Technology and service providers spend a lot on getting their messages out, and influencers, especially industry analysts, can amplify or destroy that message. So, when we went in search of the challenges and priorities of AR professionals, we expected to hear about getting the attention of analysts and communicating the value to them.Instead, we found that it’s not the analysts that are the challenge; rather, it’s company executives and internal stakeholders. We heard comments from senior analyst relations professionals like the following:“Even when a magic quadrant response is due, it’s hard to get pricing info from finance.” “Getting good references from field sales is like pulling eye teeth.”“The CEO wants to build a personal relationship with analysts. He’s not really listening to them.” “The head of product gets frustrated with even the slightest critical feedback from an analyst.” “I keep having to re-introduce what analyst relations does over and over.”