TechValidate Research on The Skills Connection


The Skills Connection Case Study

Small Business Computer Services Company

Introduction

This case study of a small business computer services company is based on a July 2018 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.

“The money we spent with The Skills Connection proved to be a great investment. Our target analysts have a much sharper understanding of the value we deliver, and now give their clients a stronger endorsement of our solutions.”

“This is the second time I have worked with The Skills Connection, and once again I was very impressed with the quality of the advice and the thoroughness of the work.”

“We saw a big improvement in our standing in the Gartner Magic Quadrant versus our standing in a similar evaluation from Forrester one year ago. The Skills Connection team brings a lot of expertise as it relates to Gartner and helps guide vendors on how to best package their story and provide enough evidence to make it compelling for the analysts. It’s very evident to us that the counsel we received helped us present ourselves in a much stronger way with Gartner than we did with Forrester. They were a tremendous partner throughout the project and always offered very helpful advice. I would absolutely work with them again in the future.”

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
    • Were concerned that coverage of their product / services by analysts would negatively impact their 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 enter an assessment, such as an MQ/Wave/Marketscape, for the first time
    • 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
  • Benefits from working with The Skills Connection:
    • 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
  • 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: agree
  • Agrees with the following statements:
    • Collaborative: strongly agree
    • Knowledgeable: strongly agree
    • Service-oriented: strongly agree
    • Value for money: strongly agree
    • Best practice focused: strongly agree




About This Data

This data was sourced directly from verified users of The Skills Connection by TechValidate.

TechValidate verifies the identity and organizational affiliation of all participants that contribute to published research data. When research participants so desire, we also guarantee their anonymity so that they may share information honestly and freely.


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