Collection of information vital to your Trading

There is plenty to do in a negotiation so that it can prepare in advance will help you achieve greater success. How to get some information about your competitors / customers before trading you gain a great advantage. The surface (like an iceberg) is only a small fragment of what lies beneath! Here are some ideas: -

1. The Internet is a wonderful tool - so much information is available through the network of relationships with corporate blog giving you some valuable information. Use this to not only discover your customer, but also their competitors. Use the big search engines (Google, MSN and Yahoo) to do your digging.

2. Magazines - These can often give away the hidden gems by marketing strategies obvious pieces of information that can help you better understand your customers (from point of view of business as often social).

3. Use your network of friends - It 'amazing how those who know and how they can help. Look at your list of friends and colleagues and see how they can help. Very often, when I said this, people initially said 'I know none', however, as we probed deeper incredible that is out of the woodwork!

4. Get their media / packaging company - Most larger organizations have prepared packets to send. Although these will always be spun to be positive, in their vision and their mission can often be very useful.

5. Talk to your customers - You may even be one yourself! What do you like about them? What's not to like? What could be better? How we may use this information to your advantage in negotiating?

6. Talk to their competitors - you can really give you some information that the reports of the company but still no deal from the point of view that may have an ulterior motive!

7. Ask them! - If you do not ask you will not get. Even if you can find this alien, so many people will give you some great information you never thought it would have disclosed....