Some discoveries come from getting something wrong first. This is one of them.
What we found
An industrial lubricant and tooling supplier in Bangkok asked us a simple question: which companies in Thailand should we be calling? They sell to businesses that run heavy machinery, starting with cranes.
We built them a national list: every relevant business we could find, across all 77 provinces, in Thai and English. It was big, and it was cheap to produce.
The client wasn't fully happy with it. And they were right.
A list of every company in a category doesn't tell a sales rep where to start. Half the names were too small, closed, or not really in the business. The rep still had to research each one before picking up the phone, which was the work they hired us to remove.
What we built
We reworked the file, and then stopped selling files altogether. Instead we built the engine that produces them, now called Business Scouter:
- A written brief, in plain language. You describe what you sell and who buys it. The AI uses that brief for every company it looks at.
- A relevance score from 1 to 5 for every company, with the reasons and the web sources behind it, so a rep can check the judgement in seconds.
- Your own lists too. Import a spreadsheet of companies you already know and score them the same way. Export the results whenever you like.
- An outreach module, so the best-scored companies can go straight into a first contact.
- A clear exit. Your data and results are yours, and you can take them with you.
What we learned
1. Nobody wants a bigger list. Sales teams want a shorter one, in the right order. The score matters more than the size.
2. Show your sources. An AI score nobody can check is a guess. A score with reasons and links is a decision a rep can trust or overrule in seconds.
3. A relevance score is not purchase intent. We say this to every client: the score tells you a company fits what you sell. It doesn't tell you they're buying this month. Your team's call still matters.
4. Check the data rules before you sell the data. Public map and directory data usually can't be resold as a database. So we don't sell lists: we license the engine, and each client runs it with their own data access. It is slower to explain, and it keeps everyone on the right side of the terms.
5. One customer's "not good enough" is the best brief you'll get. The product exists because the first version disappointed someone who cared enough to say so.
Who this is for
- Distributors and B2B suppliers who need to know which accounts are worth a visit.
- Sales managers opening a new territory or market.
- Companies expanding into South East Asia who need a first, ranked map of the market.
We can set this up for you and your team
Business Scouter is not a self-serve download. We set it up for you and your team:
- We write the brief with you, so the AI judges companies the way your best salesperson would.
- We run a first territory together, and you check the scores against what you already know.
- Then it's yours to run, with support to refine the brief as you learn what converts.
If your reps start every week by researching who to call, tell us what you sell and where. We will run a first territory with you so you can check the scores against what you already know.