ISSUE 7, MAJOR ACCOUNTS BULLETIN: Incredibly Valuable Tools and Resources
	by Jack Carroll

Web resources that will help you succeed:

1. Researching Companies Online for Business Potential
2. Competitive Intelligence

1. Researching Companies Online for Business Potential

I don’t know who Debbie Flanagan is or how she benefits from this site, but she has put together one of the most comprehensive tutorials and resource sites that I have ever found on the subject of searching for and collecting information on companies online. Her business research tutorial presents a step-by-step process for finding free company and industry information on the World Wide Web.

Accurate and timely information is essential for any business to remain competitive. With the Internet, you can gather a tremendous amount of business intelligence information on prospects, vendors, suppliers, customers, or other companies in just a few hours. This online course will enable you to:

• Locate high-level company information
• Find sales prospects
• Identify telephone numbers and addresses
• Locate company home pages
• Research company financial information
• Monitor company news and periodicals
• Review public opinion
• Use business and financial meta-sites
• Locate professional associations
• Find conferences and seminars
• Learn about an industry
• Research nonprofit organizations
• Identify international business resources

Don’t skip by this one folks. Not if you want to understand the customers and potential customers that you will be working with in major account selling

2. Competitive Intelligence

I have seen more customer relations damage done by companies and their salespeople with reference to their competition, than any other area of sales related information. It is essential to remember that your customer or potential customer doesn’t have the same emotional attachment to your company and its products that you do. In major account selling, you’d better have a very good grasp of competitive information and how it relates to what you are trying to do with your customer. Anecdotal information just won’t cut it when it comes to the major leagues of selling. Understand what your real (not emotional) competitive differentiators are and how and why they separate you from the pack.

Be real when discussing the competition with your customers. Tell them why you are better and where you are not quite as good for believability. No one is ever 100% better than a competitor in every single area of evaluation.

The Fuld Company’s site is completely devoted to competitive intelligence. Whether you are analyzing markets and competitors, teaching or learning intelligence gathering methods, or helping establish internal competitor-monitoring capabilities, the resources available at this site can be invaluable.

Here are some of the strategies and tools they've created to help you develop an organized and thoughtful competitive intelligence (CI) strategy.

CI Success Stories
How companies have successfully used competitive intelligence.

Corporate Evaluation Questionnaire
How intelligence-savvy is your company? Complete this questionnaire to find out!

War Room CD-ROM
Harness the power of competitive intelligence with this CD-ROM.

Intelligence Dictionary
More than 100 key terms and definitions in the field of competitive intelligence.

Intelligence Forum
Expert answers to your competitive intelligence questions.

Strategic Intelligence Organizer
Learn the right questions to ask when faced with a variety of competitive situations.

Intelligence Pyramid
Learn the basics of the competitor intelligence process.

Internet Intelligence Index I3
A comprehensive list of nearly 500 intelligence-related Internet sites.

"The New Competitor Intelligence"
Excerpts from Leonard Fuld's latest book.

Major Accounts Bulletin archives:

1. Welcome and overview
2. Follow their buying process
3. Geoffrey Moore's Chasm Models
4. Selling styles in major account selling
5. CRM and major account selling—what's the buzz?
6. The five most important elements in major account success
7. Incredibly valuable tools and resources

Sales bibliography