Getting the Most From Your Relationship With Gartner

Having spent several years with companies such as Technology Solutions Co. (TSC) and KPMG, Matt Goldman understands the AR manager's role. In this interview, he tells AR managers how they can maximize the benefits of their Gartner relationship.

As an AR manager, how should I reinforce the value of Gartner to my management team?

As an AR manager, you can get more value from Gartner by reminding your management team of three key benefits:

• First, Gartner provides your company with an additional communications channel for expanding its brand awareness.
  
  
• Second, we help you identify opportunities and threats you may not be seeing-two things that are extremely informative when you update your product development and go-to-market plans.
  
  
• Third, we're a great sounding board for new ideas. Even if a solution is still undefined and conceptual, technology providers that get Gartner opinion early avoid surprises later on.

What Gartner resource do technology providers overlook the most?
Technology provider firms tend to overlook our advisory services. For example:

• Managers on both the technology and business sides are consumed with their day-to-day activities, causing them to occasionally miss seemingly insignificant moves by their competitors that can be quite meaningful. Inquiry helps shed light on nuances in market behavior that provider managers can use to their advantage.
  
  
• Inquiry services also help product managers understand when and how an emerging technology can breathe new life into one of their mature offerings or help them respond to market gaps with new product innovation.

Can AR managers use Gartner to get reactions to their market messages?
Yes, especially through Gartner Vendor Briefings.

• As an AR manager, you likely use Gartner briefings to communicate your broad market messages. But don't overlook opportunities to test your messages with specific segments, especially when those messages could pique the interest of a broader set of Gartner analysts.
  
  
• For example, in vertical markets: Let's say your company addresses important issues in the private banking segment of the financial services industry. Or maybe you deliver breakthroughs in claims processing for insurance firms. Perhaps your solution complements adjacent applications in CRM, contact center management or sales force automation.

By telling us about the benefits you deliver in niche segments and adjacent markets, you capture the attention of a larger number of analysts who are interested in your company's story.

What's your best advice for technology providers that are new to Gartner?

• Get a solid understanding of the Gartner point of view in your domain.
  
  
• Work with your account manager to build your coverage map. Set alerts on gartner.com and identify relevant conferences.

Doing these two things will help you consume our research in a relevant way and at a pace that is manageable.