Where Planning Flows, the Work Will Follow

The catalog workflow process used to be comparatively simple. A cataloger lined up a typographer, photographer, and design production support; got quality output from a film company and finished up with a printer. It was a clean, linear process, albeit labor intensive, but in an era of digital printing, Web-based imaging and an explosion of activity in the customer channel all that has changed. Today’s high-tech, high-speed, highly-customized marketing environment requires vast changes in workflow for catalog development.

There is no longer a magic formula or one-size-fits-all solution. Each catalog has unique needs that demand a singular process. There are some “true norths” in this business, however, and I’ve learned that there are some critical steps for achieving success in this age of cross-media, targeted catalog development.

The Five Immutable Rules for Workflow

Whether you work in print, electronic, or a combination of media, whether you produce one catalog a year or 50, a successful workflow process depends on knowledge, foresight, planning, expertise and collaboration.

The five rules that follow can ensure a great workflow management process for catalogs.

Rule #1: Go Back to Basics

Understanding your objectives and your customers is the first step for any marketing strategy. It’s fundamentally important that you ask yourself the basic questions: Who is the customer? What information do they need? How do they want to receive that information? How do they expect to interact with my company? Is there more than one type of customer? Do they react the same way or do we have to consider different needs (i.e., product, price, place)? What behavior are we trying to motivate: brand reinforcement? Customer loyalty? Purchase?

One other question must be considered at the very start of the process: How often does the information change? The variability or steadiness of the data can significantly impact the type of catalog you produce.

Unfortunately, many catalogers gloss over this cardinal rule by relying instead on the crutch of past experience. “We already know that,” is a common response from catalogers. But often their assumptions are inconsistent with new and changing customer needs. Yesterday’s low-tech customer may now demand electronic access. All too often, assumptions are incomplete or out of date.

By the same token, not every cataloger needs to use every medium or the latest high-tech techniques. Yet many assume they do. Without this type of audit, there is a real danger of investing time and money to develop a catalog that won’t be effective.

For example, let’s look at Progressive Components, a cataloger of industrial materials. In the course of assessing how to better automate its development process, the cataloger determined that its information changes little from year to year. Its customers are accustomed to using an updateable notebook format catalog and don’t want to hassle with technology when it’s easier to find what they want in a print catalog.

By focusing on a print catalog with supplemental, individual product sheets for periodic promotions, Progressive avoided considerable time and effort, without jeopardizing sales. In Progressive’s case, embracing the “right” answer— technology upgrades—could have been the wrong move. By assessing its needs, Progressive Components was able to determine that its customers preferred printed materials.

Rule #2: It’s All About the Data

Database management has become the cornerstone of catalog development. Knowing the information you need, where to find it, how it is formatted, how easily it can be updated and how accessible it is for sharing with other systems are vital factors for establishing an effective workflow process.

It may not be rocket science, but data management does involve considerable attention to detail and consistency. That’s why it is important that every possible item and use be considered in your workflow design. A simple omission in the planning stage can mean missed deadlines in the final production schedule.

Many companies resist the idea of sharing their proprietary data with others outside of the company, particularly when MIS professionals get involved. To the contrary, it is impossible to streamline the workflow process if information is hoarded and not shared. Business in general is moving in the direction of sharing more information directly with customers, such as through Intranets.

This trend for making more information accessible to multiple users is having an impact on catalog workflow, as well. Much of the information needed for catalog development usually resides in a company’s existing systems, such as the inventory management system. In some cases, parts of the data come from other external sources, such as a call center or a list house. Having data that can be exchanged between your company and the catalog developer is imperative if you want to automate your process, create efficiencies and maintain timely data.

The common problem of last-minute product changes is a perfect example of how limited access to data systems within a company can hurt the timeliness and accuracy of a catalog. How many catalogs have you seen (or perhaps produced) where product photography hasn’t kept pace with recent packaging changes? And how often does your customer service department get calls because product specifications have changed, but the update wasn’t reflected in the catalog? When everyone works from a single database —within and outside of your company—these changes can be better accommodated in the catalog development process.

I’ve even seen some companies, whose subsidiaries and divisions sell the same products as the parent company, implement completely separate systems for catalog development. This duplication of effort and expense can be avoided by making data accessible to everyone.

Rule #3: The Output Justifies the Means

Developing one database for use in developing multiple catalogs, particularly cross-media, inherently requires compromises. But by thinking through all your needs before creating a system, you can make informed choices about what compromises you have to make.

For example, United Stationers produces more than 12,000 catalog pages per year in different versions of its “big book,” which contains its complete product line.

Much of the photography involves group shots and is created for the big book. However, when reused in custom catalogs, the image area isn’t the same size or proportion as in the big book, which can lead to cropping difficulties. In these cases, the product is not ideally situated in its background.

United Stationers recognized this problem existed before creating its system. In response, the company opted to accept the cropping compromises rather than bearing the expense of individual photography for every item. That decision allows the company to focus on the best quality for its big book and medium book designs—which produce the highest revenues.

Single source photography posed another difficulty for United Stationers. Groupings of products are commonly used to accommodate space needs in the full-line catalog. However, some of the custom catalogs may feature only one product from the group. For instance, a desk set may be pictured for inclusion in the full-line catalog, but only the tape dispenser is being offered in a custom catalog. Or pens may be displayed to show an array of colors when only the red is being featured in a custom catalog. Again, United Stationers chose to make adjustments in the custom catalogs to retain the bulk of the efficiency achieved by working from one set of photographs. United Stationers decided it wanted to limit the expense of product photography and could accept cropping limitations for custom catalogs.

Rule #4: Cobble Together Your Own Solution

Once you’ve determined all your marketing, data and output parameters, the next step is to envision a solution. Given the specific needs and diverse applications each cataloger faces, it is rare that off-the-shelf software products are up to the task. Custom products can be expensive and cumbersome to use, and they frequently require that the process be adapted to the system.

Generally, you’ll need to create a customized database solution. Start with the systems that hold the majority of your information and use supplemental systems to conform the remaining data into the larger system.

For example, if your company’s inventory database contains most of the information you need, use its field design for the database. Create a tool that translates data from other sources into that field design to bring all the information together into the catalog database.

United Stationers has developed some creative solutions to meet its specific needs. As a business-to-business catalog supplier, the company’s major clients are its distributors and dealers. These intermediaries wanted to be able to create custom catalogs for their major accounts.

In response, the company invested in PageXpress, an online catalog request system that allows distributors and dealers to create custom catalogs using their PCs. Distributors and dealers can select the products to be included and determine pricing for optimal market segmentation. A typical custom catalog is printed and delivered in three to four weeks. The best part is that all the information for these and United Stationers’ other catalogs reside in a single database. A simple online interface allows United Stationers’ distributors to customize catalog content.

Rule #5: It Takes a Team

There is a mountain of detail associated with database development and management for catalog workflow. A team approach between client and vendor works best. Often the team includes members from many departments, including MIS and finance. You’ll need these experts on the team to create an efficient process.

I also encourage you to stick to your core competencies and let the vendors concentrate on the database and production details. Your focus needs to remain on marketing.

“I can’t imagine being able to create a successful catalog workflow process in this day and age without a collaborative relationship with our vendors,” comments Bob Smetana, vice president of advertising at United Stationers. “By working with experts in database management, catalog production and graphic design, we gain the value of their experience with other clients, which has helped us rethink our process, create a more efficient workflow system and produce better catalogs.”

Smetana points out that outsourcing saves the company money while giving it access to the best technology available. “If we tried to accomplish the same level of technological competence internally, it would make our catalog production cost prohibitive.”

With more catalogs, more types of media and more customization, workflow management becomes the linchpin to successful cataloging. By knowing your customers, what information they need, how they want to receive that information; by understanding where the data comes from and anticipating the output; and by creating your own solution and working as a team, your business can continue to grow around a flexible and dependable workflow process.

Gail Ludewig is president and chief executive officer for TotalWorks, a full-service catalog management company. She can be reached at (773) 489-4313.