The power behind B.E. research

Black Enterprise, Sept, 2004

Ever wonder how the BE 100s are put together, or how we develop our various lists throughout the year? The B.E. research division of our marketing department is where we turn. Whenever a person or department needs crucial information presented in a reader-friendly way, we turn to the intelligence of B.E. research, a small unit responsible for gathering and analyzing demographic data and other relevant information to support the advertising, editorial, and circulation departments. In essence. B.E. research is the backbone of proprietary franchise staples such as the BE 100s lists. our advertising department's industry reports, and, in this issue, our list of today's hottest franchises.

The key person behind B.E. research is Marketing/ Research Coordinator Lisa Sumner. Over time, her research has proven reliable and incredibly accurate. That's no easy task, especially when it's time to put together our annual June report on the nation's largest black-owned businesses. For instance, in light of recent corporate improprieties, accounting irregularities, financial mismanagement, revenue overstatements, and executive malfeasance, B.E. research and editorial have tightened our standards on how companies report their gross sales, billings, and other financial measurements. Once a company responds to our BE 100s survey, it's Sumner. under the direction of Vice President of Marketing Stacia Tackle, who makes literally hundreds of phone calls to verify the survey information. She checks the accuracy of the financial and business information through government agencies, corporate purchasing offices, and industry reporting services such as Dun & Bradstreet.

In fact, financial services firms underwent a stringent due diligence process. With the assistance of a consulting firm, B.E. research contacted the Securities & Exchange Commission to get an accurate account of the filed assets under management for the companies appearing on our asset managers list. (These companies make investments in equities and fixed-income vehicles for institutional and individual investors.) As a result, several firms were dropped from the list when it was discovered that they failed to meet our requirement of being registered with the SEC. Sumner is our version of a well-organized Central Intelligence Agency.

"That's a great analogy," Sumner says. "I like trying to figure out what the truth is behind the numbers. It's like putting pieces of a puzzle together, and once we achieve thai, we can get to the heart of things."

For this issue, Sumner worked closely with the editorial department, generating reliable information to put together our franchise list. Once our editorial board had approved the focus of the franchise package, she met with the editors and writers to identify exactly what they were trying to achieve. Sumner spent hours on the phone with the International Franchise Association to build a database. and once the database was established, she mailed out franchise surveys to each company she had identified. When the surveys started pouring in, she began to tabulate the information according to our methodology. And although we have a team of fact-checkers to comb through every piece of information before it goes to press, it's always reassuring to get material from B.E. research because we know that 100 times out of 100. it's factually accurate. Readers have come to rely on this exactitude, and information generated by B.E. research is used by various government agencies and many Fortune 500 corporations on a regular basis.

Sumner is also the first point of contact for those who want to join our Wealth Building Initiative. She processes the information of people who enter our Financial Fitness Contest and funnels that information to our editorial board, who decide the winner each month.

When Sumner joined Earl G. Graves Ltd. three years ago. it was her first research-related job outside of marketing since she graduated from Washington College in Maryland. However she believes she has a knack for research.

"I view my research responsibility as both a challenge and an overall opportunity because I have the ability to grow," she explains.

--The Editors