Assess where it stands in providing the needed information and how it rates compared with competitors. The vendor may be making it harder for the analyst to get the information when his or her time is already tight. That analyst might rate the vendor lower than competitors in this area, because the analyst is not receiving effective support from the vendor firm. The result can translate into a subconscious negative perception about the vendor, its products, or both. Understand how individual analysts and consultants want to receive information.
Some analysts prefer to be briefed with a succinct telephone call.
Others want to interact with the vendor's executives in person. Others have gone full circle and now want information by mail so they can read it on a plane or at home. Identify how the company rates comparatively in the ways in which it provides the needed information. Briefings are a good example. Vendors often fail to qualify the analyst's area of expertise in advance to make sure they aren't wasting the analyst's time.