A pitch-perfect pitch can get top influencers to cover your product
You’re a technology vendor seeking to persuade industry analysts - whose primary job it is to advise IT corporate buyers which solutions will work best for them - to cover your latest solution. How do you grab the attention of these extremely busy individuals already inundated by briefing requests from numerous other companies? One way is to develop a pitch-perfect analyst pitch that will actually get read - and responded to favorably. Here’s how…
Ask yourself: Is it a good fit?
Compatibility is critical. While hundreds of analyst companies are out there - from single-person boutique shops that specialize in a few issues to worldwide firms that cover almost everything - pitching an analysts whose coverage or research areas have nothing to do with your product will get you nowhere.
You can find quickly the perfect product-analyst synch from information in the companies’ websites, analyst bios, or research abstracts. For even more exact targeting, make sure you select the analyst who’s writing about issues related to your product as part of the current research agenda.
Capture their attention quickly
The target of your pursuit - a potential customer, or influencer - is beset by distractions. To capture and retain interest, craft a message that’s relevant to the primary audience, matches her interests or piques his curiosity, and is full of relevant numbers and figures.
Remember that industry analysts are different from media - they’re not after scoops; they want a full understanding of your solution they can use to advise their clients.
Say the right thing at the right time (or place)
The email pitch is to the analyst what a sales pitch is to a customer: Every word has to be carefully chosen and the timing and placement just so.
Cover your raison d’etre, your why, what, and how - why you developed the product – don’t forget to mention the problems you solve; what the product is; how it meets those needs, plus how you’re going to succeed.
Your subject line should grab attention yet promise only what you can deliver. Your intro should describe who you are, what you do, and why covering your product story is important/relevant to the analyst/your “unique selling proposition”: describe what your solution has or does that other tech providers don’t and that mirror current trends or help analysts deliver insights to their clients. Finally, conclude your pitch with a call to action: What do you want the analyst to do?
Send in the experts
To achieve successful pitching, ensure quality interactions with your analyst. This means sending in the best possible spokesperson for your product, someone with clear communication skills, technical expertise to answer the analyst’s questions, and the ability to exchange distinctive industry insights and drive genuine vendor-analyst engagement. Analysts look forward to interactions with CEOs, chiefs of strategy or business units and, of course, technical experts.
Be realistic
Be frank and specific about your product’s advantage and worth. Analysts would rather hear “Our authentication protocol lets businesses identify email senders not complying with configured rules,” than, “Our product changes the cybersecurity landscape forever.” Be honest about your competitors: very few solutions in the market are 100 percent unique. Instead of saying, no, you don’t have competitors, state instead that unlike other providers your technology combines a, b, and c or takes an X/Y approach for optimal effectiveness.
Last, but not least, be able to take no for an answer. Analysts can reject your pitch for sundry reasons - from lack of time to lack of a fit. It’s not the end of the world. Clarify the reason for the refusal, and continue engaging and cultivating relationships with this analyst or pitch to others.
Remember that analysts cover products not to benefit you, but to provide value for their clients. Getting them to say yes requires the right message, the right tone, and the right expectations.