CG Consulting sales and marketing director Louise Robinson says Database 360 is the fruition of a long term project. “Database 360 is a database developed specifically to provide IT organisations wanting to do business in Africa with access to the right people, the right contact details, and the right information about the specific needs of these companies.”
She warns that South Africa data is everywhere and one can purchase a list from anyone and simply hit the send button and start spamming potential clients. “This will result in turn losing credibility and potential business. One needs to be sure the data is accurate, up-to-date and relevant. If not, then you are wasting your time, money, and damaging your reputation.”
“The reality is that data for Emerging Africa is almost non-existent. This is the reason why we have invested significantly in time and resources to build and develop a comprehensive database of businesses in Africa,” she explains.
Database 360 is a data company with offices in South Africa and the UK. The company does not purely collate data with contact details, its team of specialised consultants contacts clients, discusses the client’s potential business needs and develops data resources – based on this information.
In addition, the company conducts regular research and surveys through its databases, especially to determine their specific needs. As a result, Database 360 has a wealth of relevant information that can be used by companies, specifically in the IT industry.
To date, the company has prided itself on being able to offer its clients with not only the first level contact data, but also the informational data that is able to provide insight into a client’s needs.
According to Robinson, the African database now available from Database 360 is the first of its kind, providing up-to-date information on the myriad of businesses throughout the African continent.
“People want to do business in Africa, but the challenge for many has been where to start. Many African countries still do not have websites so one is unable to Google them and pick up their contact details, the Web data that is available is also often outdated or nonexistent so we need to continuously call and verify and update the data, another challenge facing companies wanting to do business in Africa has been knowing who to talk to when in the door,” she says.
The data currently held by Database 360 includes corporate data across all the major business verticals with contacts for the offices of IT, finance, CEO, HR etc. In addition, the company has French, Portuguese and Arabic speaking people working within the company that has assisted the company overcome the language barrier when dealing with many African organisations. As a result, Database 360 has become a gateway to doing business in Africa.
“It has been our goal over the last couple of years to develop a qualified database that will offer our own clients a full view of businesses in Africa, and I believe we have now achieved this,” she concludes.
