We trust the experts in numerous areas of our lives. If you need a major car repair, you probably go to a mechanic. Need legal advice? Talk to an attorney. And of course, if you need an operation, you go to a well-trained surgeon. These professionals have the expertise in their respective fields to help solve the specific issue you’re facing. And this is the same reason Vertical IQ relies on third-party data for select portions of our Industry Intelligence.
Information you can rely on
Third-party data is aggregated information, collected from external sources including reputable organizations and certain government agencies. There are two key advantages to using this type of information:
- Accuracy: Third-party data typically is unbiased and thus is considered more accurate.
- Expertise: It is usually compiled by trusted experts in whatever field the data covers.
There are a number of reasons that we thought it was crucial to include carefully selected third-party data as part of the Vertical IQ platform. For one, it’s the goal of these third-party data aggregators to remain independent and unbiased. Second, we knew the private sector could benefit from this specific type of insightful Industry Intelligence. Remember those third-party experts we mentioned — the mechanic, the attorney, the surgeon? These third-party experts live and breathe the subject they are producing data on!
By utilizing third-party insights in our Industry Profiles, we are providing Vertical IQ users with the most accurate and timely expert data, which our team of experienced industry researchers then analyzes and simplifies into an easy-to-understand format.
Vertical IQ users can apply insights from this third-party data when writing credit memos and to make more informed lending decisions, for instance. It also is valuable content that can be shared with business owners to write a business plan, to help them make better decisions about company growth, or simply as a value-added touchpoint.
And because it is unbiased, expert, third-party content, you can feel confident that you and your business owner-clients are utilizing the very best data to make those important business decisions.
Industry Intelligence, powered by third-party expert data
One example of our use of third-party data can be found in Vertical IQ’s Industry Forecasts, which provide a projected outlook for each industry, as well as the macroeconomic variables (e.g., GDP, inflation, unemployment rate, and household income) impacting that industry’s broader sector. For this section, we use macroeconomic data and analysis from economic experts Inforum.
Inforum is a third-party, nonprofit research organization renowned for their trusted, independent economic data and analytical tools. Numerous government agencies rely upon their stats to create policies and develop projections. Using data from Inforum’s highly reliable economic models, we craft a comprehensive forecast outlook and examine recent trends for each industry. Learn more about how we utilize data from Inforum in our Industry Forecasts.
In addition to Inforum’s valuable macroeconomic forecasting data, we also include other salient third-party data throughout our platform to meet our users’ specific needs. For instance, in the Current Conditions chapter of each Industry Profile, you’ll find data on inventory, shipments, and quarterly sales from the Census Bureau, and information about producer prices, employment, and wages from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
We also utilize more tailored third-party data in certain Industry Profiles. For example:
- Under Auto Parts Manufacturing, you will find data like Monthly Auto Sales from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
- In the Tire Dealers Industry Profile, there are statistics like Monthly Miles Traveled from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
- The Single-Family Home Builders Industry Profile has useful Census Bureau data like Housing Starts, Housing Permits, and New Home Sales.
- The Industry Profile on Crop Production provides stats such as Prices Received, Prices Paid, Average Wages, etc. from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- If you are looking at the Physician Practices Industry Profile, you will find data like Physician Spending, which is pulled from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- The Dental Practices Industry Profile also contains helpful data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services such as Dental Spending and Durable Equipment Spending.
Trust the experts
In life, it’s important to know what you know, but it is equally important to know what you don’t know. (And P.S., this goes for Googling information that may or may not be accurate!) In addition, we believe it’s important to source where the data comes from and keep it up-to-date so you have all of the most current facts. By drawing on the expertise of carefully selected third-party data providers, as well as other trustworthy data sources, Vertical IQ is able to deliver the most accurate and actionable Industry Intelligence, conveniently located at your fingertips!