ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on structuring a Commercial Due Diligence, CDD investigation and particularly at the pre-research planning needed to ensure an excellent result. The core of CDD is collecting useful data. There is a wealth of free information available to anyone who cares to ask for it, but to collect it in the most cost effective manner means using a structured approach. Some potential customers are too small to have a payroll function of their own, some want to concentrate only on their core competencies. Desk research provides useful background information for formulating the questions used in primary research and bringing researchers up to speed so that they can talk knowledgeably about the industry. Teasing out the best from industry participants requires semi-structured and free-flowing discussions, rather than highly structured questionnaire-based interviews. Asking customers about the target's performance is almost guaranteed to prove a high degree of customer satisfaction.
