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Chapter 1, Information, Intelligence, and Sales Strategy (28 pages), begins with an overview of the historical evolution of competitive intelligence and its value for an organization. The author explains how the sales person connects an organization to its market, and considers five factors that impact sales performance: skills/competencies, work ethic/motivation, resources, territory, and luck. He defines data, information, competitive intelligence, and knowledge, describing how each fits into a competitive intelligence system. He explains the importance of information quality, defined by dimensions in four categories: overall quality, relevancy, format, and meaning. He considers the ultimate purpose of competitive intelligence to inform strategy and decision-making. He explores the nature and value of a marketing and sales information system to guide marketing and sales decisions. He ends the chapter with practical insight about the importance of synthesizing a variety of information from different sources.

Chapter 2, Competitive Intelligence and the Market-Oriented Organization (22 pages), considers the manager's role in creating an environment that generates, disseminates, and responds to field intelligence. The author states that a market orientation strategy derives from a company's ability to both collect and utilize market-related information. He considers three determinants of market orientation: top management, interdepartmental dynamics, and organizational systems. He explains why market orientation also requires collaboration between marketing and sales, and presents a model of eight factors in the relationship between marketing and sales: vision, alignment, processes, information, knowledge, decision, resources, and culture. He reviews three main responsibilities for sales in finding and communicating information to the rest of the organization. He explains that a company's competitive intelligence system should process and validate information as well as make it actionable for decision makers. He considers three obstacles to information acquisition, evaluation, and transmission.

In Chapter 3, Competitive Intelligence and the Sales Organization (36 pages), the author explains how an organization should enable competitive intelligence gathering among sales people. He contrasts motivation versus attitude, exploring fundamental aspects of each, and presents three elements of successful intelligence gathering: an eagerness to seek out information, the perceived value of timely information sharing, and the perceived value of a casting a wide net for information. The author outlines the individual, organizational, and environmental factors that influence a sales person's information gathering activities. He offers insight into how leaders can manage these factors to influence both motivation and attitude, and improve sales performance.

In Chapter 4, Competitive Intelligence Acquisition, Management, and Sales Ethics (24 pages), the author reviews field investigation strategies for sales people and organizational systems for information. The author explains that sales people gain market insight by developing a network and drawing out information, and notes key elements in training and coaching for these skills. He considers three ways in which salespeople gather data: being given information, asking for information, or investigating and finding information. He explains that the organization is responsible for gathering, consolidating, and processing information and offers practical guidance for each step of the process. He outlines specific questions and processes for collecting and communicating information within an organization. He concludes with considerations of the importance of setting rules around ethical information gathering.