Huthwaite Combines Sales Intelligence from Hoover's and First Research to Streamline Sales Process and Strengthen Client Relationships

Business Roadblock

As experts in sales effectiveness training for clients including UPS, Booz Allen Hamilton, Bank of America and Boeing, Huthwaite needs to stay on top of the latest developments within a vast array of industries, as well as gain access and insight into numerous new prospects and clients. Keeping up with this information for each prospect, client and respective industry is difficult - not to mention time-consuming.

In order to become better informed about a client's background, industry, and company pain points, Huthwaite was using a combination of Internet search engines and companies' annual reports and websites. The Huthwaite team quickly became frustrated with the amount of time they were spending tracking down and compiling this information.

Being able to talk to clients in their language and understand the inner workings of their specific company and industry is essential to Huthwaite team members as they create custom training programs. As Katie Kimura, client executive at Huthwaite pointed out, "To bring value to our prospects we have to be brokers of many capabilities to effectively identify business problems, opportunities and solutions they have not discovered. We have to be prepared to offer thoughtful business advice to better serve our clients and make smarter business decisions."

Before going into any client meeting the Huthwaite team needs to know everything about their customer's industry and business in order to offer valuable professional advice. For Huthwaite, being able to predict or foresee future problems for a client is essential. The team found they needed a solution that was not only intuitive, but would also help them save time and allow their reps to invest more strategic thought into their client's business.

Solution

Huthwaite decided to utilize both Hoover's and First Research throughout its sales process. Hoover's became the starting point to obtain company-specific information and First Research became the tool of choice for educating the team on the company's industry. As a result, the Huthwaite team can now easily find a company's SIC Code using Hoover's, for example, and then quickly pull the related Industry Profile from First Research.

The Huthwaite team uses Hoover's to discover everything they need to know about a specific company; then drills into First Research Industry Intelligence to identify the challenges, opportunities and changes that company is currently facing in the marketplace. By tapping into Hoover's, as well as First Research, the Huthwaite team gains access to the comprehensive insight and analysis they need to properly advise clients, deliver more value, and develop strategic relationships.

"Fully understanding what a company does is smart, but taking the time to learn about its background - knowing what it stands for and knowing what problems it faces - is taking that extra step to learn intimate details about a prospect or client, and that's what Hoover's and First Research help us to do," said Ed Albertson, senior chief executive at Huthwaite.

Bottom Line

Since implementing Hoover's and First Research, Huthwaite has gained essential knowledge about their prospects' industry and business challenges and opportunities. Huthwaite uses this insight to further enhance prospecting efforts and client relationships.

The sales professionals at Huthwaite have freed up valuable time and can now devote more attention to strategic thought and leadership within their accounts. The sales team can focus on what is important - being trusted advisors to their clients. The powerful Sales Intelligence gained from the "one-two punch" combination of Hoover's and First Research has helped the Huthwaite team save time, cut costs, and close more deals.

"We have seen a huge value from using Hoover's and First Research together," added Kimura. "We can now better identify the business trends, challenges, and opportunities that are important to our clients, and then prepare highly-detailed presentations because we have the right tools to become experts in their business space."

"Using Hoover's and First Research together gives us the true Sales Intelligence we need to be successful," said Albertson. "The combination of company and industry insight allows us to make the right business decisions and truly take care of our clients."