What approach leads to success
Getting the analysts to truly understand your differentiated capabilities and to recognize your specific market fit requires precision and clarity in the information you provide.
Most companies see assessment RFIs as a necessary evil and something team members are simply keen to get “off their plate”. The result is an answer to every question – but frequently not the answer needed. To be clear its not that it’s the wrong answer. Assessments aren’t examinations with right and wrong answers. They are an exercise by the analysts, on behalf of buyers, to best understand the relative fit of each supplier to different buyer needs both now, and critically, over the lifetime of the intended relationship.
With very short timeframes to respond, the focus is consequently often on the process itself and not the detail of the very specific information being provided and in what form. The world’s largest vendors have rigorous processes in place, teams of people engaging across the business to collate the required information and a focus on the goal versus the exercise. For most other companies, where assessments are an infrequent activity, this is not the case and that is a clear disadvantage.
Having worked over the last 15 years with over 550 companies on assessments (and many more years than we would care to mention before that as senior analysts and research executives at firms such as Gartner, IDC, TowerGroup, Advisory Board) we recognize that there are 3 clear elements required that differentiate those who achieve target outcomes.
Assessments responses are like a legal case.
You need to set out and prove your case relative to all the alternatives around you. For example, that requires crystal clarity on the problem you solve and for who, your differentiation (across technology, services and every aspect of your business) and consequential competitive positioning, your vision and strategy over the next 12-24 months with clarity on what you are doing, and critically, why. It requires all this to be provided, like a legal case, in the form of evidence. Clear, concise evidence.
Assessment cycles are short and complex.
A rigorous process is not optional if you are going to be confident that what you respond with is putting your very best foot forward. You need to be clear on every workstream required, who needs to be involved (from a RACI perspective), your deadlines and the inter-relationships that exist between the streams.
Responses are limited and often proscribed.
To avoid ending up with a lowest common denominator response it needs expert review of every element of the response – every survey answer, every slide being presented, every element of the demo. These need to be focused, aligned and on-point for the requirements of the analysts. Further, it is vital to recognize that the analysts focus is the buyer, not the supplier. Every element needs to focus from the outside-in, from the reason why for the buyer, not why for the supplier.