Some of the self-styled new breed analyst firms, who hail from either a blogging or offshore background, would have you believe that freemium is a key differentiator. But freemium research is far from new, and is hardly ground-breaking. Have a look at almost any analyst firm’s website, and you’ll find free material. On the NelsonHall research portal you’ll find masses of high-quality analyst commentary, blog articles, webcasts, research summaries, and opt-in research newsletters (and for the buy-side, hundreds of NEAT vendor evaluation quadrants too) – all there for free. What matters is how good and impartial the free research is, and also what you find when you scrape beneath the surface of the free stuff.

One thing’s for sure. With over 40,000 global research reports across a large number of service line and industry-specific programs, NelsonHall has a wealth of high-impact research available, all of it based on original interviews with the buyers and vendors of outsourcing services around the world. And every piece of research tackles the tough questions and delivers insightful answers that help clients narrow the risk of decision-making in complex sourcing environments. Some of this insight we choose to give away. We always have done. We just don’t see this as a differentiator.

What is a differentiator is meticulous attention to detail, and a refusal to adopt anything other than the best methods of gathering and analyzing research data, and delivering insight to our clients. For example, we do not use on-line surveys, which are hopelessly inadequate for extensive data gathering in complex B2B markets. Nor do we believe that it’s possible to write outsourcing vendor profiles based on information entered into standard forms by the vendors themselves. That’s a sure-fire way of collecting lots of vendor marcomms and wishful thinking, but certainly no basis for accurate data gathering, let alone objective analysis.

And now for a reality check. Doing research the right way is not an inexpensive business, and has to be paid for one way or another. One way is to set a reasonable fee for all clients who wish to access premium research, and to grant them enterprise-wide access. Another way is to find a sponsor who’s prepared to pay a much larger fee for the privilege of first access to (or co-hosting of) the research. We take the former approach.

But here’s another very important way to look at the freemium issue. We challenge any organization to build a successful sourcing strategy based on free research alone. Googling for free information is a non-starter, and relying entirely on free analyst research doesn’t get you much further. We wouldn’t advise it, much as we wouldn’t advise web-based self-diagnosis of that nagging abdominal pain you’ve had for the last two months.

Some of the newer players point to their freemium model as evidence that they are changing the established order of the ‘legacy’ analyst firms. Really? Other than the fact that freemium is nothing new, the reality is that analyst firms founded on well-established principles, rigorous methodologies, and a refusal to dumb down what they do, are more important today than they ever were.

You may ask, does any of this really matter?

Well, not unless you happen to believe that substance is more important than form. In which case it matters rather a lot – your business could depend on it.

Of course he’s referring to the plethora of B2C online surveys. But there’s also no shortage of B2B surveys out there. Many small businesses looking to keep costs to a minimum are making use of online B2B surveys to gather marketing data, and the attractions of doing so are clear, including real-time results, automated reporting, and avoidance of human error. 

Online surveys have their place, but it’s important to remember that they are not a one-size-fits-all solution for B2B data gathering for market research. They only work when the business in question is looking for straightforward answers to concise questions within a tightly structured framework, when the survey is targeting general respondents, and when the whole thing can be completed in less than 15 minutes.

For extensive data gathering in complex B2B markets, with wide-ranging and searching questions aimed at getting beneath the skin of, for example, a specific service offering or specific business issue, online surveys fall hopelessly short. Popular as it may be to decry telephone and face-to-face interviews as being out-dated, this is exactly where these traditional methods come into their own - by directly targeting participants with relevant, highly specific roles, responsibilities and job titles, filtering out the white noise, and engaging participants in a meaningful dialog. We doubt whether many CXOs spend their time filling in online forms, but we do know that they’re willing to talk when the time is right and the topic is important to them.   

NelsonHall is in the business of delivering insightful outsourcing market intelligence. While an online survey might occasionally confirm which way the wind is blowing, we wouldn’t use one to gather the detailed market and vendor data we need to drive our research. Every vendor profile we write is based on one or more interviews of an hour and a half each, with execs from the appropriate business unit. Every NEAT vendor assessment we conduct is based on direct interviews, client references, and rigorous analysis using a minimum of 30 specific evaluation criteria. And every end-user project we conduct is based on highly targeted telephone interviews using a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions designed to reveal a level of detail that could never to garnered from an online survey. And we know exactly who we are speaking to - it is simply not possible to fill in the types of dummy responses that can (and do) happen in online surveys.

Some firms would have you believe that they can deliver insightful outsourcing research using online crowdsourcing. And some firms write outsourcing vendor profiles based on information entered into standard forms by the vendors themselves: a sure-fire way of collecting vendor marcomms and wishful thinking, and certainly no basis for accurate data gathering, let alone objective analysis. 

The simple fact is that, in complex B2B markets, there are no easy shortcuts to reliable, accurate and meaningful research data. While online methods are quick and easy, essential market research principles such as representative sampling and screening out of unsuitable respondents tend to get lost. And, of course, online surveys lack direct interaction with the respondent. There is simply no substitute for direct interaction, which enables the skilled B2B interviewer to gather the relevant information by the simple expedient of an intelligent conversation.

In an age in which most of us are glued to screens of one form or another most of the time, it’s healthy to step back and ask whether the answers to all our problems really can be found online. In the case of complex B2B research, the answer is simple: ‘no’.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few views about One Direction that I’d like to get off my chest.  

It came as a breath of fresh air then to hear the views of prominent Analyst Relations professionals at the recent Kea AR Forum in London. It was clear from the agenda that AR increasingly sees itself as key to driving company success, acting as a catalyst for sales, marketing and product management, and providing a sounding board for corporate strategy. And it was evident that today’s enlightened AR practitioners are finding real value from certain quarters of the analyst market.

Yash Khanna, AR Director for Tata Consultancy Services in EMEA, and board member of the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR), presented a case study of how TCS derives value from its relationship with NelsonHall. He emphasized that TCS’ key business objectives are underpinned by the AR function, from its ability to identify new trends, to its influence on driving change, shortening sales cycles, and ultimately increasing market share. And TCS looks to NelsonHall to provide essential support in helping this happen.

Mr. Khanna described a value-chain of service elements that NelsonHall provides to help TCS improve bid success, maintain competitiveness, and stay ahead of the market – from competitor intelligence and market opportunity identification all the way through to support for new market entry and sales generation. In particular, Mr. Khanna identified the following as the most important aspects of NelsonHall’s service to TCS: 

• Greater BPO coverage than other firms
• Research methodology based on thorough vendor interviewing and a commitment to fact-based vendor and market analysis
• Direct and unlimited access to analysts
• Use of all-onshore analysts producing detailed, original, actionable data
• Understanding of the buy-side, with its ‘Speed-to-Source’ approach and NEAT tool
• Enterprise-wide access, rather than a ‘per seat’ model

At which point, anyone might be forgiven for thinking ‘that’s very well, but how does all of this help in real business terms?’ Mr. Khanna answered the question with a series of named examples where TCS have leveraged NelsonHall’s research and advice in the field, including:

• Two key acquisitions
• Two greenfield BPO ventures
• Go-to-market support for TCS business in closed book insurance, healthcare, reconciliation, as well as regional strategy support
• Support for TCS’s service/product strategy  business in the areas of pricing benchmarking, service delivery models, and utility & BPaaS

According to Mr. Khanna, this level of hands-on expert support has been instrumental in enabling TCS to grow its market share year-on-year, as well as increasing its market capitalization four-fold over the last ten years, enhancing its brand value, and boosting customer satisfaction.

At a time when analyst value is questioned more than ever before, it is refreshing to hear first-hand evidence of the genuine business impact analyst services can deliver. Only this week, one commentator spoke about the impending demise of the analyst industry. So long as companies like TCS continue to derive the type of business benefits described by Mr. Khanna, we at NelsonHall would beg to differ.