Thoughts about dealing with industry analysts:

1. Briefing an analyst is different from selling to a customer. Don't use the same deck. The Jedi sales mind tricks won't work, and will just be annoying.

2. Remember, an analyst has maybe half an hour (or an hour if you're lucky) to figure out and understand something you may have been working on for months or years. Ask how THEY want to learn it (maybe it's not PowerPoint). I myself prefer to use a hands-on demo.

3. Don't waste time setting up the problem. The analyst already knows what the problem/threat/risk/concept is. Go straight to how you address it. Don't assume the analyst isn't technical; let her have as many details as she wants.

4. Because time is so short, the analyst can't spend time proving or refuting your claims; she can only report them. It's no use pointing out that your competitor is lying unless you can prove it unequivocally. Otherwise you're just in "yuh-huh!" "nuh-uh!" territory.

5. Don't say you're the "first" or "only" company to do something. That just made me want to prove you wrong, and 9 times out of 10, I could do it. In fact, get rid of adjectives and adverbs altogether. Just give facts. I'll make the judgment as to whether it's fast or unique.

6. Just because the analyst has a different opinion doesn't mean she doesn't "get it." Don't threaten to keep briefing her until she sees it your way. Make sure she has the facts, then step back and let her analyze them.

7. Extravagant swag, parties, etc. don't make a difference. I've had dinner at Michael Dell's house; it didn't change how I analyzed Dell's offerings. Just be friendly, respectful, and honest.

I am so glad I never had to stack-rank vendor offerings (as in a quadrant or a wave). It would have made me crazy to try to determine one as "better" or "worse" than the other, and then hear the vendor complaints about it to my bosses.

And as an analyst, I always reserved the right to be wrong. Yes, we get it wrong sometimes, and if it's with your company's offering, I'm sorry. We do our best, but we all have our strengths and weaknesses and bad days.