The ability to find the right information on the web in addition to legal sources is essential for credit managers. In this article, we discuss the second part of free information monitoring tools to deal with the "push" aspect of information gathering.
In an automated context in the Internet 2.0 era, push monitoring mainly uses e-mail alerts or aggregation tools fed by RSS (Really Simple Syndication). These tools allow credit managers to set up a watch on their customer or prospect portfolio. Every day, they identify weak and strong signals (threats, opportunities, trends) to carry out preventive customer risk management.
The "push" alert tools
- Google Alerts: it is one of the simplest and most effective tools to monitor and create alerts on keywords or on company or executive names. The application allows you to specify the type of alert, RSS or e-mail, as well as the frequency and time of sending. The Google Alerts engine scans different sources of information such as blogs, news, videos and discussions. Each time Google indexes new information on the monitored words, it sends the article headings with the URL links. https://www.google.com/alerts?hl=fr
- Talkwaker Alerts: is an alternative to Google Alerts. Once registered, the user receives alerts according to the terms of monitoring defined on the same principles as Google. https://www.talkwalker.com/fr/alerts
RSS feeds for content curators
- RSS feeds: by subscribing to the RSS feeds of companies in their client or prospect portfolio, credit managers can stay informed of their news. This tool allows to have in real time summaries of information content in a single RSS feed reader.
- Aggregators or RSS feed readers: An RSS feed aggregator is also called a feed reader. It is either a web application, a software or a module integrated to a mailbox. The best known are :
- Netvibes. This application allows you to build a personal website articulated in a monitoring module easy to reorganize with the possibility to integrate RSS feeds.
- Feedly. It is a free RSS aggregator, Feedly that monitors RSS sources while allowing them to be grouped into thematic folders.
- Scoop.it Scoop.it is a curation and sharing service of web content watch, presented in the form of an online journal that can be updated in real time.
- ...
Content mailing lists pushed by companies.
- Information letters or newsletters: customer and prospect newsletters are a valuable aid to information monitoring. Once you have subscribed to the newsletter, you will receive by e-mail, at different frequencies, a summary of the company's product and commercial news, or even sector news.
- Site "web push" notification: by explicitly subscribing to a site's notifications, a synthetic information "push" usually appears at the bottom right of the browser (Chrome, Firefox and Safari) as soon as a new information is pushed by the company.
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In summary
When using web information monitoring, the credit manager must be critical and take a step back to evaluate the performance of the tools used while controlling the quality and sources of the information:
- Is it reliable?
- Is this a real fact?
- From a preconceived idea?
- From a rumor?
- Is it an opinion?
- What other views do you have on the subject?
- Is this what I am looking for?
- Is my research method appropriate?
- ...
The risk for credit managers is to find themselves overwhelmed by these volumes of information, at the risk of falling into the "tyranny of the moment", skimming over information rather than analyzing it.
