitive momentum, etc...
Receiving a less-than-glowing report can cause a lot of finger-pointing and often AR takes the brunt of this. Prior to report kick-off, I aim to get agreement that there are four major inputs into any research note: Product/Service, Sales/Customer, Marketing, and AR. All functions are equally responsible for the success (or failure) of a major research note ranking, A concept that I find some stakeholders have trouble reconciling in the wake of a poor evaluation, is that of "market" - when the market moves faster than a vendor. It can be hard for companies to acknowledge that although they increased revenue, added new features/functionality, and might be serving new vertical markets, there are enough other vendors that did even more.
Lovely post. The report outcome will always grab the headlines and attention of those who don't always understand what goes into getting properly evaluated.
This is so true, it's much harder than it looks to deal with a bad evaluation. As an AR Pro you now have your work cut out for you (at least 'til for the next 12-18 mo) while you seek to "fix" those areas where you didn't succeed, or elevate why you can actually deliver (no fix needed - just more AR!). Arming the sales team with alternative reports is a great idea in the meantime! ;)
This is so true - once over the initial ugh, the team can use the position to help with a true review of what the analysts are saying. I totally agree that arming the salesforce is one of the most important aspects of a response.