Project Experience

Financial Services…Your competitor's customers may prove the best source to confirm a rumor.

Client Situation
When new product innovations or distribution alliances develop in financial services, these developments are closely held. However, before any firm moves ahead with a significant product enhancement, they typically test the concept with some of their key clients. In one case, reports from the "rumor mill" gave an important technological edge to a client in the corporate cash management field. What made matters worse was that other players in the market, including our client, had been trying to develop this capability for months, to no avail.

Fuld Approach
Knowing that sources at the target company would provide, at best, misleading information, we sought verification elsewhere. After speaking with a number of the competitor's top clients, we concluded that some of the rumored technology was still, in fact, vaporware.

Benefits and Implications
This finding enabled our client to proceed more rationally with development of its own technology offering, knowing that there was time to de-bug the product and still be first to market.
For more information on rumors in financial services industries, contact either lscanlon@fuld.com.