Last month we looked at the foundation for your communications programs – to make sure that your company is top of mind when a buyer is ready to make the purchasing decision. How is this “top of mind awareness” created? Awareness is achieved by many communications strategies, usually all working together. Your communications plans need to include various strategies like master catalogs, online catalogs, e-commerce, sales promotions, personalized e-flyers, customer and/or market segmentation. And these strategies need to be sent to your market on a regular basis. It is these strategies that will drive bottom line results by keeping your company top of mind at each buying decision point. Because you can’t predict when your customer will actually buy your product, you need to be visible when your customer is looking for the information they need to make the buying decision. Achieving that goal is the difference between your success and that of your competitors.

There are other questions to answer as you build your strategy such as ‘How do I get my customers to buy more products?’ and ‘How do I get information in the hands of the buyer?’ These are significant questions with many aspects to consider. For now we’ll consider them in the context of your catalog marketing strategy.

Getting customers to buy more products is the challenge of all distribution businesses. With your customers trying to consolidate their vendor base it is becoming more important to use your catalog to position your company ahead of your competitors. A recent survey of purchasing agents found that less than 10% of their vendor base supplies over 80% of their product requirements. On average those customers were reducing their vendor base by 30% (2002, Industrial Distribution Survey). How do you make sure your company remains an integral part of their vendor base? Your challenge is to be different from the competition: to demonstrate true value, deliver your message in a unique way and make it easier for buyers to do their job. It all starts with your customer.

1. Know your customer.
   Identify your best customers and market segments – then consistently deliver messages that show them your value. In traditional mass marketing, companies blitz a large target segment with a campaign they hope will trigger a response. These unsolicited, non-personalized messages average between 1.3% to 2% response rates. Even less attractive is the actual conversion rate of actual orders received by about 3% of those who responded. As the costs of these campaigns increased (to around $700 per thousand) it has become an inefficient and ineffective strategy.

   By contrast, campaigns that target a select group of prospects that have some history of response with your company can increase these results tenfold. Use your sales team to identify prospects they know who are receptive or who have asked specific questions in the past. Collecting these names in a contact management system allows your marketing messages to be distributed quickly and will increase conversion rates.
   
   

2. Get your customers to ask for information.
   You know yourself, if you sign-up to receive a newsletter you’ll read it when it comes. Think of the kind of information you have that your customers need. Does your customer view your company as a valuable information resource? If not, try to get published in an industry magazine or a relevant article you know your customers are likely to read. Speak at industry trade shows where your customers attend. These are long-term strategies but your customers will ask you for ideas if they see you as an expert.
   
   
3. Treat your customer like you know them personally.
   Personalization is a buzzword that is heralded as an important marketing strategy. The idea of creating content with a high level of personalization requires that you know a lot about your customer, their buying habits and preferences. Keeping track of this information along with product data requires the use of contact and content databases. From these databases you need the ability to reuse and repurpose content across a wide variety of campaigns.

   Research shows that the growth strategy for most distributors (78%) includes increasing sales by growing their customer base. Competing for those new accounts requires that you know a lot of information about your customers and the market segments where more customers can be found. Keeping track of your customers’ buying habits and purchasing history gives you the advantage you need to create personalized and targeted messages that drive new add on sales as well as cross-selling complementary products. If you know a customer bought a cordless drill from you then you know they likely need drill bits, anchors and fasteners. Access to this kind of information is the key to demonstrating that your company is interested in solving your customer’s product requirements.
   
   

4. Make the decision easy.
   Customers need to know what you are selling. Make sure the buyer has access to information on all the products you have available. 76% of buyers turn to vendor supplied reference material when they do not have a regular source for a product. You can use your product catalog to be the source for these one time purchases and be a valuable resource for the buyer.

   Customers want to see past purchase history. Typically buyers like to buy what they bought last time. Showing them past orders gives a buyer the kind information necessary to make easy decisions – part number, price and quantity. Making this information available online helps reduce the demands on your customer support staff.

   Customers want to avoid risk. What is your policy if a customer has a problem with a product you have sold them? This may include on the job product testing, product warranty problems or just the wrong product for the job. Whatever the case make sure that customers know you stand behind their product decisions with top quality products and technical support. Solve their problem once and they’ll remember you when they have a large order to fill.
   
   

Managing your catalog content and your customer relationships is a competitive advantage. By keeping track of your product information and customer information you can deliver more powerful and personalized messages that result in higher conversion rates and larger orders from your customers. At Webcom we partner with our customers to deliver integrated publishing solutions that let you leverage data that already exists in your business into powerful, personalized marketing messages that keep your business top of mind when it matters most.

I'd like to hear your feedback. Please feel free to contact me to discuss these topics.