Nine Catalog Management Mistakes to Avoid

8. Develop your own operating software instead of buying a mail-order software package. Both large and small catalog companies can benefit by purchasing a package. Every time I’ve seen catalogers try to develop their own software, they end up spending more and getting less.

9. Remain unrealistic about growth. I once had a client, a seasonal food mailer, who wanted to grow to $50 million in annual revenue. The cataloger expected to accomplish this growth with a limited number of SKUs. Its prospecting universe simply wasn’t that large, and at best, it was a solid $5 to $6 million business. And it was profitable. But it simply wasn’t realistic to think it could achieve this amount of growth from its core business.