Cloud Radio | A SaaS Podcast Elena Hutchison - Analyst Relations Explained
Our Guest: Elena Hutchison, formerly an Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Medallia, is now the Founder of Up/Right Analyst Relations. The firm offers coaching, consulting, and fractional analyst relations services, specifically designed to enhance companies' engagement with Gartner, Forrester, and other industry leaders.
Episode Topics:
- Understanding the analyst relations function beyond quadrants + how analyst firms serve their own customers
- Elena’s insights on the accuracy of Gartner’s Magic Quadrants and Forrester’s Wave
- Elena expands on her “Most Important Sales Cycle of the Year” post
- Should companies always participate in an analyst Request for Information (RFI)?
- How can early + mid-stage companies best work with analyst firms?
- How analysts evaluate emerging vendors within categories + significance of vendor financial stability
- The value of customer stories around ROI when collaborating with analysts
- How to gain buy-in for an analyst relations program?
- Understanding the timeline for tangible, positive results from an analyst relations program.
- Elena’s insights on the differences between the largest analyst firms and niche analyst firms.
Resources:
https://www.uprightar.com/blog/your-analyst-evaluation-is-the-most-important-sales-cycle-of-the-year
https://www.uprightar.com/blog/debunking-five-myths-of-analyst-relations-for-startup-ceos
https://www.saasboost.io/outsourced-sales-blog/top-saas-directory-and-review-sites-complete-guide-2023
About Cloud Radio by Cloud Ratings:
Made for "full stack" cloud + SaaS operators, Cloud Radio is a SaaS podcast covers all aspects of the business of software.
Our host - Matt Harney - is active on Twitter @saasletter and writes "SaaSletter", an investing-oriented SaaS newsletter on Substack.
https://cloudradio.cloudratings.com/
https://twitter.com/SaaSletter
About Cloud Ratings:
Cloud Ratings is a customer outcomes-focused, data-driven software research analyst firm. We exist to allow organizations to make more confident, lower-risk software purchasing decisions.
Our Cloud Ratings Category Reports combine user reviews with verified vendor data to impartially identify leading software products. Recent report examples include: Lead Routing Software, Sales Training + Onboarding Software, Sales Conversation Intelligence Software, and Partner Relationship Management (PRM) Software
Built upon investigative customer interviews, our True ROI Reports quantify and provide 3rd party validation of a software product’s business value.