The Daily Analog: Parts Catalog
So you want to have a parts catalog.???
Okay.?
There are probably many ways to tackle this, but I only have experience in My Way.? That’s actually true about almost everything I write, but I feel it’s more important to point that out in this instance.? I welcome you to go out and talk to your colleagues and competitors and find out Their Way, as well, if they’ll share it.?
The first thing you’ll want to do is determine your content.? What will be in the catalog:?
I recommend putting all of this in a spreadsheet, which will then serve as a database for your product offerings.? You’ll want to decide now how you want it organized.? Organize products in categories, to make it easier for the customer to find what they’re looking for.? Think about it.? All of the items you sell may appear numerically/alphabetically by item number in your inventory/accounting database.? Think how silly it would be to organize them this way in a catalog:?
ATBT.96 96”L x 18”W x 4”H Aluminum Top Tray?
BB.1 Brake Buddy System?
CCRL Squared Profile Starter Ramp for Steel Carrier Beds?
Chances are, your customer is not going to have your item numbers memorized, so this will turn into a navigation nightmare for them.???
Product categories, on the other hand, may be sequenced alphabetically, or in some other way.? The broader the category, the more flexible you can be.? For instance, if you have all Lighting products together in a catalog, your customer is likely going to know quickly where to find Worklights, just by thumbing through.? So broad categories need not be alphabetized.? However, if categories are narrow and not grouped together into broad general categories, ordering categories alphabetically might help.? You can also do both – select broad general categories, organize them however you want, and then organize sub-categories alphabetically within the general category listing.? Something like this:?
Straps?
Axle Straps?
Basket Straps?
Carrier Straps?
Motorcycle Straps?
Steering Wheel Straps?
Underlift Straps?
Apparel?
Raingear?
Safety Vest?
Sweatshirts?
Work Jackets?
If you make the broad general categories very broad, and do not order them alphabetically, then you should at least organize them strategically.? Some like this:?
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Lighting?
Towing Equipment?
Tools?
OEM Replacement Parts?
Wheel Products?
Customers should be able to quickly grasp what you’re doing and how they can navigate your system.???
Once you have all of the item numbers, descriptions, and prices gathered, you’ll want the gather product photos and supplementary content.? You don’t have to hire a photographer, or set up your own studio, or even take photos on your phone of every item.? Ask your supplier for marketing-quality photos.? Application photos are best – an installed, illuminated brake light photo looks a lot better than a photo of a new brake light laying on a parts counter.???
If you have to take some of your own photos, a good phone camera is enough.? Phone photos have increased in quality substantially in the last decade.? Try to use natural light, and if you can use software to crop photos to show what only you want, it’s worthwhile.?
Supplementary info – load ratings, product specifications, product weights, detailed descriptions – should also come from the supplier.? Use their words, and then it’s their ass if something is wrong.? Don’t assume the risk of broadcasting in print your best guess about something manufactured 5,000 miles away.?
Now, you have all of your content ready.? It’s time for design.???
Graphic design is a very complicated field that requires extensive knowledge and experience to be accomplished creatively and efficiently.? This is code for:? Hire someone to do it.? When I first started working on a catalog, my predecessor had slaved away for hours late into the night after his regular daytime shift, cobbling together a catalog using Adobe Illustrator.? I started trying to teach myself to do the same thing, and after 20+ hours of mind-crushing desert wandering, I feebly crawled to my printing company rep for a referral, and he introduced me to a Goddess of Graphic Design, who saved me from death by a thousand mouse-clicks.? She is efficient and creative – in fact, the less direction I give her, the better the catalog looks.? I generally just send her the content and let her work her magic.? If something looks off, I just tell her want I want changed, and Voila!? She is also patient – I might switch one photo for another and then switch back three more times before we submit files to the printer.? I never hear one complaint.? She’s getting paid by the hour, after all.? I, of course, am not, and there are not enough hours left in eternity anyway for me to patch together text and photos and graphics into something that looks professional.?
As your graphic designer works on design, you’ll want to get some printing quotes.? Be prepared – what you see may shock you.? There is a range of materials – everything from glossy, almost cardboard-stock paper, to the equivalent of newsprint on rice paper.? My suggestion is to use a heavy cover with an economical interior paper.? You want this catalog to be used, and kind of like grabbing a book from the shelf, something well-worn seems to invite use.? If it’s so durable that it looks like no one has ever opened it, no one might want to be the first.? Find two or three printers to give you quotes, and ask them to quote two or three different paper qualities.? Ask for samples of the different qualities.? The more you print, the less you’ll pay per-copy.? Often, a minimum volume will be required.? So now is when you’ll decide how many you’ll want to print.? If you’re not mailing them out, or have some other way to mass-distribute them, you’ll probably want to keep the number low, or as low as you can, given minimums and pricing.? One thing about putting something in print – even if you include a disclaimer, like “prices good through December, 2018,” the expectation will be there until all copies are dead and recycled.? Five years from now someone will call to order an L-Arm, and when you tell them the price went up $13, they’ll invoke Biblical authority to your old catalog and insist upon adherence to the scripture.? So don’t over-print.? If you run out of catalogs sooner than expected, that’s probably a good thing.? And since you’ve gone through the design and production process already at least once, it’ll be quicker and easier next time.?
If you are mailing out copies, while your graphic designer is working on design, and while your printer is scheduling your job, you’ll need to come up with a mailing list.? Your customer database, of course, is the best place to start.? You can also buy or rent addresses.? If you don’t have enough addresses in your customer database, you can muscle through building your list with internet searches, but that’s essentially what lead services do for you, and probably at a lower net cost.? Many of us in business default to the DIY approach without understanding how much our own time is worth when we’re spending it on what we do well, which is basically the same reasoning that led me away from doing my own graphic design.? I can write fairly well, so I’m not going to outsource creating blog articles.? I’m not nearly as proficient at major engine work, so I’m going to take my car to the mechanic when it breaks, without any guilt or remorse whatsoever.? I have bought leads before, and mailed catalogs to them.? A lot generated nothing.? Some generated something.? We’ve gotten some good new customers that way.? I don’t want to depress you, but the number of customers who order from a new mailed catalog tends to be a low percentage, most of the time.? That’s why you have to mail so many.?
After you’ve gone through the catalog process once, repeating it is exponentially easier.? Most of the time, you won’t make major content changes with a new catalog edition.? You’ll want to review content and make sure that obsolete items are removed, that product changes are noted (with updated descriptions, photos, and supplementary information), and that pricing is altered, if necessary.? You’ll want to add some new items, to keep the content fresh.? You could rearrange content, to make it look like you added a lot of new stuff, but I strongly encourage consistency.? Most customers can tell if it’s just rearrangement, and they’ll be irritated when they find what they were looking for last month in its new spot this month, a month after they needed it.? Since you’re now making edits, additions, and removals, rather than carrying the fetus and giving birth, the design work required of your graphic designer will be greatly diminished.? And you have old pricing to compare new quotes with, and an old mailing list to build upon.? You might find it quite manageable to set up a catalog schedule – once a year, maybe once a quarter.???
You might not be able to invest in analytics, but keep track of who you send a catalog to and when.? If you have that data saved somewhere, along with subsequent order data from your accounting software, you might be able to use it later, when you have the means or resources for analysis.? Again, another area ripe for outsourcing.?