Scheduled vs. reactive interaction

A scheduled interaction is a planned engagement placed on the AR calendar in advance; a reactive interaction is one triggered by an event such as an acquisition, an outage, a funding round or an analyst's own inquiry.

Scheduled work is forecastable and resourced in advance. Reactive work arrives without notice, usually with a short response window, and often at moments when the company is already occupied with the triggering event.

Why it matters

Programs are typically resourced for the scheduled half and improvised for the reactive half — and the reactive half is the half buyers hear about.

Reactive interactions carry disproportionate weight because they occur when the analyst's attention is already engaged. An analyst who calls about an outage is going to write something either way; the only variable is whether your account of it is in the room.

Related: AR calendar · Embargo · Analyst sentiment

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