商界搞情报工作要学习中情局

    富德表示，也曾有公司请他调查一些隐私秘闻，但不是人们通常想的那样。“有一次，有家公司不相信他们的竞争对手的成本能压得那么低，于是他们很严肃地问道：‘我们认为那家公司可能是为黑手党洗钱的，你能不能调查一下？’”富尔达表示，虽然经过调查，那家公司并不是黑手党所有，但他也没能调查出它的成本到底为什么能够压得那么低。

    伯奈切说，有时收集“情报”靠的是一种传统的方式——打电话。他说：“营销部门是获取信息的一个好地方。而且我发现，销售人员很爱聊天，他们喜欢纠正别人。”

    伯奈切说，他有时会故意说错话，好让竞争对手的销售人员纠正他，然后在这个过程中顺口透露一些信息。“有时他们会说漏嘴，从而泄露一些信息。尽管这本来不是你可以搜寻的信息，但并不代表不能把它派上用场。”

    译者：朴成奎

    Fuld says he has received requests to dig up dirt but not in the way one would think. "I had one company who couldn't believe their competitor could be such a low-cost operator," says Fuld. "They seriously asked, 'We think that company is a money laundering front for the mafia, can you please check it out?'" Fuld says that while the mafia didn't own it, he did find out why the company was able to keep costs low.

    For Bernaiche, sometimes gathering "intelligence" comes down to making good old-fashioned phone calls. "Marketing departments are great places to get information from," says Bernaiche. "And I've found that sales people love to talk, they love to correct you."

    Bernaiche says he will sometimes make an intentionally false statement so that a competitor's salesperson will correct him and give out information in the process. "Sometimes they'll slip up and reveal information, but just because they give you information you're not supposed to have, doesn't mean you can't use it."