It allows more effective tailoring of reports, presentations to the client needs- saving time, money and increasing the chance of repeat business.

Knowledge of their business impresses them and builds professional confidence.

It helps with rapport building, as it is easier to empathize.

The easiest/quickest way to discover more,as with most things, is to talk to someone who has dealt with the client before.

If you can’t – start with the following questions.

A) Who do you know there? Would it be appropriate to ask them questions?

B) Does your company have a CRM (Client Relations Management Tool)? – A program used to record who knows who in a list of potential and current clients.

C) Has your firm worked for them before?

D) If so, what work did they do and who worked on the client?

Get reading! Useful resources include:

A) Your favorite search engine.

B) Financial papers (E.g. the Financial Times in the UK, it has a great overview page on the front of the ‘Companies and Markets’ section listing all entities mentioned in that issue).

C) Specialized research tools such as Factiva or OneSource. These are very effective but can be expensive if you are paying for them.

D) Their ‘Mission Statement’, website , company accounts and prospectus can provide valuable insights.

Take advantage of useful tools that exist!

A) A Political Economic Social Technological (PEST) Analysis.

B) A Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (SWOT) Analysis.

C) Identify the stakeholders and what they want. These are the people who have an interest in the organisation. This grouping can be very wide and can include the general public and government.

D) There is a tool based on ‘Porters 5 Forces’ (New entrants, substitute products, consumers, suppliers and competitors). For each of these it is helpful to judge how much influence it has on the business. Once you have done this, identify the role it plays and its implications.

E) A ‘Cultural Web’ can be used to find out if the ideas you propose to a business will be compatible. This involves analyzing their training strategy, hierarchy, and ‘public image’.

F) Looking at their ‘Value Chain’. This is can help answer questions such as:

- What is the business particularly good at?

- What are their competitors particularly good at?

- What gives them a competitive advantage?

- How can you help strengthen this advantage?