Benchmarking Reports FAQ

About the Reports

Best Practices, LLC is a business research and advisory firm founded in 1992 by a group of service professionals with roots at the Harvard Business School. Specializing in best practice identification and benchmarking, we serve clients in all industries – with particular emphasis on pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, media, and manufacturing.

Clients select from a suite of performance improvement services, including Process-Focused Research, Best Practice Surveys, Lessons-Learned Interviews, Site Visits, and Advisory services. We help our clients identify the best practices and winning strategies from within their own organization, among their competitors, and in other industries across the globe. Best Practices, LLC helps clients achieve excellence in all areas of their business, including Human Resources, Sales & Marketing, Business Operations, Customer Service, and Knowledge Management.

These reports are enhanced versions of benchmarking reports conducted by our research staff. Reports typically originated as studies conducted for our consulting clients. While these insights are sanitized of specific client information, they are the same versions of the final reports. Projects and research requests sometimes cost our clients upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars. All reports are driven by our clients’ needs for original, leading edge insights and analysis into best business practices.

Every report goes through six main processes before being posted into BenchmarkingReports.com.

These six steps are:

• Topic and Benchmark Class Formulation
• Conduct Research
• Analyze Data and Interview Findings
• Final Deliverable Production
• The Grace Period (new insights and analysis are provided)
• Post on BenchmarkingReports.com

Reports sold on our website are available at a fraction of what a typical consulting engagement costs. Clients are the driving forces of our reports, outlining specific topics, questions and companies to study. The results provide specific analysis and recommendations for the clients’ system and competitive position. Since our clients are world-class companies who know the industry-leading issues, dollar for dollar, we believe you receive the best benchmarking insights available.

Each study's main web page contains the benchmark class, key findings and an explanation of the report content ("Study Snapshot"). The benchmark class is defined as the companies that contributed to a particular report, either through primary research (interviews, surveys, etc.) or secondary research (Internet research, library research, etc.). Each study’s web page is intended to address your principal questions about a particular report’s origin and content.

Additionally, all studies have Online Report Summaries. These downloadable Summaries contain sample practices, a discussion of the report's content and structure, a table of contents, and more details about each report. All links are created with PDF files, so you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them.

If you have any remaining questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Each study in the report marketplace has a corresponding customer representative -- the representative's contact information is listed on the report's web page and in the Online Report Summary. Feel free to call or e-mail these individuals to learn more about our reports. We will do our best to address your specific needs.

Reports can be ordered on-line or by contacting a company representative.

To order online, press the red “add to cart” button located next to the report description. A secure ordering system will appear asking for your name, title, shipping, and credit card information. Once you have filled out this form, it will be sent over an encrypted connection to be expedited immediately. Your profile will be remembered for future purchases if you supply an e-mail address during the ordering process.

Alternatively, you can order a report by contacting a customer representative via phone or e-mail. We will obtain any necessary contact information to process and fill your order as quickly as possible.

All reports can be purchased using a Visa, MasterCard or American Express credit card. Invoice ordering with a valid PO number is accepted for reports that exceed $1,000 in value. Invoices can be paid upon receipt of your report.

Unless otherwise requested, all reports are sent Federal Express overnight to ensure the fastest possible delivery. Our company’s representatives will process and send your order within two days. You should receive e-mail notification to confirm your order.

If a report is ordered on-line, shipping charges will automatically be included in the price of the purchase to reflect the cost of Federal Express.

If you place a report order by phone, a company representative can provide you the option of Federal Express or priority mail. The charges of shipping via either route will then be included in the sales receipt.

Electronic copies of all benchmarking reports are available. The e-copy pricing structure is partially based on the number of report end users and thus differs from client to client. Please call a Best Practices, LLC representative at 919-403-0251 if you're interested in ordering e-copies of a report.

Best Practices, LLC offers volume discounts on orders for three or more reports.

Additionally, reports discounts are available for individual members of our Global Benchmarking Council and Business Excellence Board as well as our Best Practice Database subscribers.

Please call a Best Practices, LLC representative at 919-403-0251 for further details about discounts on our benchmarking reports.

All material created by Best Practices, LLC is copyrighted, including our benchmarking reports. We grant our customers with a limited right to distribute reports internally (to your own organization). It is permissible to quote up to two pages of information in total length for internal or external use if Best Practices, LLC is specifically attributed. Use of more than two pages of material in any combination is strictly prohibited without the expressed written permission of Best Practices, LLC.