Finding business partners the easy way

I. Christianto Contributor Jakarta

There are many ways for businesses to initiate projects, market their products, promote themselves or find partners.

The traditional and most favored way used for such purposes, is by getting or placing corporate information through printed business directories.

Using business directories is the simplest, easiest and most popular way for people to find contact persons or at least telephone numbers of particular companies.

One of the most popular business directories is the Yellow Pages, which is published by a telecommunications provider or an assigned company.

Nowadays, many other companies offer business directories with additional information on a firm's line of business, details of contact persons, as well as the company's background.

To lure people to purchase their directories, almost every directory provider claims that their corporate information is more accurate and up to date.

"We are in the business of data, so accuracy is a priority. All of the entries in the Yellow Pages are accurate because we have checked every single item at least three times," said Priyanto Mangunpawiro, a director of PT Infomedia Nusantara, the company that publishes the Yellow Pages in Indonesia.

Infomedia Nusantara, run by state-owned telecommunications operator PT Telkom and PT Elnusa, has published the Yellow Pages since 1976.

Priyanto said his company published two kinds of telephone directories, including the White Pages, which comprise of household telephone subscribers and the Yellow Pages for business telephone subscribers. Infomedia publishes, in total, 2.3 million copies of the Yellow Pages every year, he added

There are two kinds of Yellow Pages, one for shopping and the other for business services and industry. Each subscriber receives the White Pages free of charge, and each edition is updated annually, he said.

"The directories are published separately in 68 locations across Indonesia. There are some 6.4 million entries, which equals the total number of installed telephone lines in the country. In the Yellow Pages there are 17,000 business entries.

Out of the total number of entries in the Yellow Pages, around 7,000 are located in Jakarta," he said, adding his company earned revenue from the companies that placed advertisements in the most famous business directory.

Infomedia charges between Rp 100,000 and Rp 240,000 (US$22.85) per year for an entry, printed in bold, in the Yellow Pages, according to Priyanto.

"But the rates differ depending on locations. We don't charge the same rate for entries from Jakarta as we do for Surakarta (Central Java)."

Meanwhile, advertisers should allocate between Rp 2.5 million up to Rp 19 million every month to place an advertisement on the back cover of the Yellow Pages, he said, admitting there was a huge difference between the rates for the classified type and those on the back cover.

The business of business directories is about accuracy. People are never likely to rely on a particular directory if they find wrong addresses or telephone numbers.

So, any company that deals with business directories are always trying to offer data that is as accurate as possible. Infomedia, for instance, conducts cross-checking three times before placing an entry. The company needs to get approval from the related companies.

"Clients have the right to penalize us if there are any mistakes. Therefore, I can safely say the data is 100 percent accurate," Priyanto said.

James Castle of Castle Asia, a private research and consultancy firm, which also publishes business directories, agreed that accuracy was a priority.

"Our accuracy is pretty good. We have to check every piece of data carefully," he said.

Equally, Robert Darmago, senior advisor of PT Dataindo Inti Swakarsa, which provides the business-to-business (B2B) Indonesia business directory on CD ROM, agreed that accuracy is the most important factor.

"The data we receive from company brochures is placed on the directory. We also monitor on a live basis, therefore, we know of any change at any time so as to control accuracy," he said.

The challenge for companies offering business directories is collecting data. It is understandable that not all companies may think a directory, which places its name inside, is useful for its own prospects. With a good strategy and reputation such challenges are likely to disappear.

In line with the fast-moving business world, where more people want to have a convenient and easy way to find something in a directory, several companies have tried to improve on what they offer.

Castle Asia has published several business directories such as American Business in Indonesia and Directory of International Companies in Indonesia. The first directory has reached its 10th edition, while the second edition of the latter directory will be published later this year.

Each of the directories publishes 2,500 copies. The price of American Business in Indonesia is Rp 495,000 while the Directory of International Companies in Indonesia costs US$295.

"We aren't a publisher and the business directory is only an accidental activity. But the directories are good for marketing, investigating the market, and are sort of a free promotion for the companies listed," said Castle.

He admitted that there had been a slower rate in the selling of the directories due to the recent crisis in Indonesia.

He said the directories published by Castle have some leading points, though.

The second edition of the Directory of International Companies in Indonesia, for instance, is expected to include at least 3,000 companies, more than the 2,000 companies listed in the first edition. It will also display various details including names of executives -- which are normally regarded as important because they are the decision-makers - addresses, telephone and fax numbers, e-mails, nationalities, number of employees, dates of establishment, brand names, affiliated companies, Indonesian partners and the business activities.

Meanwhile, Dataindo offers a business directory on CD-ROM containing the details of over 60,000 companies, brands and senior persons, as well as 380 industries and 10,000 product classifications.

The leading points of the CD-ROM is that people will be able to search more easily, based on several functions and categories. In addition, the CD-ROM also offers, among other things, related information and data on specific areas, charts, tax information and government regulations.

The flexible database format allows the users to select records by industry, product (where applicable) or locations. There are several packages offered by Dataindo, with prices starting from Rp 99,000 to Rp 5.5 million.

In addition, Infomedia also introduced the online version of the Yellow Pages (www.yellowpages.co.id) in late 1999. Priyanto said there were some 240 entries included in the online version of the Yellow Pages.

Those seeking information from business directories in Indonesia now have several choices.

They will be able to find partners, markets and promote or expand their projects.

When the time arrives, people in Indonesia will also be able to experience web-based business directories such as the ones currently being prepared by software, computer-related industries and their partners.

Such a tool will ease the way in which companies conduct their business online. The business community will be able to provide information about their products and services on the Web as well as locate partners and customers.