Corporate Marketing Professionals:

Get details on our web-based industry marketing data service, Plunkett Research Online.

How to Use Plunkett Research Products to Boost your Marketing Analysis Efforts and find New Sales Prospects. How to Use our Products to Solve your Market Research and Competitive Intelligence Needs or Assist in Writing Business Plans: How to Use our Products to Write Sales Guides or Account Plans and Train Sales Teams: How to Use our Products in your Search for a Job:

I. How to Use Plunkett Research Products to Boost your Marketing Analysis Efforts and find New Sales Prospects.

Plunkett’s Almanac/CD-ROM packages can be a terrific tool when you need to build a sales prospect list in a hurry, and they are priced from only $229.99. Since each of our Almanacs covers a specific industry (for example, health care, retailing, or outsourcing) you get a targeted prospect list. In each Almanac, we provide our unique profiles of 200 to 500 industry-leading firms. Each of our books is thoroughly indexed--by geography, company name and type of business—so that you can look up target firms in a variety of ways. Using our book/CD-ROM packages, you can create a targeted sales prospect list in a matter of minutes.

Our data on these leading firms assists in your market analysis and includes corporate address, phone, fax, website, revenues, profits, number of employees, growth plans, competitive advantage, subsidiaries, and up to 27 executive names by title. Our website contains a list of the companies profiled for each industry. For example, for the health care industry, go to the Health Care Industry Almanac page http://www.plunkettresearch.com/health/ health_almanac.htm and click on Index of the Health Care 500 http://www.plunkett research.com/health/ health_500.htm . There, you’ll see an exact list of the 500 health care companies we profile. These are the firms that are contained in the Almanac and on the accompanying database on CD to help you meet your sales and account plan goals.

A CD-ROM Database is Included with your Almanac Purchase: As a special service, each of our full-version Almanacs comes with a CD-ROM version of the companies database. If you purchase a printed version, the CD-ROM is inside the front cover of your book. If you purchase an eBook version, you’ll find that the first page inside your eBook is a form that enables you to request that your free CD-ROM be mailed to you. The CD-ROM enables you to sort, filter and view companies. You can select them by headquarters location (city, state or country), revenues or specific industry sectors. You then have the option of exporting contact data on your selected companies. You can export into a Microsoft Excel file, or into a plain text file. You can then use your custom-built contact files for mail-merge, contact list creation, and import names/addresses into contact management software systems. For more information about our CD-ROMS, see: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/CDRoms_do.htm

II. How to Use our Products to Solve your Market Research and Competitive Intelligence Needs or Assist in Writing Business Plans:

Our Almanacs are designed to assist with the market research needs and competitive analysis of a wide variety of people in many market sectors. For example, leading management consulting firms study our Almanacs for industry background and strategy purposes. One of the world’s largest computer makers uses our Retail Industry Almanac to train sales personnel who are planning to call on the retail industry for the first time. Leading government agencies and trade associations worldwide use our Almanacs to assist in developing marketing or export plans.

If you are doing basic market research for product development or for a business plan: The first chapter of each of our Industry Almanacs is devoted to an analysis of the major trends affecting the industry. You’ll find the trends spelled out in language you can use and understand, even if you are not currently an expert in the industry.

EXAMPLE 1: Major trends that we analyze in the 2003 edition of Retail Industry Almanac include: 1. Continued decline of the mom-and-pop store 2. Overbuilding by specialty stores and other chains 3. Repositioning of full-price/multi-line department stores 4. Supremacy of the discount store chains 5. Category-killer superstores 6. Sophistication and success for direct-marketers 7. Growth of sales on the Internet 8. Bricks, clicks and catalogs 9. Distribution centers evolve 10. Continuous changes in demographics, tastes and fashions 11. Retail technologies leap ahead 12. Easy availability of consumer credit 13. Dwindling appeal of the major mall 14. Entertainment as a major draw to the retail environment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you need industry statistics: The second chapter of each industry Almanac is devoted to statistics, tables and charts. These statistics include size of market, historical growth, and in many cases projections regarding the future. You’ll find that our website contains a list of the trends that we analyze plus a list of the statistical tables that we publish—for each industry we cover. Go to any Almanac’s page, click on its Table of Contents, and you’ll see a complete list of the statistical tables contained in the book. For example, look at the Health Care Industry Almanac’s Table of Contents: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/health/health_contents.htm . You’ll find an extensive list of major tables at the bottom of the Table of Contents:

EXAMPLE 2: Just a few of the major tables in the 2003 Edition of Plunkett’s Health Care Industry Almanac: The Nation's Health Dollar People Without Health Insurance for the Entire Year Hospitals, Beds and Occupancy Rates, Selected Years Hospital Expenses, Selected Years Index Levels of U.S. Medical Prices Quarterly Index Levels and Four-Quarter Moving-Average Percent Change in the CMS Medicare Economic Index with DRI Forecast Assumptions National Health Expenditures and Selected Economic Indicators, U.S. Levels and Average Percent Change: Selected Calendar Years National Health Expenditures and Average Annual Percent Change, U.S. Hospital Care Expenditures and Average Annual Percent Change, U.S. Hospital Care Expenditures, U.S., Percent Distribution and Per Capital Amounts Home Health Care Expenditures and Average Annual Percent Change, U.S. Home Health Care Expenditures, U.S., Percent Distribution and Per Capita Amounts Prescription Drugs Expenditures and Average Annual Percent Change, U.S. Prescription Drugs Expenditures, U.S., Percent Distribution and Per Capita Amounts Nursing Home Care Expenditures and Average Annual Percent Change, U.S. Nursing Home Care Expenditures, U.S., Percent Distribution and Per Capita Amounts Percent of Elderly U.S. Households by Income Elderly U.S. Households' Health Spending as a Percentage of Income National Personal Health Care Expenditures (Total Market) by Type of Service and Percent Total Market Medicare Paid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. How to Use our Products to Write Sales Guides or Account Plans and Train Sales Personnel:

All well-run sales organizations develop their own “sales guides” to train sales personnel in presenting products or services to specific industries. These guides help sales teams become more knowledgeable about the industry sectors they are calling on, and help them to better position their company’s solutions for that industry. Each of Plunkett’s industry Almanacs contains several specific tools that will be a great help to you in creating sales guides, writing sales plans and training sales teams.

1. Each Almanac begins with an industry-specific Glossary. This Glossary can be a great help to people new to an industry. Written in language that anyone can understand, the Glossary defines key terms and phrases dealt with by the industry on a daily basis.
   
   
2. Each Almanac contains a thorough analysis of Major Trends Affecting the Industry. (See “Market Research” above for more details.) Studying these trends will enable sales personnel to better understand the challenges and opportunities faced by executives within the industry they are calling on. At Plunkett Research, we specialize in writing in a manner that anyone can understand - even if they have little expertise in a specific industry. This is perfect information for Sales Guides and Account Plans.
   
   
3. Each Almanac contains a thorough set of current and historical statistics about the industry. (See “Market Research” above for more details.)
   
   
4. Each Almanac features an “Important Industry Contacts” chapter. This will enable your sales personnel to become familiar with the industry associations and government agencies that are most important. Contact information includes the name, address, phone and website for important contacts, along with a brief description of the association or government unit.

IV. How to Use our Products in your Search for a Job:

Since 1985, we’ve been writing a guide for job seekers that is a standard tool on college campuses and in libraries nationwide: The Almanac of American Employers. In later years, we added several additional reference tools for job seekers. If you are doing employment research, here’s how to get the most out of our products:

1. If you are targeting major corporations only, use The Almanac of American Employers. It profiles 500 hand-selected U.S. employers of 2,300+ employees. These firms are located nationwide and represent all industry sectors. Like all of our books, The Almanac of American Employers includes a fully-featured CD-ROM. You can find additional details, including a table of contents, at: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/careers/americanemployers_almanac.htm
   
   
2. If you prefer to target employers of smaller size, use Plunkett’s Companion to The Almanac of American Employers. It covers carefully-selected mid-size firms from 150 to 2,300 employees, nationwide, from all industry sectors. Details are at: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/careers/midsize_almanac.htm
   
   
3. If you want to target employers in a specific industry, then select from one of our many industry-specific Almanacs, such as the Insurance Industry Almanac or the Energy Industry Almanac, each packaged with a CD-ROM.

4. If you are focused on doing your job search online, consider using our Plunkett’s Employer’s Internet Sites with Careers Information. http://www.plunkettresearch.com/ careers/employers_websites_almanac.htm . This unique book ranks and indexes the web sites of 500 leading employers based on their usefulness to various types of job seekers.

Notes to Job Seekers:

You’ll find that the CD-ROM that is packaged with each of our books is a great tool. Use it to sort, filter and view firms. Select employers by revenues, location, industry sector and other factors. You can export contact data for your custom-built list of employers, including company name, address, phone, fax, website, and executive names by title. For more information about our CD-ROMs, see: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/CDRoms_do.htm

Don’t forget to study our highly regarded chapter “7 Keys to Research for Job Seekers.” An online version can be found at: http://www.plunkettresearch.com/careers/research_for_job.htm