The problem with a bag of cards
You come back from a trade fair with a bag of business cards, a few brochures and some notes on your phone. At the fair every stand felt clear. A week later, most cards look the same.
Some cards carry a trading company's name, not the factory's. Some list three phone numbers and no website. Some are in Chinese only. Your note says "good price on item 4" but not which card it belongs to.
So the cards stay in a drawer, and the next time a client asks for that product, you search WhatsApp chats instead of a list. The fair cost time and money, and the contacts are not working for you.
What a verified supplier list looks like
A useful list is not only names and numbers. It is one row per company, with the same columns for every row, and a source behind every piece of information.
For example, a simple sheet might have:
- Company. The name as it appears on its own website or documents, and the name on the card if they differ.
- What they make or sell. Product lines in plain words, so you can filter by item.
- Type. Factory, trading company or agent, where the company says so itself.
- Contact. The person on the card, their role, email, phone and WeChat or WhatsApp if listed.
- Location. City and country as published.
- Evidence. The link or document where each fact was found.
- Gaps. What could not be confirmed, marked clearly.
The evidence column is what makes the list worth keeping. When you or your team open the sheet months later, you can see where each fact came from and how sure you can be.
How our AI researcher builds it
This is the flow for one request:
- You send what you collected. Photos of the cards, the brochures, your notes, and any company names you remember. You also say what you want: for example, suppliers of one product group only.
- It reads every card and document. Names, roles, phone numbers, emails and product lines are taken out and put into rows.
- It looks for each company's own information. Its website and published documents, so the card is not the only source.
- It attaches the evidence. Every entry in the sheet points to where it was found.
- It marks what is missing or unclear. A number that cannot be read, a website that does not match the card, a company with no public information. Nothing is guessed to fill a cell.
- You get one Excel sheet. Ready to filter, sort and share with your team.
| What you bring | What you get back |
|---|---|
| Card photos and brochures | One clean row per company |
| Notes from the stands | The note placed on the right row |
| Names you remember | A row with evidence, or a clear "not found" |
Using the list after the fair
A sheet like this changes how you answer the next client request. You filter by product, pick the suppliers that fit, and send the same request for prices to each one. If you also use our AI Business System, it works from your supplier database in the same way.
It also helps with the questions you should ask before a first order. The gaps column tells you what to ask each supplier: the missing website, the unclear company type, the product line you need to confirm.
What stays with you
The researcher collects and checks what is published. It does not visit factories, it does not judge whether a supplier is honest, and it does not tell you what any authority requires for your goods. For import rules and documents, check with your customs broker or the authority in your country.
Which suppliers you contact, test and trust stays your decision. The list saves you the typing and the searching, and shows you clearly what is known and what is not.
The AI researcher package, and what it includes, is on the services page.
If you have a bag of cards from a recent fair, message us on WhatsApp and tell us which products you are looking for.