Sally Hewitt, International Marketing Director, Pitney Bowes, looks at how outsourcing print and design can help businesses deliver both cost-savings and quality gains at a time when every spend must be justified. 

Selling of the Page

All products are not created equal and as a cataloguer you will have to quickly grasp the concept of heroes and dogs. Your catalogue has to justify itself pretty early on in its development and all catalogues are created with a healthy dose of science and art. Obviously, aesthetics and creativity have to structure and define the proposition, but sales dictate whether a catalogue survives or not.

"Mail order is a leap of faith, and if you are selling expensive items you need to tell a good story to justify the asking price"

 
What You Need To Know About Page Building

Beauty is more than skin deep and the same applies to successful catalogues. Wonderful photography, great copy and a superb range of products are all elements that cataloguers strive for to produce a successful catalogue. But the thought and effort put into the layout of products onto each page and spread has the most significant effect on sales. George Pye says it’s not just how it looks that counts, it’s how that look drives sales.

The evolution of on-demand personalisation

Two sales representatives carry competing lines of business supplies. Both call on the same customer. The first tries to sell from a 3,500-page “all-products” catalogue. The second presents a slim 36-page catalogue. It features a customised product selection based on purchase history and is personalised with the company's name.

Which sales rep is more likely to get the sale???