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.In the world of innovation, there is less discipline in the process; each new product seems to take on a life of its own as if there were no precedent in the area.We are, of course, advocating that this should not be the case.That is why we believe our profiling process for identifying in advance ultimate success factors (characteristics of success-company structure, customers, markets, sales channel, strategic partners.) for an innovative new product is so important.The advantage of profiling is the ability to go directly to the ultimate sources needed to support an innovation's market success to determine its viability well in advance of the release of the product.If it is going to be a huge success, there should be plenty of evidence if you look in the right places.It might be that the traditional customers are not going to form the early market for an innovation and that the places where you are going to get validation for the concept will come from new customers putting the product to new uses.Nevertheless, by developing the profiles for the ultimate impact that a NBT can have and by completing expert discussions with those identified through the profiling process, you will be able to determine whether you are working on something that has blockbuster potential or might otherwise be just a blip on the industry's radar.Our Dos and Don'ts List for Analyst BriefingsAnalyst firms play an interesting role in the modern world of information technology.In the good old days the major system vendors like IBM would take care of their major customers in the case of a bad decision that IBM had promoted.There was real substance to the phrase: "You never get fired for buying from IBM." The modern world of open systems and vendor interchangeability has changed all of that.System vendor profit margins have been whittled down to the point that they cannot provide this kind of cradle-to-grave support to their loyal customers.Analyst firms have jumped in to partially fill this void by providing independent viewpoints that assist decision-making regarding technology deployments and to assist the trade press as they develop articles and news stories about your industry.People do not buy technology based on ads they read.That may be how they find about them.But when they are considering purchases, they check with friends and look for recommendations from people they trust.This is where industry analysts come in.They play an important role this process by explaining to customers and the media the ownership issues associated with new innovations.So as part of telling the world about your next big thing, you have to brief analysts and they end up listening to countless briefings.From that receiver perspective here is our list of do's and don'ts for briefing analysts like us.Dos1.Know what you want to say.Remember, we get lots of these briefings and necessarily forget most of the details or never hear them in the first place.Be as clear as possible in your own mind what few key points you want to make and have stick.2.Make those points quickly.You have at most ten minutes while people are listening before they start doing their e-mail or sending sarcastic IM messages to one another about how bored they are.Omit the philosophy and background.None of those first ten minutes should be wasted.3.Answer the basic questions.How big is the market (tell us why we should care), how are you different, and how does your business model let you win? If all you do is answer these three questions, then your presentation will be a success.4.Teach.Help us understand the space better and in an interesting way.Analysts are always looking for new ideas to include in the next report.Explain the problem in an interesting and innovative way, and if you are lucky, the analyst will steal what you tell them and use it in their work.If they promote a problem for which you have the solution you have gone a long way to making the visit worthwhile.5.Know where we come from before you arrive.Management teams regularly come to our office without the foggiest idea what we care about.It only takes a minute or two to do a Google search to get a good idea of who you are about to talk to.Hey, if we are going to spend an hour of our time listening, then give us a break and at least find out what we have been doing.6.Tell us how you fit in.There are many of big players in the technology world that exert a lot of influence on customers.We want to know how your company will succeed despite (or because of) the presence of the big players.Don'ts1.Don't bring a big entourage.Do not bring along someone if all he or she is going to do is sit there and smile.Focus the meeting on your target audience and get the most out of their time.2.Don't quote other analysts.It is rude and not at all productive.Just as you compete with others, so, too, do the analyst firms, and they really do not like one another (go ahead, call all of us petty if you want).3.No brown nosing.Do not ask for our opinion unless you really want it and are willing to hear our input.If you do not care about someone's opinion, why are you talking to them in the first place? If you do care and ask, listen to what they say and acknowledge that you heard it (you do not have to agree with it).From time to time we seem to really offend companies by giving critical feedback to a weak presentation.If you do not want the feedback, then do not ask.We are sure it is not the most pleasant experience, but it is a lot more pleasant than having your product bomb in the marketplace.4.Don't do all the talking
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