We were pleased to learn recently that our client Nintex, a global leader in workflow solutions and project management was named to Gartner’s list of “Cool Vendors in Program and Portfolio Management, 2013.” The exclusive report, authored by analysts Robert A. Handler, Matt Light, Jim Duggan, Daniel B. Stang, Donna Fitzgerald, and Elise Olding, highlights innovative vendors and their products and services selected by Gartner analysts.
The basis for the honor is the value Nintex Workflow software offers enterprises in terms of efficiency and cost savings via its process automation and project management software. Its product has been adopted by more than 4,000 organizations in 90 countries. In late 2012, we worked with Nintex’s marketing team to develop an analyst outreach plan for Nintex Workflow for Project Server, one of the company’s key software products. The product has only been on the market since December 2010, but was gaining traction and attention quickly from partners including Microsoft and was ready for greater visibility among reporters and analysts.
The way Nintex was able to capture the attention of the analysts demonstrates the importance of planning, storytelling, and having customers ready and willing to speak about the benefits of their product.
In January we began outreach to key analysts at Gartner, Forrester and IDC and secured briefings with five analysts over the course of January and February to demo Nintex Workflow for Project Server and provide information about updates in the 2013 version. We also sent out a press release to key media in the project management industry and briefed them about the continuous investment and innovation Nintex was providing its customers.
A large part of the Nintex story is how the company’s end users – the business managers and project managers – are able to automate their workflows and data collection. Automating routine tasks through workflow allows them to spend more time on mission-critical tasks like ensuring public transportation safety, tending to the medical needs of patients, and bringing new products to market.
Nintex has a number of partners and customer willing to speak about their experience with the product, which enables our public relations team to bring life to the story when briefing analysts and reporters. We were able to provide references to analysts and reporters from partners eager to speak about the company’s value as a business partner who is committed to fast roll outs, continuous refinements, and understanding the needs of project managers. Nintex also provided end-users case studies that reported increased efficiency and cost savings, including a 20 percent reduction of time spent in meetings, up to 50 percent faster project completion times, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings in IT support.
The success of this analyst and media relations plan for Nintex Workflow for Project Server supports a tenet that is critical in telling a cool story: Show us, don’t just tell us. Innovative solutions, happy customers, supportive partners and fans of your product are what make your company cool indeed.