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It may be a digital world, but there still is a place for the good ol' print catalog in business-to-business sales. Just ask CJ Milo, a sales consultant at Today's Business Products, a distributor of office furniture and supplies on Snow Road in Middleburg Heights.
When he first started at Today's, Mr. Milo accompanied an experienced salesman on calls. At a routine appointment at Notre Dame College in Euclid, the pair felt the wrath of disgruntled secretaries, who heckled the empty-handed salesmen and demanded the newest edition of Today's catalog.
Fortunately, the veteran salesman kept four cases of catalogs in the trunk at all times so that he could hand out the books at a moment's notice.
That experience taught a valuable lesson to Mr. Milo, who said print catalogs continue to help him in his career.
Despite detailed information customers can find online about their products, distributors and other business-to-business sellers agree the physical presence and permanence of a print catalog remains a powerful marketing tool — and an expense worth the cost, even for a 1,040-page monster like the catalog Applied Industrial Technologies released this month.
“Our catalog sits on someone's desk or shelf like a salesperson holding a sign; "Looking for something? Call Applied,'” said Jennifer Belt, catalog marketing manager for Applied, a seller of bearings and industrial parts headquartered in Cleveland.
“It's a passive prompt to our customers indicating that this is a partnership, and we're here to help,” Ms. Belt said.
Pete Santee, Applied account manager in the Akron region, uses the catalog every day. In his first year with Applied, Mr. Santee handed out between 400 and 500 catalogs to current and prospective customers.
Mr. Santee uses the catalogs as an introduction to new clients in his territory. The big print catalog showcases nearly 30,000 products of the 2.5 million parts offered by Applied. The front of the book has a timeline of the history of Applied, which helps acquaint customers with the company, Mr. Santee said.
“When making cold calls, I would be lost without catalogs,” he said.
The presence of a catalog also is an influential instrument for returning customers.
One of Mr. Santee's large national accounts keeps a supply of catalogs on the shop floor within arm's reach of the maintenance workers. The workers use them as a reference tool to find the correct parts for repairs on the machinery throughout the day, he said.
(Gold Printing Group) |
