Portrait of a Pioneer

But they obviously learned a lot along the way. The more I read the old turn-of-the-century Sears catalog

the more I discovered important strategies and sales techniques that contemporary catalogers still are using today, such as money-back guarantees, free trial offers and free catalog offers.

More importantly, I came away with a better understanding of what today’s catalogers could learn from the old Sears initiatives. This was a chance to review the strategies and success factors of the catalog from my own viewpoint as someone who lives in the era of customer relationship management.