The inside scoop - using online information services, databases for company research - Industry Trend or Event

Theresa W. Carey

Monday morning, the call comes in - a client referral brings you a new lead. The prospect wants to meet you on Thursday to negotiate a work arrangement. Sounds promising, right? After all, she did come to you. And gaining new clients is the most challenging business task, according to our 1995 Annual Reader Survey. So why waste time researching her company when you could devote your energies to winning yet another client? Because the more information you know about a prospect, the easier it will be to clinch the deal and protect yourself from getting stiffed on payment. "But there are only 48 hours before the meeting," you say. Relax. You've got all the research tools - a phone, a computer, and a modem - you'll need right on your desk.

Start at the Source The job you're hired for will be to solve a particular problem. But before you can offer an appropriate solution, you need to first identify the specifics of the problem. This key information should come from the prospect. Ask such open-ended questions as, "What have you done in the past to solve this problem?" and "What's your ideal outcome?" Her responses will help you determine the scope of the situation and whether her expectations for a solution are realistic.

Inquire about what the business does, who its customers and competitors are, and the firm's position in the marketplace. It's also important to understand the company's structure. Ask the prospect what her role is in the company. Who does she report to and whom does she supervise? Is she the final decision-maker? If not, who has the authority to sign on the dotted line? Will the decisionmaker attend your upcoming meeting? It's always a good idea to get to know as much of the staff as possible because if your contact leaves the company, your business may go out the door too.

See if you can get the prospect to reveal a budget for the project. Also ask her to send some company literature, including brochures, fact sheets, and the latest annual report. Even the company phone directory might come in handy because it often includes employees' titles and divisions as well as their phone numbers. The data you've gathered so far should serve as the foundation for more research.

Conduct an Online investigation Firing up that modem and logging on is the quickest way to obtain an overview of a prospect's business. But it can also be expensive. The more specific your information, however, the more productive your online search.

The big three online services all offer access to Hoover's Business Reports (hoover is the go word on all three services), which contains a blend of 10K and business press data such as head count, office locations, and parent and child companies for publicly traded firms. The service carries no surcharges. But the data can be three months to a year old. The Company databases on America Online (keyword: company) and CompuServe (go: company research) contain Disclosure files that also provide 10K financial information about publicly traded businesses. Prodigy offers a quick way to grab Dun & Bradstreet reports off the Business/Finance menu.

Newspaper databases on commercial services can take some time to wade through. But you can choose the one that covers your prospect's local area and search articles about her company within the last five years (if the publication's archives are available). To access this information, click on the business icon in the Today's News area of America Online. Click the business/finance button on Prodigy and type go: newspaper on CompuServe.

The Compuserve TRW credit report database (go: trw) provides summarized financial statements of public and private companies for the past two years. And although the fees for the reports are on the high side ($25 to $50), they provide a lot of information in a very short time. The reports aren't pretty - text is all caps and there's a lot of jargon - but some time spent perusing a credit report can spare you a lot of time playing accounts receivable clerk.

The first part of the TRW report shows the various lines of credit the business has outstanding and its payment histories. A good credit risk will have most of the payments in the Current or 1-30 Days Past Due column. If you see a large percentage of debts in the 61-90 Days Past Due, or 90+ Days, make sure you get most of your payment up front should you decide to do business with this company.

Web crawlers can head over to the Telebase home page (http://www.telebase. com). This is the spot for searching the IQUEST InfoCenter, which contains more than 450 databases covering business, news, science, and technology along with entertainment and government information. (IQUEST is also available on Compuserve; go: iquest.) Some of the databases can only be accessed via telnet, which means that (at press time) people using the browsers on Prodigy, America Online, and Compuserve can't download these reports.

Get the Lowdown at the Library Granted, you will have to leave your office, but it'll be worth the trip because your public library offers a wealth of data on publicly held companies. For example, these businesses are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to file such financial statements as annual 10K and quarterly 4Q reports. You'll also find official charters for incorporated businesses, environmental impact statements, and other state-required documents.

You might uncover product announcements, personnel changes, and stock trading data in the library's newspaper archives. Articles about the company may list the names of company officers you should know. Dun & Bradstreet reports are also available. But keep in mind that information contained in these documents, such as the number of employees and internal hierarchy, can be two to three years old and may not accurately reflect the prospect's current situation.

Although few local libraries will have complaint records on file, specialized business libraries often do. The Better Business Bureau will tell you whether the company has a history of customer complaints. And the state attorney general's office maintains a similar file.

I became a believer in including credit checks along with my other research on every one of my potential clients after getting burned by a company that was referred to me by a fellow consultant. Had I done some basic research on that particular firm and its owner, I would have saved myself three weeks of billable time as well as a trip to small-claims court to win a judgment.

COPYRIGHT 1996 Freedom Technology Media Group
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

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