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.
