I just received an email from a BPM vendor (let’s call them XYZ so as not to overly embarrass them), as follows:
Hi Sandy,
We are currently gathering feedback from BPM experts on XYZ’s position in the marketplace. As I know you are insanely busy, it would be greatly appreciated if you could answer the following questions below.
Describe XYZ in three words (not using Business / Process / Management)
§ Who are XYZ’s competitors?
§ How does XYZ differentiate itself from its competition?
§ What benefits does XYZ Offer?
§ What are XYZ’s biggest opportunities?
§ What are XYZ’s biggest challenges?
I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to help with this. Please let me know if you need anything or have any questions.
Best,
[signed by a person who I have never heard of, with no title attached although I assume it’s somewhere in marketing]
I’m guessing that “BPM experts” at Gartner and Forrester didn’t receive similar emails, and that this is a special email directed at independent analysts, bloggers and other people who they figure are good for a free opinion.
Willyou answer to them? Did you like the thing or not?
Considering that I think that their biggest challenge is the training of their marketing staff, I thought that it was more politic not to answer.
“Too true to the marketing stereotype”? LOL!
Hmmm. Sounds like said vendor is filling out the usual survey info for Gartner and Forrester (it is that time of year) and is too new or too true to the marketing stereotype to be able to answer those himself.