SiriusDecisions analyst, Monica Behncke, follows up previous post with an additional five tips on how Sirius clients can maximize the ROI of their relationship, based on her experiences as both a client and an analyst.

In my previous post, I gave the first four of my insider tips on how to maximize the ROI of your SiriusDecisions relationship, based on my experiences as both a client and an analyst. Here are the next five tips:

Tip 5:  Find a peer.  I don’t think I ever asked for this, but some of our smart clients do.  If you are embarking on something new, ask if there is a (non-competitive) company or peer that you can chat with.

Tip 6:  Review your work. It’s good to learn the models through presentations and discussions, but I think offering your own work for review is where clients really get the most out of Sirius because we can refine the application of the models and research.  As an analyst, I find that these are my favorite calls. Like my colleagues, I love to see what clients are doing. Usually, it’s really good, and our job is to help make it the best it can be and help the client avoid future potholes.

Tip 7:  Bounce an idea.  In most companies, there are only so many senior, seasoned people that you can brainstorm or bounce ideas around with – and usually, those people don’t have any time to spare.  As long as we know that you don’t necessarily expect an instant answer, we’re happy to hash things out as a sounding board, or help crystallize a foggy thought.  In some cases, clients pose some pretty tough questions. We love a challenge and will often reach out internally to our colleagues to generate ideas or answers.

Tip 8:  Build Sirius muscle memory.  If you are early in your relationship with Sirius, make a conscious effort to build muscle memory to use the service.  Your triggers should be circumstances like the following: if you are researching a B2B topic on Google for more than 20 minutes; if your boss asked for a definition of something you’re not sure about; if you think to yourself “someone must have tried to do this before”;  if you are considering a new direction and don’t know where to start; or if something just isn’t working and you don’t know why.  In all these cases, call your account exec or account rep. Chances are, we can help.

Tip 9:  Remind yourself.  It’s hard to get used to having “extra staff” when they are not sitting next to you, so put a reminder on your calendar for, say, Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. to think for five minutes about what came up this week or is on the horizon for next week that could use more staff, hours or experience.  Then make the call.  We want to hear from you.