ยฉ Profile of Success, Catalog Success magazine, September 2005 Catalog Success: When was the catalog established? David Isham: We mailed our first catalog in the fall of 1994. CS: Where are your headquarters? Isham: Decatur, Texas, a small town about 30 miles from the Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex. CS: How do you describe your primary merchandise? Isham: Saddles, tack and western wear for the serious equine enthusiast. CS: What are your primary customer demographics? Isham: Active horse people around the country. Our catalog is the official catalog of the U.S. Team Roping Association and the U.S. Calf Roping Association. Our catalog was designed originally to be
Management
Employees have more confidence to envision the future when they carry forward the best practices of the past. Hereโs how you can help them do that. Strategic planning enables you as a leader in your catalog company to identify long-term goals and mobilize your groupโs resources to achieve sustainable results. Strategic planning also can be a powerful tool to identify and communicate your companyโs core operating values and aspirations. However, all too often, strategic planning can be a frustrating exercise that offers little long-term impact or meaning for the average employee. How can you ensure that your planning efforts are effective, energizing
On the following pages youโll meet the winners of the fourth annual Catalogers of the Year awards. Weโre honored to recognize the contributions these three professionals have made to the catalog and e-commerce industries. This yearโs winners exemplify the astounding level of quality in branding, customer service and merchandising this industry enjoys. The winners include: 1. a former museum director who now sells museum shop-quality educational toys to a national audience via her catalog; 2. a transplanted Briton who has built a thriving company selling telephony equipment; and 3. an industry veteran whose reputation as a maverick in branding, direct marketing and channel-integration
What key performance indicators (KPIs) are critical to a catalog business? What can you learn from tracking them? And how can you make changes and implement improvements based on your results? In this article youโll learn about 10 KPIs that are critical to any catalog business. KPIs vary by catalog, as each has specific objectives and needs. You may have a KPI of, for example, the gross margin ratio, contribution ratio or net income โ whichever best reflect your companyโs goals. When selecting KPIs, choose ones that are quantifiable and therefore can be tracked. For example, a KPI to improve customer service canโt be
The U.S. economy registered slower growth and higher prices in the first quarter, according to the Commerce Department. Gross domestic product rose at an annual pace of 3.1 percent, the slowest quarter in two years, and down from 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004, the feds announced in April. Moreover, looking ahead, the news does not appear to get much brighter. For example, the National Retail Federation anticipates slowing retail sales this year, increasing only 4.8 percent, down from 7 percent growth in 2004. Many economists blame rising energy costs for the slowing economic growth. Whatโs a merchant to do?
The name Brylane traditionally has been synonymous with deliberate sales growth and budget-priced, conservative clothing primarily for middle-aged, large-sized women. But when the Paris-based Redcats, the home-shopping division of French company PPR, bought the multititle cataloger in 1998, it set out to apply a broader, more aggressive โ call it โworldlierโ โ merchandising and marketing formula to Brylane. Fast forward seven years, and although the sales growth has yet to take off, notable transformations in the merchandising and marketing approach, corporate structure and company culture all have kicked in. Two of the New York-based companyโs top executives โ Chairman/CEO Eric Faintreny
Want tips on improving your contact centerโs employee application and recognition programs? At the National Conference on Operations and Fulfillment, held in Grapevine, Texas, last week, several contact center experts offered their advice during the sessionโ60 Ideas in 60 Minutes: Contact Center/Customer Service.โ Here are three of their tips: ยฅ Be sure you have a motivational fit: โWhen interviewing contact center applicants, tell them what the job actually will be like,โ said Penny Reynolds, founding partner of The Call Center School, a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that offers contact center education. โMake sure they understand they wonโt be getting a corner office, theyโll be tied to
Weโre all guilty of occasionally hearing only what we want to hear. Sometimes we donโt want to face facts. Rather, we want to think what we want to think. We tend to do whatโs comfortable and put off dealing with the issues at hand. In this article, Iโve identified 10 things you, a catalog company president, probably donโt want to hear. (Or if you report to a president, tear out this article and put it on his or her desk.) Listen to these cold, hard facts. 1. Your company wonโt grow if you donโt prospect more. Invest in new buyers. Youโre not always
For the good of your customers and company, staff members in merchandising, marketing and creative must learn to work synergistically. In my years working with direct marketing clients, Iโve worn all three of these hats. Iโve also directed collaborative efforts from a strategic management position. So I know these three catalog tasks can be done in a collaborative manner โ and I know the outcome often is customer delight. Hereโs how you, as a catalog senior manager, can encourage such efforts. 1. First, get everyone in the same room. Doors, walls, cubicles and continual e-mails can unintentionally create silos among your employees. Face-to-face
If these last few years have taught us anything, itโs that you canโt be too prepared. From terrorist attacks to hurricanes and tsunamis, the unexpected could be just around the corner. Ready.gov, the Web site for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, offers the following tips on how to make sure your business is prepared to deal with and recover from emergencies beyond your control. 1. Figure out which staff, materials and equipment are required to keep your business operating. Have you reviewed and updated your business process flow chart recently? 2. Make sure you know which suppliers, shippers and other resources you need