| Highlights :
List of GUIDE Area
Profiles
(scroll down for Area benefits and
costs to participate)
Areas : For a proposal, see "How
to Participate" below or just
contact us. See also the
Application section for
this purpose.
-
Standardized "Executive Summary" highlighting
local knowledge for easier comparisons at the
"high level" screening stages
-
A single point of contact at GDI Solutions for participating areas,
with a dedicated relationship leader to maintain and share our knowledge
of the area
-
Periodic meetings with area representatives
during the year to highlight recent
changes and plans (knowledge beyond the summary shared on the website)
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Helpful to challenge initial "long list" and "short list" assumptions
with background and contacts for exploring other viable alternatives
quickly and easily
-
Optional area familiarization visits to
enhance knowledge of the area among all relationship leaders at GDI Solutions
through a single point of contact
-
Fixed annual cost to all
participating areas, regardless of size, because of limited scope and
consistent work plan.
-
Openly available to help
corporate executives and their advisors all year - unlike the usual
familiarization tours, event exhibits, advertising, special events, etc.
|
Examples :
These illustrative examples of potential GUIDE Area
Profile presentations should make it much
easier to visualize the website aspect of this service, but the focus isn't
just to publish website content. The focus is to develop an ongoing working
relationship to maintain timely knowledge beyond such content so that we
will be more familiar with an area when responding to project enquiries from
investors and their advisors.
In addition to the links to the
websites of participating organizations, there can be links to any related
organizations or useful local contacts. As a new service which is
not free, and takes time to prepare and maintain, the number of available Area
Profiles may grow slowly, but we expect to have many leading
areas as active participants so that the service becomes valuable to
executives and their advisors for research.
As new GUIDE Area Profiles become available,
they will be highlighted.
Keep in mind that GDI Solutions already maintains the GUIDE Network
through
basic information and contacts in thousands of locations worldwide, as well
as the knowledge and research capabilities to find relevant contacts quickly
in response to specific enquiries, and indeed to know how to find relevant
areas according to specific interests. The GUIDE Network database we
use for our project referral work,
however, is not published.
Website considerations for area representatives
As the
GUIDE Network Survey process develops, there
should be far more consistent and timely local knowledge readily available
to investors and their advisors on a 7x24 basis.
It is not expected that all locations will choose to participate in the
GUIDE Area Profiles, since they are not free. The free process which
is available to all area representatives is to respond to the
GUIDE Network Survey,
so that we have timely, basic information on file within our GUIDE Network
database for convenient reference when responding to investor enquiries.
For a small fee to cover the limited work involved (see
current Order Form)
we also offer to
publish such replies so that executives and their professional advisors
can easily access the same information directly, too. This provides a
very low-cost option for areas to highlight their capabilities to investors
through our website, rather than rely upon our use of the Survey for project
referral purposes.
Our goal, however, is to offer valuable
GUIDE Area Profiles to executives for a wide variety of leading investment destinations worldwide, and to complement
some of these summary presentations with even more detailed GUIDE content
for specific topics so that investors can quickly and easily obtain very
useful and comparable, independently researched information about potential investment
alternatives.
Over time, the GUIDE content will become even more
responsive to the information requests of corporate investors through direct
research for feedback about
their interests and our services, complementing what we learn through our
working relationships among leading investors and professional advisors.
We believe a growing number of area representatives will find high value in
the minimal investment required to participate in this service, as explained
below, and may choose to invest in our other GUIDE services and our SICR
relationship development work. |
| How does the Area Profile benefit corporate executives?
The standardized presentation of the Area Profile is intended
to make it much easier for executives or their professional advisors to
quickly identify and compare many relevant investment locations which might
otherwise never attract their consideration.
The comparison process is complex, because it doesn't
simply reflect statistics from published databases which can be easily
searched through queries according to quantitative criteria. Instead,
GDI Solutions or professional advisors would typically help executives to
identify and compare their alternatives at this stage of the planning
process.
In this context, a critical role of the Area Profile is to
support the challenging of stereotypes or assumptions about locations.
"Have you considered the following locations, which also seem relevant to
your criteria? Were you aware of these recent developments? Did
you know about these benefits which others have found there?"
The Area Profile is therefore intended to be a succinct
overview of the highlights of a participating area, rather than a more
detailed presentation as in the Area Report or Experience Report. It
should be easy to browse quickly through multiple Area Profiles to find
places which seem to merit closer analysis for a specific project.
The standard content of the Area Profiles will evolve over
time according to feedback from corporate executives and other participants,
such as their professional advisors. It will also be necessary to
update the information periodically. |
What is the process for areas to participate?
Call or
e-mail us to indicate that your area wants to participate. Our simple, standardized
engagement letter confirms the
necessary details and schedule the initial work involved.
Drafting and adding a suitable Area Profile page to this website is
generally a very fast process, and please keep in mind that this is just one
aspect of the service. It can be completed within days if the
necessary information is readily available.
We rely upon area representatives to help us do this work efficiently by
sending us a initial draft, consistent with examples from other areas and
our standard template. We
then set up the page quickly, and refine it periodically as
necessary as our working relationship develops.
The web page is the fastest and easiest aspect of this service. Our main
work is for a relationship leader at GDI
Solutions to develop and maintain a much better knowledge of the area, and the people who
support investors in the area as they are introduced. That is an
ongoing process, which is expected to continue for years. The first
year requires the most work to get such a relationship started.
There is an annual fee for the Area Profile service to cover the
costs of maintaining a closer working relationship between GDI
Solutions and the participating areas during the year. This reflects the costs of maintaining
high-level local knowledge within a consistent structure driven by
the expectations of corporate executives. We don't need to know lots
of details (more suitable for the Area Reports or Experience Reports).
We need to know the highlights, such as recent developments and what might
differentiate or arouse interest in the area from the perspective of a
potential investor.
|
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How does the Area Profile benefit area representatives?
There should be obvious value in making useful information about the
area readily available to corporate executives for easy reference through a
common location with comparable Area Profiles and direct links to your own
website for additional details
There is also
high value for all participants by developing an ongoing working relationship
with a specific relationship leader at GDI Solutions whose primary work is
to develop corporate relationships and introduce executives according to
their preferences to relevant professional service providers and area
representatives at any stage of project planning.
Please note, however, that the GUIDE Area Profile work is focused on getting
on getting to know what differentiates your area, particularly at the "long
list" stage. It is not intended to gather detailed knowledge about
every aspect of your area, nor does it support the SICR process by which we
take such knowledge to market. The SICR service is more comprehensive,
for those who choose to participate, but it is necessarily more expensive to
support the relationship development work among executives as a shared
marketing service for the benefit of all participating areas, rather than
just work to get to know your area.
In other words, each participating area is assigned a
single point of contact within GDI Solutions. That individual becomes
responsible for maintaining adequate "high level" knowledge of the area
through annual Area Profile updates and periodic meetings and telephone or
e-mail contacts with area representatives.
Whenever GDI Solutions is handling a corporate project
enquiry, that relationship leader becomes the critical contact as the person in the
best position within our organization to suggest whether the needs of the
investor seem to match up with the benefits of a particular area or not.
As new enquiries are identified, consultation among the relationship leaders
will be used to suggest creative solutions. For example, a
relationship leader specialized in contacts among West Coast companies may
need suggestions from a Southeast region relationship leader when a contact
is considering an investment there.
The relationship leader is expected to know each assigned area well
enough to make a persuasive case why the investor should consider that area
or not according to the criteria for a specific project.
Although corporate executives and their service providers may not always
heed such independent advice, and may have location ideas of their own, this
single point of contact is valuable at a stage when the project may still be
unknown to most area representatives because of confidentiality constraints.
The executives will decide who they want to meet or not, but the
relationship leader suggests relevant introductions.
Note how this differs from the typical scenario of trying
to keep multiple service providers, and multiple employees at each service
provider and potential investor, aware of the most recent developments in an area in the hope that they may
someday "steer" a project to that area.
There is no guarantee that participants will attract more introductory
meetings and projects through the relationship leader, but at least there is
a single point of contact with strong knowledge of the area who is actively
trying to make relevant introductions, since that is our core business.
We just aren't in business to "push" any particular area.
It can be difficult for area representatives to even keep
track of who to contact at the various service providers, much less actually
get in the door to meet with them on a regular basis. After all, there
are thousands of area representatives, and the professional service
providers need to devote their time to their work for clients, rather than
general networking, familiarization meetings, and correspondence.
It is often very unclear whether the information which is
provided about an area to a service provider is actually being shared,
either within the organization or with their clients. By contrast, the
sharing of the GUIDE Network Survey, GUIDE Area Profiles, and related Reports or local contacts for
introductions is demonstrable over time, including your own processes to
track website statistics.
Instead of chasing after many specialists who can't really afford to
invest much time to become familiar with the many areas of potential
interest, unless a client is paying them to do so, the GUIDE Area Profile
work creates a single relationship leader at GDI Solutions who is expected
to remain familiar with the area for the sake of supporting any projects,
from anywhere.
The identity of the relationship leader is shared openly, as shown in the
Area Profile examples and Participant tables, so that it is easy for any
investor or their advisors, anywhere in the world, to get in touch.
That provides an independent alternative to direct contact for those who may
not yet want to discuss their needs with local representatives, while
ensuring that they talk to somebody very familiar with the area.
Similarly, the GUIDE Area Profile provides an opportunity to identify other
service providers who are familiar with the area, and may have more detailed
knowledge to share on specific issues.
Unlike the relationship leader process at GDI Solutions, there is often little motivation for
service providers such as location consultants to suggest alternatives
beyond the initial preferences indicated by the potential client. They
may make some suggestions, but the potential client might
perceive suggestions as an excuse for them to do more costly research and analysis,
while the service provider needs to limit the scope of work so that it can
be sold and performed more profitably. Research into unfamiliar areas
which may not prove to be of interest on closer examination is not in their
interest, but this can also deter research into what might prove to be very
good alternatives. By contrast, since the GUIDE Area Profiles and related
services are a free "off the shelf" knowledge product funded in advance for
the benefit of executives by the participating areas, the only constraint on
the relationship leader is the need to respect the expectations of the
executive for the most relevant suggestions. That includes fair
consideration of less familiar places (including non-participants in the
Area Profile or other GUIDE services) through the larger GUIDE Network and
other market knowledge. The process must be driven by the interests of
the executives, rather than by "pushing" any one area.
In addition to the
potential benefits through the referrals made by the relationship leader,
the open GUIDE process should also make it much easier for executives and
their advisors to consider and contact unfamiliar places which seem to be a
good match with their needs. For the cost involved, we believe the potential
benefits are great. |
How much does the GUIDE Area
Profile service cost?
Refer to any
special pricing
offers which may exist as new
services are launched. There is also a section about
budget planning which covers all of our services.
For example, participants in our larger SICR service
(the relationship development work to "go to market" and reach potential
investors directly to share knowledge such as the various GUIDE services
organize) receive the GUIDE Area Profile service as a basic component of
that more complete service.
The cost to participate in the GUIDE Area Profile alone is
$7500 per year. This is based on our estimate of the professional
time and support resources required during a year to obtain, review, maintain, and make
the Area Profile knowledge readily available to investors.
That
includes the periodic contact required to update relationship leaders about
important developments during the year, and the obvious investment to build,
maintain, and improve this website. Such time, however, is necessarily
limited each year in order to keep down the cost of this service for all
participating areas, and keep the focus of our time on other work, such as
the SICR service to develop working relationships among corporate executives.
Some areas may prefer to have us visit their areas
directly to become even more familiar with local investment conditions.
Such extra work and travel is optional, on a time and expense basis. They are not
included in the basic Area Profile service costs because some area
representatives may not
feel they are necessary or the best use of limited resources. Such visits
take time which we can all otherwise devote to better support of
more executives and their projects, so we try to plan any such optional work very selectively and efficiently.
Package pricing is available for those areas which choose to combine
participation in both the GUIDE and SICR services. Participation
in the SICR service is explained separately. Call us for details.
In summary, our intention is to keep the GUIDE Area
Profile service simple enough to be affordable and highly valuable for most areas
while also making it a very valuable tool for corporate executives.
Participants may also wish to consider other services such as SICR, in
addition to the GUIDE Area Reports or Experience Reports. Discounts
may be given for combined services performed at the
same time for efficiency. As in the case of the Area Profile, a single
point of contact at GDI Solutions becomes responsible for all such services,
whether they are performed directly or by other service providers according
to prior agreements to comply with the GUIDE standards..
As indicated earlier, participants are also free to make
their GUIDE Area Profiles readily available to investors, such as through
their own websites or other promotional activities. As explained in
the section of instructions for the
GUIDE Network Survey, we can link to published GUIDE Area Profiles on
the websites of active participants, and would encourage reciprocal links
back to our website. Quality control
The Area
Profile information is provided by area representatives, and is not tested
independently for reliability (unlike the Area Reports or Experience
Reports). We need to review such information in general for suitability and
compliance with the standards so that all Area Profiles are consistent in
quality and comparable. This basic consistency across all websites is
necessary to make it easier for executives and their advisors to consider
all areas fairly.
We do not validate the content through independent
research work, nor make any warranty to investors or other users about the
accuracy, but as with the Network Survey responses, we try to apply our
general knowledge to check the Area Profiles, and remain alert in this
regard to any
feedback about inaccurate or misleading presentations.
We rely upon investors, professional service providers, and other area
representatives to alert us to problems which we may not already detect
through our own knowledge and research work.
As with the GUIDE Network Survey, we will simply stop doing business with
any area representatives who are found to be providing unreliable
information to us for presentation to corporate executives.
We believe most professionals in this niche are highly responsible in
that regard, but unfortunately this is not true everywhere in the world.
Inadvertent mistakes are one thing, but persistently inaccurate or
misleading information will not be accepted for links to this website, and
we may alert investors to such concerns as appropriate if the responsible
area representatives do not correct the problems.
This is necessary to protect the quality and integrity of our independent
services for the benefit of all participants.
"Branded" service product
The name GUIDE Area Profile™ refers to this specific service product of
Global Direct Investment Solutions, including the work we perform with
participating areas to maintain timely knowledge and contacts beyond the
summary web page content.
Please do not use the GUIDE or GUIDE Area Profile brand names on websites
or any other published materials without our permission, which we are glad
to extend to active participants in this service. Although the word
"guide" is in common use for many purposes, it has a very specific meaning
in this niche market, and reflects our acronym for the idea of bringing two
critical dimensions of business investment decisions together in a
consistent way - reliable data and prior investor experience - thus Globally
Uniform Investment Data & Experience.
Areas which choose not to participate in this service are obviously free
to prepare similar executive summary web pages of their own design on their
websites, but may not identify these with Global Direct Investment
Solutions, GUIDE, or the GUIDE Area Profile service without our permission.
We do not agree to provide links to such content in the absence of active
participation in our service.
This protects the integrity and global consistency of the service for the benefit of executives
and their advisors,
and for all areas which choose to participate actively in our services.
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