If you have ever had to find a product or supplier for your business, you may already know how difficult it can be to find the necessary information to identify high-quality suppliers and get detailed information on their products and services.

Usually, most professionals identify potential suppliers in the following ways:

• Word of mouth referrals
• Trade shows
• Research firms
• Business directories

The problem that arises from most word-of-mouth referrals, if you can even get any, is that often they are from people who may only know of one or perhaps two suppliers in the sector. You do not get a broad enough picture of the market and what worked for a collegue may not fit the needs of your project.

Trade shows, on the other hand, can offer a great deal of information and access to suppliers. However, you need to have the time to go to the tradeshow, meet with the suppliers, and most importantly, there needs to be a trade show occuring close enough in location and time to fit your needs.

Research firms usually have comprehensive information about particular sectors, especially in the IT market. Their problem is that they usually charge a hefty fee to access those reports and unless you belong to a big company, you probably are unwilling to spend that kind of money on a report.

So, most professionals end up going to business directories. Many of these have a long history from paper but now almost all can be reached online. Unfortunately, most business directories suffer from the problem of being broad but shallow.

The Yellow pages approach

Most business directories you will find take the approach of claiming a very large database of information and organizing it by categories. However, when you go to find businesses and get the product information you want, usually the only information available is a company's name, address, telephone, fax and maybe website location. You still need to contact each of the suppliers, look at their webistes, but you are flying blindly into those contacts.

Broad and deep information - The Logismarket approach

Professionals want more complete information on products, services and suppliers, so they can make informed requests for further information or direct quotations. Essentially the ideal solution is a detailed catalogue of suppliers and products.

Logismarket follows this approach of offering high-quality and detailed information and hundreds of industrial categories. Their business directories are available in over 11 markets across Europe. You can easily navigate the site by category or search directly for the product that interests you. Each product and service has a description, most have images and technical charateristics, and many even have additional information such as diagrams or product information sheets. From the site you can contact suppliers directly via e-mail to request information about a specific product or service. Additionally, you have the option of submitting a request for information to multiple-suppliers by just filling out one simple form. Lastly, you can easily obtain additional contact information for suppliers, such as their telephone, fax, website address, and branch locations.