A Gartner Peer Insights Success Case Study: From Pretender to Pacesetter

If you are involved in sourced peer reviews for technology markets, you are undoubtedly aware of Gartner Peer Insights (GPI). GPI was launched by Gartner in 2015 as an alternative to review platforms such as G2 and TrustRadius and (as with most things Gartner-related) soon dominated the market – hosting more than 850,000 reviews and ratings across nearly 400 markets1 covering 7,500 providers, and more than 11,600 products2. 

 

The importance of peer review sites like GPI is hard to overestimate. According to a 2024 Wynter survey of 100 B2B SaaS marketing leaders, 81% of buyers check third-party review sites when vetting software. Additionally, Starsight Communications found in 2023 that 95% of B2B buyers read online reviews to shortlist vendors. 

 

Depending on the focus of your company, as well as the emphasis placed on it by certain Gartner analysts, GPI can play an important role in your analyst relations program as well. This was the case when I recently accepted a role as AR Director and found the company ranked in the middle of the pack (at best) in our markets on GPI. 

 

Working in close collaboration with an amazing Customer Advocacy team, and with full strategic and financial support from the CEO, we revitalized the company’s GPI program and ultimately found ourselves at the top of the rankings! 

 

Keep reading to find out how we did it. 

 

Goals and Challenges 

 

Challenges 

• Lack of focus on GPI left the company lagging competitors in number of reviews and overall rating in key markets. 

• There was a limited number of referenceable customers. 

• Most referenceable customers were dedicated to other incentivized activities. 

• Introduction of new Voice of the Customer (VoC) reports left little time to plan and execute a sourcing strategy. 

 

Goals 

• Crank up the Volume – Take the lead in number of reviews 

• Shoot for the Stars – Focus on customers who would provide 5-star reviews 

• Impact Key Reports – Meet key milestones to impact our standing in both Magic Quadrant and VoC reports 

• Ultimately, achieve “Customer Choice” ranking in VoC reports 

 

The Solution 

There are so many factors other than GPI ratings that impact the analysis of companies for the Magic Quadrant. So, while we knew our efforts would have a positive impact on our MQ standing, we focused the strategy where it would have the greatest impact: inclusion, and ultimately Customer Choice ranking, in the Voice of the Customer reports.  

 

With this in mind, we had to get enough reviews to meet the volume criteria for inclusion (i.e., 20+ eligible reviews in the 18-month window). We also had to push for reviews that positively impacted both axes on the chart: 

• User Adoption and Interest 

• Reviews + Considerations 

• Willingness to Recommend 

• Market Coverage 

• Overall Experience 

• Overall Rating 

• Service & Support 

• Product Capabilities 

 

With a finite amount of time and limited funds from Gartner for customer incentives, we elected to incentivize employees instead via a SPIFF. We wanted to focus on employees who had the closest relationships with our customers and would therefore know who was likely to provide the best scores in these target areas. However, in the long run, we chose to offer incentives to any employee who could generate the reviews we needed. As a result, we found that our Tech Support team was far and away our greatest resource for reviews! 

 

Here’s where it gets tricky. Gartner makes it impossible to tie individual reviews to specific customers. So, without opening up the kimono too far, we were able to create GPI campaigns in such a way that we could logically estimate how many published reviews a specific employee had generated and reward them accordingly.  

 

The strategy wasn’t completely employee-focused, however. We also shifted our efforts on driving customer reviews to GPI at our user conference, where previously the efforts had been focused on G2 and TrustRadius.  

 

Needless to say, the results were overwhelmingly positive as we generated significantly more reviews than we needed. And, the ratings greatly increased our rankings across the board. 

 

The Results 

• In both markets, our # of reviews moved from 5th to 1st! 

• In one market, # of reviews increased 6x YoY, and our overall rating jumped from 3.7 to 4.3 out of 5 stars. 

• In the same market, we qualified for the Voice of the Customer for the first time. 

• In the latest edition, our company was ranked as “Customer Choice” in the report. 

• In another market, our review increased 68% YoY and our overall rating jumped from 4.1 to 4.6 out of 5 stars. 

• In that same market, our company was the sole “Customer Choice” vendor in the inaugural Voice of the Customer report and continued that standing in the next edition. 

 

It’s hard to quantify what impact these results had on the company’s dot placement in the associated Magic Quadrant reports. However, in one market, the mentions of customer reviews in the company profile went from being highlighted in the “Cautions” to being highlighted in the “Strengths.”  

 

Keys to Success 

As anyone who has executed a Gartner Peer Insights strategy knows, there is no magic formula that will work for everyone company and every market. However, here are a few basic principles I would recommend to achieve the best success: 

 

• Teamwork, Teamwork, Teamwork – No man is an island when it comes to AR in general, but especially as it relates to Gartner Peer Insights. Maintain close ties with your Customer Advocacy team. You want to help mold the strategy but allow them to do their work executing it. If you don’t have a good CA team, build a tiger team with Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing to build a strong stable of positive customer references. 
   

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate – Executing a successful AR and GPI strategy requires focus 12 months out of the year. Meet regularly with your “tiger team.” Keep them informed of the timelines for these reports and what you will need from customers … and WHEN … to meet your milestones for MQ and VoC report inclusion. 
   

• Secure Your Covering Fire – There are always competing demands for customers’ time and attention. You will need support from the top to ensure the GPI program gets the attention it requires. Keep the C-Suite informed and aligned as much as possible throughout the year. 
   

• Get to Know Your Customers – A high-quality CA team like I had will have in-depth knowledge of referenceable customers and strong ties with Account Management. But, you shouldn’t rely solely on them to source GPI reviews. Take every opportunity to meet with customers whenever and wherever you can. Use on old journalists’ trick: ask them what problems and issues they are having. Human nature will make them want to say something positive about the company after airing a complaint. If possible, get access to recordings of account managers’ online conversations with customers. I did this with Clarity Copilot and used AI to scour the recordings for potential positive reviewers.  
   

• Stay on Top of GPI Policy – Gartner is constantly tweaking its policies for GPI – and, well, everything else – when it comes to vendors. Check back regularly with the GPI FAQ and Rules of Engagement. And, attend the vendor webinars in which Gartner’s Analyst Relations team will update GPI policy. 
   

• Prepare Your Customers – Understanding Gartner policy for GPI reviews will be helpful in your prep calls with customers prior to their submitting a review. You will want to do this as much as you can to ensure customers understand Gartner’s sometimes confusing terminology, as well as the importance of providing responses in each of the areas of the review. Incomplete reviews get discarded, and they will have wasted their time. 

 

Ready to Elevate Your Analyst Impact? 

Our AR methodologies are designed to bridge corporate vision and analyst expectations. Partner with Forward AR Experts to secure your market standing. Click the button below to get connected.