Hiccup. Hiccup. Hiccup.
I was speaking to a client today about the vision for my new analyst firm Supply Chain Insights, and I quickly realized that I had assumed that the clients knew their role in this new model that we are building. They don’t. I am sorry for not being clear.
In launching the firm, I have failed to realize is how big of a change this concept is for the user of research from their experiences with a traditional analyst firm. As I hung up the phone, and thanked my reader for the feedback, I was spurred to write this blog.
Here at Supply Chain Insights, we are having fun. We are serious about redefining the analyst model and making research more available, actionable and useable. Today, just nine months after the launch of the company, we published our 12th report. Over 400 people a day are reading our research through our community, our website, slideshare and our blog sites.
I am surprised. I never expected that it would be so tough to understand this new concept. It is clear to me now that I have not been explicit enough about the role of supply chain leaders in this “new model.” This is the goal of this post:
- We do not want to be the smartest people in the room. Many analysts want to be, but we do not. Our belief is research is better when we collaborate with supply chain leaders. We are serious about Open Content research. One of our core values is humility. We are open in sharing finished research, but we are also open in the development of the research. We want to work with you.So, for example, as your request peer group analysis to better understand the effective frontier of your supply chain, we learn with you. By providing this service free of charge to all companies , we both win. Companies get the benchmark data on supply chain financial ratios and we get to learn from supply chain leaders in building the analysis and the interpretation of the results. (Just go to our community and submit a request.)
- We are here to serve. We know now that you have been trained to not share analyst research freely. In fact, you may have gotten your hands slapped from time to time for doing so. We often find that the readers of research are well-trained to not share. So, it may seem awkward to you that we want you to use our research widely and freely. Please share it openly and freely on twitter, linkedin, facebook. We mean it, really. And, no, you do not have to ask us to publish it on your website, just do it and follow our citation policy. We like it when you use our stuff. We like your word-of-mouth advertising. It helps us to become viral. We want to become the household name as “THE COMPANY” to turn to for actionable supply chain advice.
- We are not pay-to-play. We never will be. Won’t even try. You do not have to be a client to be included in our writing. And, you cannot pay us to write about you. Our recommendations are our own. Feel free to influence us, but we will not write those crafty white papers that others write recommending you. Just will not happen.Keep us informed. If you want to brief us, just drop us a note. We want to hear your story. The best way is to contact jill.smith@supplychaininsights.com.
- We Will Be Easy to Do Business With. We work with clients of all shapes and sizes on a variety of projects. We price based on the market and try to be agreeable on scope of work and terms/conditions. We don’t want to do consulting work. We do want to do:
- Strategy Days on Supply Chain Excellence: 85% of companies that we work with are confused on the definition of supply chain excellence. We will work with you to deliver research insights and use them to help shape your road map for the future.
- Speaking, Webinars and Panel Facilitation: Contact us to help you with your next event or webinar. Slots fill up about three months in advance.
- Custom Research. Your Project. Have something that you want to better understand? Let us help you scope a custom research project.
- Training for Your Team on Supply Chain Excellence. With the release of the book Bricks Matter in December, we will be launching custom training courses for you and your team on the evolution of supply chain and what defines supply chain excellence.
- Advisory Work. Need ongoing advice? An advisory to help you through your next project, your product launch or a redefinition? Buy some hours to use at your discretion for advisory time.
- Advertising on our Community. It is new. It launched this month. Get in on the ground floor of the SCI Community.
Let me know if you have any questions. And good luck on your journey for supply chain excellence.