This guide explains how to use the Sorkins Business Information Database, including
searching for companies and executives, viewing profiles, downloading data,
and using the special features.
Search Page
Select any combination of parameters to receive targeted results.
Region
St. Louis = Springfield IL though Columbia MO
Chicago Region = All companies north of Springfield IL
Kansas City/Wichita Region = Columbia MO throughout Kansas
List Type
List of Companies: Search results will be company profiles.
List of Executive Names: Search results will be executive profiles.
Company & Keyword
Company (Search Bar) and Starts With (Radio Button):
Enter the beginning of the company name.
Company (Search Bar) and Contains (Radio Button):
Enter any part of the company name.
Description keyword (Search Bar):
will search all company profile descriptions.
EXAMPLE.
Enter employee-owned into the search bar. The results will be a list of companies in which the words "employee-owned" are in the description.
Sales & Employee Size
Sales:
Select any sales amount option listed (as many or as few as one sees fit).
Employees:
Select any employee size option listed (as many or as few as one sees fit).
Location
State (Drop Down):
Select any state from the list.
City (Search Bar):
Enter the city name. Also, a state must be selected.
County (Search Bar):
Enter the county name. Also, a state must be selected.
REMINDER.
St. Louis City is not included in the St. Louis County search; please enter St. Louis City.
Street (Search Bar):
Enter any part of the street address. Also, a state must be selected.
Zip code (Search Bar):
May enter one or multiple zip codes. Zip codes can be entered as a range too.
EXAMPLE.
A valid input is the following: 63005, 63017, 63077-63088, 63101
Metro Area (Checkboxes):
Select any option listed (as few or as many as you see fit). Results will include companies in the metropolitan statistical area.
HQ & Branch Options (Radio Buttons):
Choose either option listed (but not both).
Headquarters/Single Locations/Regional Offices: will include only head office location.
Branch Locations: will include branch locations within the search criteria.
Phone Number (Search Bar):
Enter phone number.
Industry
Prime Industry (Radio Buttons)
Prime & Sub Industry:
Results will feature companies that work in the industry specified whether it is their main or secondary service.
EXAMPLE.
Select this option and the industry "repairing vehicles". Your list will include mechanics and car dealerships. Why are car dealerships listed as well? Car dealerships' prime industry is selling automobiles, but a common secondary service or industry is repairing vehicles.
Only Prime Industry:
Results will feature companies whose primary industry are the ones specified.
EXAMPLE.
Select this option and the industry "repairing vehicles". Your list will ONLY include mechanics and other businesses that mainly repair vehicles.
Major Industry (Links):
Click on any industry listed. Then, a new page appears. The new page lists all sub-industries associated with the major industry selected. Select as few or as many as you see fit. Observe that you can "Check All" or "Clear" with the respective buttons at the top of the page. After you're satisfied, click "Continue" and you will return to the main search page.
Industry Codes (Links):
Click on any option listed. Then, a new page appears. The new page lists all codes. Select as few or as many as you see fit. On the left side of the page, there is a sidebar menu. Select any option in the sidebar to be moved to the appropriate code section on the page. Observe that you can "Check All" or "Clear" with the respective buttons at the top of the page. After you're satisfied, click "Continue" and you will return to the main search page.
General Industry Codes: Previously, it was called SDIC Codes. Note, these codes were created by Sorkins before other industry codes existed.
SIC (Standard Industrial Class Codes): The left-hand sidebar has textboxes for you to write industry codes if preferred.
NAICS (North American Industrial Class System): The left-hand sidebar has textboxes for you to write industry codes if preferred.
Keyword (Search Bar):
Search by industry keyword.
EXAMPLE.
Enter "Dairy" in the search bar. The results will be a list of companies working with dairy products in any manor.
Ownership & Year Founded
Ownership (Radio Buttons):
Public: Companies listed on any stock exchange
Private: Private companies.
Not-For-Profit: Companies filed as a non-profit with the secretary of state.
Year Founded (Search Bar):
Enter a range of years in minimum and maximum textboxes.
NOTE.
If not interested in a range or are only interested in a single year, enter the year in both the minimum and maximum textboxes.
Executive Title
NOTE.
All the criteria below will result in a list of names.
Personnel Function (Checkboxes): Select any number of options of career fields listed.
Personnel Hierarchy (Checkboxes): Select any number of options of job titles listed.
Title & Responsibility (Search Bar): Specify any title or responsibility in the search bar.
Executive Name
NOTE.
All the criteria below will result in a list of names.
First Name (Search Bar): Enter any name into the search bar.
Last Name (Search Bar): Enter any name into the search bar.
REMINDER.
You may enter only the last name.
Special Features
Who Uses Whom
Enter the service firm in its appropriate search bar: Bank Facilities, Law Firms, or Accounting Firms. The results will be a list of companies that are clients of the service firm.
STL Priority Lists
Highly requested and comprehensive contact lists for the STL Metro Area. Several lists are published each year. Only unlimited subscribers can use this special feature.
New Biz & More
It’s a page about our daily published business leads. The leads focus on businesses in transition: opening, moving, remodeling, or expanding.
Unlimited subscribers can use the lead services.
Navigate to the Lead Search information box (which is farthest to the right and in the second row) and click “Continue to Search.”
Then, a new page appears. Select any of the following parameters on the page and click “Search” when finished.
The results page allows you to view the information regarding the leads.
Archive Search
The results page for the Archive search only shows previous profiles or closed businesses. The parameters on this page are the same as those on the Search Page:
Region, Company Name, First Name, and Last Name (please refer to the sections above if more details are needed).
Results Page
After clicking "Search" from the Search page or a relevant Special Features page, you are transferred to the Results page. Each page has a maximum of 250 companies listed. There may be multiple pages.
The following are needed actions to retrieve information from the page.
1) Select Companies or Executives
Checkmark any number of companies/executives in the list on the page. Observe the following buttons that can assist with selecting companies and examining companies:
Left Arrow (Button), Right Arrow (Button):
Either arrow button helps you move onto the next page or return to a page previously examined.
Page Number (Search Bar):
The page number search bar is located next to the left and right arrow buttons. Write any page number (up to the maximum page number) and hit enter. Then you will be transferred to the requested page of results.
Check All (Button):
Clicking this button will mark all companies on the page selected.
Check All Pages (Button):
Clicking this button will mark all companies on all result pages.
Clear (Button):
Clear all selected companies on the current page.
Clear All Pages (Button):
Clear all selected companies on all result pages.
2) Examine Selected Companies
Click on any of the following buttons to examine more information relating to the selected companies.
View Profile (Button):
Clicking this button will result in a new page opening. On this page, all companies check marked will be listed with their complete business profiles. Refer to the Profile Page section to learn more about the functionality associated with this page.
Snapshot (Button):
Clicking this button will result in a new page opening. On this page, all companies check marked will be listed in "snapshots." Snapshots are small profiles that list the main contact information.
Download (Button):
Clicking this button will result in a pop-up appearing on top of the page. You can download the check marked companies' information into an Excel or Text file. More information about the options on the pop-up can be examined in the Download Page section.
Profile Page
After clicking "View Profiles" from the Results page, you are transferred to the Profile page. Navigation buttons within this page have the same functionality as Check All, Clear, and Download as in the Results page. The following are possible actions to view additional or related information associated with the company. All actions are embedded links or buttons within each company profile.
Similar Companies (Button):
Click on this button to see companies within the same industry, revenue range, and employee size range.
Other Options (Button):
Instructs you on how to find similar companies within the profile.
FaceBook (Button), Linkedin (Button):
Click either button to search company name in the respective social media or network.
Zip Code (Link):
Click on this link to see companies within the same zip code.
Industry Codes (Links):
Click either the industry code numbers or titles to see companies within that selected industry.
Website (Link):
Click on the link to open the company's website on another page.
Executive Name (Link):
Click on any executive name and their executive profile will open on another page.
Email Address (Link):
If seen, click on the small envelope next to an executive name and an email will open in your default email client.
Download Page
Download Page (Radio Buttons)
Executive Download:
The selected option results in the creation of a file with each row as an executive.
REMINDER.
Executive Download is traditionally used for mailings and is perfect for executive emailing.
EXAMPLE.
You check-marked ABC Company. Let's say ABC Company has 5 executives in its profile. In the file, each executive will have its own row. Thus, ABC Company information will span 5 rows.
Company Download:
The selected option results in the creation of a file with a complete company in one row.
REMINDER.
Company Download is commonly used to download information from Sorkins and then upload it into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
EXAMPLE.
As above, you check-marked ABC Company with 5 executives in its profile. In the created file, ABC Company will only have one row with each executive information, e.g., First Name, Last Name, Title, etc., in their own columns. Most executive information columns will be listed at the end of the company's row.
Executive Types (Buttons)
Clicking either option specified below will result in a transfer to a new page. You will commonly see a loading screen as the system creates the file to be downloaded. After the system is finished, a new page opens featuring a pop-up with buttons Excel or Text File. Clicking either file type will immediately result in the file being downloaded from the browser to your computer. Click "New Search" in the bottom right corner of the pop-up to return to the Search Page.
Top 1:
Create a file listing the contact information of the executive at the highest level of the hierarchy e.g., Owner, CEO, President, etc., at each check-marked company.
C-Level Executives:
Create a file listing the contact information of executives in the C-Suite, which commonly refers to executives with Chief, President, or Owner in their title.
REMINDER.
If a company check marked doesn't have a C-Level executive in the profile, the company will not appear in the download. Companies without C-Level executives in their profiles are often local locations of national firms headquartered outside the region.
Top 5:
Create a file listing the contact information amongst the top five executives by level of the hierarchy, e.g., Chiefs, President, Vice Presidents, Directors, etc. at each check-marked company.
Top 10:
Create a file listing the contact information of the top 10 executives by level of hierarchy, e.g., Directors, Associate Directors, Controllers, Managers, etc. at each check-marked company.
Top 20:
Create a file listing the contact information of the top 20 executives by level of hierarchy at each check-marked company.
NOTE 1:
You cannot download ALL executives because many of our profiles contain dozens of contacts. Therefore, our system cannot handle downloading many companies with many executives. We did not want to limit the number of companies downloaded in a single setting, so we had to limit the number of executives. We chose 20 as the maximum because it is the standard amongst other databases.
NOTE 2:
If you want to download all executives with a particular title, hierarchy, or function, please return to the search page and add it to the criteria (under the Executive Section).
Executive Search Download
When an executive search is performed and the download button is clicked, ALL selected executives from the results page will be downloaded.