TechValidate Research on The Skills Connection

These pages present data that TechValidate has sourced via direct research with verified customers and users of The Skills Connection. TechValidate stands behind the authenticity of all published data. Learn more »



161 Customers Surveyed

1,490 Data Points Collected

247 Published TechFacts

35 Published Charts

67 Published Case Studies



Featured Research Collections for The Skills Connection

Curated collections and slideshows of TechValidate research data on The Skills Connection.



Selected Research Highlights


The Skills Connection Customer Satisfaction Rating

A Product Management at a medium enterprise computer software company would be very likely to recommend The Skills Connection for this reason:

We achieved our goal to be Magic Quadrant leaders with the quality of coaching provided by The Skills Connection. Their understanding of the Gartner analysts and MQ process is outstanding.

The Skills Connection Case Study

Small Business Computer Hardware Company

Introduction

This case study of a small business computer hardware company is based on a June 2016 survey of The Skills Connection customers by TechValidate, a 3rd-party research service. The profiled company asked to have their name blinded to protect their confidentiality.

“Helping us move up and to the right on the Magic Quadrant is something we fully expect to see as a real business result from this engagement. Our submission this year was 100 times better than last years because of their assistance. We developed collateral and materials and marketing messaging we will continue to utilize throughout the year as well.”

“They were extremely knowledgeable about the Gartner process and their expectations. They went above and beyond working around our schedules to help make our response much better than we would have put together on our own. They helped us put all the information Gartner would want to see in a format they would want to see it in, hitting the points Gartner would care about. Their engagement was extremely valuable to help us for honing in on our essential story to help shape our marketing message, as well to help with customer endeavors.”

Challenges

The business challenges that led the profiled company to evaluate and ultimately select The Skills Connection:

  • Engaged with The Skills Connection for the following reasons:
    • Did not have the in-house expertise to effectively engage with analysts
    • Wanted to learn how to effectively differentiate themselves from their competitors when talking with analysts
    • Wanted to change their position in the MQ/Wave/Marketscape to generate new business

Use Case

The key features and functionalities of The Skills Connection that the surveyed company uses:

  • Uses The Skills Connection to:
    • Provide the necessary expertise to effectively engage analysts
    • Show them how to gather the right information for analysts
    • Show them how to effectively communicate their story to analysts
    • Help them improve their position in an MQ/Wave/Marketscape
    • Help them enter an assessment, such as an MQ/Wave/Marketscape, for the first time
    • Focus just on what was needed, and avoid wasting time on anything else
    • Create an internal learning environment so that their team can be more effective in the future
    • Provide the tools and best practices needed to build a strong case for analysts
    • Create compelling evidence-based cases for analysts

Results

The surveyed company achieved the following results with The Skills Connection:

  • Experiences gained with The Skills Connection:
    • Confidence communicating the unique value of their solution to analysts
    • The ability to create a strong evidence-based case to analysts covering their product / service
    • The skills needed to communicate with analysts in the future
    • Unique insights about their solution that were instrumental in winning over analysts
  • Benefits from working with The Skills Connection:
    • Made the most effective use of their internal resources
    • Generated new business by improving the clarity of their market story
    • Positively shifted their position in the MQ/Wave/Marketscape
    • Received better results than when they had engaged with analysts
    • Provided their internal team the tools and skills to effectively engage with analysts
    • Effectively communicates the unique value of their products / services
  • Rates The Skills Connection 5 out of 5 stars.

71% of respondents confirmed that the engagement with The Skills Connection had already led to a tangible increase in new business opportunities.

Working with The Skills Connection Team

Please indicate your company’s experience with The Skills Connection.

Gave us confidence when communicating the unique value of our solution to analysts
61%
Gave us the ability to create a strong evidence-based case to analysts covering our product/service
94%
Gave us the skills needed to communicate with analysts in the future
65%
Gave us unique insights about our solution that were instrumental in winning over analysts
34%

The Skills Connection Customer Research

Why Companies Value Working with The Skills Connection

Please indicate the degree to which you agree with each of the following statements. The Skills Connection is ….

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree

Collaborative
Knowledgeable
Service-oriented
Value for money
Best practice focused

The Skills Connection Case Study

Medium Enterprise Computer Software Company

Introduction

This case study of a medium enterprise computer software company is based on a June 2021 survey of The Skills Connection customers by TechValidate, a 3rd-party research service. The profiled company asked to have their name blinded to protect their confidentiality.

“I was very impressed with the quality of work and effort provided by The Skills Connection. And I truly enjoyed working with them. They encouraged and guided us to think about our messaging at a level I don’t think we ever had . It wasn’t always easy work but they made it fun and the end result is something we’ll not only be using for the Magic Quadrant submission but in various forms throughout our company.

We would certainly recommend The Skills Connection as our engagement with them helped teach us how to communicate the value of our products more effectively."

Challenges

The business challenges that led the profiled company to evaluate and ultimately select The Skills Connection:

  • Engaged with The Skills Connection for the following reasons:
    • Wanted to learn how to effectively differentiate themselves from their competitors when talking with analysts
    • Wanted to change their position in the MQ/Wave/Marketscape to generate new business

Use Case

The key features and functionalities of The Skills Connection that the surveyed company uses:

  • Uses The Skills Connection to:
    • Provide the necessary expertise to effectively engage analysts
    • Show them how to effectively communicate their story to analysts
    • Help them improve their position in an MQ/Wave/Marketscape
    • Create an internal learning environment so that their team can be more effective in the future
    • Provide the tools and best practices needed to build a strong case for analysts
    • Create compelling evidence-based cases for analysts

Results

The surveyed company achieved the following results with The Skills Connection:

  • Experiences gained with The Skills Connection:
    • Confidence communicating the unique value of their solution to analysts
    • The ability to create a strong evidence-based case to analysts covering their product / service
    • The skills needed to communicate with analysts in the future
    • Unique insights about their solution that was instrumental in winning over analysts
  • Benefits from working with The Skills Connection:
    • Made the most effective use of their internal resources
    • Provided their internal team the tools and skills to effectively engage with analysts
    • Effectively communicates the unique value of their products / services
  • Agrees with the following statements:
    • Met their internal schedules and deadlines: strongly agree
    • Ensured they met schedules and deadlines for the analysts: strongly agree
    • Facilitated the co-ordination of activities across their internal response team: strongly agree
    • Acted as an extension of staff: strongly agree
    • Enabled them to focus on what was needed and avoid wasting time on anything else: strongly agree
  • The Skills Connection is:
    • Collaborative: strongly agree
    • Knowledgeable: strongly agree
    • Service-oriented: strongly agree
    • Value for money: strongly agree
    • Best practice focused: strongly agree


More to Explore



About The Skills Connection

The Skills Connection helps technology companies to get the right results from analyst engagement. They work with technology clients that want to optimize their chances of success in a Gartner MQ or Forrester Wave assessment. In addition, they work with elite analyst firms, providing coaching and training services to sharpen delivery and improve client satisfaction and renewal rates.

The Skills Connection Website   The Skills Connection Website