Steve,
I've given away a lot of your coiler catalogues to people at meets but
have never been tempted to actually look through one of your coiler
catalogues. Now I need to go through the pages for my work on your web
site and I'm not remotly interested in what is inside these catalogues.
This I think is significant. I receive Atlantic British's quarterly
flyer/highlights catalogue and I ALWAYS thumb through it and look at
EVERY page. Even though there is nothing in it for my Series LR and I
throw it away immediately afterwards, I'm compelled to look at almost
every item on every page first.
Every time I receive a Moss catalogue, I ALWAYS go through EACH page of
the featured products front section then only look at the actual
catalogue in back if I need a replacement part. Even though much of the
featured products remain unchanged from catalogue to catalogue I ALWAYS
careful go through each page. Why because it is exciting.
The Roadster Factory TR2-3 mini catalogue just gets dropped into my TR3
catalogue folder without being opened until I need a replacement part.
When I receive a new Rovers North catalog I look in their after market
accessories section and then file it in my LR catalogue folder as a
backup for items I need that you are out of stock on.
When I receive a BP series catalog it goes into the folder until I need
parts.
I never really thought about this until I was going through your coiler
catalogues. Please don't take this badly but I think your coiler
catalogues are about as appealing as a trip to the dentist. You put the
boring stock parts up front and the off road goodies & accessories in
back or worse yet bury them in with the stock parts. I can understand
why you never sold one of your heavy duty winch bumpers. No one knows
you have them.
Looking at the Moss & AB catalogues they have many things in common.
They sell excitement and lifestyle up front in a "in your face kind of
way" The stock parts are there but in the back. People who need
replacement parts will find their way there.
There is nothing to get your blood rushing in your catalogues. Your
company's life blood depends upon catalogue orders and your catalogues
are not generating business for you. They are a means for people who are
going to buy a replacement part from you to identify it to the sales
person on the phone. Period.
My suggestion is that if you want to get out of being marginal and into
sold black you need to get your catalogues working for you to generate
sales.
You need to redo all your catalogues at this time anyway, why not
reformat them to feature excitement. Make your catalogues work for you
and not be dropped into the pile with barely a glance.
Put the exciting off road parts and accessories up front and go head to
head with AB.
It looks like you have one person for shipping and phone backup, two for
phone sales, plus you doing everything else including emptying the waste
baskets (not counting the part time book keeper & accountant).
I think if you are to grow you need a person like Eric Wilhelm at Moss
who is focused on catalogues and sales flyers. Sort of a combination
marketing communications and tech writer kind of person. I know another
person is over budget but maybe Allmakes would go for it as part of the
web site/catalogue update effort.
Maybe Eric would be willing to do a little part time moonlighting and
create a standard PageMaker format for your catalogues?
AB is making the big bucks because they create excitement with their
mailings. The front of each mini catalogue shouts lifestyle &
excitement. Same with Moss. Meanwhile, Charles is always asking for
people to give him money to keep the business open and has yet to publish
a real TR2-3B catalogue.
You gotta update all your catalogues and place them into a new version of
PageMaker anyway, why not relay out the catalogues at the same time so
that your catalogues start helping you generate sales. Put that H.D.
winch bumper and the swing away tyre/gerry can holder on page 1 of the
Defender/Discover catalogue instead of oil filters and fan belts.
Replacment oil filters will not generate new sales or stimulate people to
jump on the phone and order one.
Even if you can not hire in a layout consultant grab the Moss TR2-4A
catalogue and make your catalogue just like it format and section wise.
Getting your catalogues to generate sales for you just seems to me to be
very important. Take it from the companies who are making the money.
Besides if you want to make catalogue pages into web pages I would like
them to be as intersting as what I all ready have. I would like to have
a site that will generate sales and not be just a means of identifying
the correct part number.
Sorry if my tone seems a bit overwhelming. Passion is something I'm good
at.
Take care & give my suggestion some real solid thought.
TeriAnn Wakeman If you send me direct mail, please
Santa Cruz, California start the subject line with TW -
twakeman@cruzers.com I will be sure to read the message
http://www.shadow-catcher.net <- Photography for sale
http://www.overlander.net <- Web directory for Land Rover
http://www.cruzers.com/~twakeman <- My personal web site
"How can life grant us the boon of living..unless we dare"
Amelia Earhart 1898-1937
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