25 Jul Keep your sales team selling, not searching
From prospecting to proposal-writing, salespeople have a need for background information. That's especially true in high-value, high-stakes scenarios that involve products and services with hefty price tags and complex decision cycles. And nothing has enabled the search for background information like the internet, which has…
10 May The makings of a good competitor profile
I have written before about the importance of using the competitive intelligence you gather for decision-making support. Today I'll focus on creating a solid competitor profile—the basic elements of a good CI report. This is information that experienced CI researchers will routinely attempt to discover…
01 May Research support for overworked law libraries
Help! I Need Somebody – Help! Not Just Anybody… Though John Lennon wrote those words in 1965, they could apply to today’s overworked legal library directors searching for reliable research support when they need it. Not just anybody can step in to provide short- or…
13 Mar Top 10 ARK Group conference takeaways
On February 22, 2018 I attended the ARK Group conference—12th Annual Best Practices & Management Strategies for Law Firm Library, Research & Information Services. Over one hundred and fifty law firm library directors, decision makers and library/information center staff were there, with several vendors and…
22 Feb LexisNexis versus Westlaw revisited
Once upon a time, the only way to do legal research was to pore through books of cases and legal precedent. That all started to change in the late 1970s and early 1980s as two pioneering firms, LexisNexis and Westlaw (part of Thomson Reuters since…
01 Feb Is your competitive intelligence being used?
You’ve requested research into the competition or other companies. The competitive intelligence (CI) report you receive answers all the questions for making an informed decision. Your presentation is all ready for the executives in the company.
18 Jan How to leverage competitive intelligence
Competitive intelligence (CI) can help companies grow their business by helping them learn more about their competition, their markets and potential clients, but many organizations do not know how to properly do CI.
03 Nov COO & CFO advice for legal librarians
The latest Thomson Reuters Legal Executive Institute Forum for law firm COOs and CFOs featured another stellar lineup of presenters. They were tasked with reflecting on the turmoil of the past decade while looking toward a future of continued change, with new challenges and opportunities…
22 Mar Creativity in competitive intelligence
When you can’t find the information you seek, it may require tapping into creativity and persistence, traits that all good researchers possess. Yet many people would not use creativity and research for information in the same sentence. We believe they go hand in glove. Especially…
