Industry Intelligence Prospecting Tool

First Research Unveils Industry Intelligence Prospecting Tool
New Tool Allows Users to Select and Rank Industries by Key Economic Metrics

20 Feb 2008

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Research, a division of Hoover’s and a leading provider of Industry Intelligence, today announced the release of a new product - Industry Prospector. Available immediately, Industry Prospector ranks industries based on economic metrics and helps users to better target and prioritize sales leads and marketing campaigns.

“Industry Prospector is a powerful tool for business professionals who are looking for timely, accurate and dependable economic metrics to help them make decisions that impact their bottom line,” said Bill Walker, vice president of research at First Research. “The tool is extremely intuitive so users can compare industries on a variety of measures, from employment growth and wages, to current liabilities and net worth.”

The technology ranks industries by four key economic metrics: financials, human resources, industry drivers and industry growth forecasts. For accuracy and timeliness, data is pulled from several sources, including financial, government and company databases. The use of key economic metrics increases efficiency at the front end of the sales and marketing process and helps users target industries with the greatest business potential.

“Industry Prospector helps us avoid risk and channel our efforts towards industries that make the most sense for our business,” said Libbie Lanier, senior vice president at financial holding company BB&T. “It ultimately makes our sales team more efficient and positively impacts our commercial and industrial (C&I) deposit base.”

Like all other aspects of First Research, Industry Prospector is flexible and easy to use, providing drop down lists and the ability to download results and rank industries in ascending or descending order.

In addition to the launch of Industry Prospector, First Research has also added an Industry Growth Rating to its Industry Profiles. This rating reflects the expected industry growth relative to other industries over a 24-month span. First Research has also added Industry Driver icons to each profile to indicate sensitivities such as energy prices and construction spending that may positively or negatively affect an industry.

About First Research

First Research, a division of Hoover’s (a D&B company), is the leading provider of Industry Intelligence tools that help sales and marketing teams perform faster and smarter, open doors and close more deals. First Research performs the “heavy lifting” by analyzing hundreds of sources to create insightful and easy to digest Industry Intelligence that can be consumed very quickly to better understand a prospect’s or client’s business issues. Customers include leading companies in banking, accounting, insurance, technology, telecommunications, business process outsourcing and professional services such as ADP, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Sprint. Used by more than 83,000 sales professionals, First Research can benefit any organization that has prospects in multiple industries. First Research is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information, visit www.firstresearch.com.


Contacts
First Research
Lindsey Underwood, 919-861-0854
lunderwood@firstresearch.com