Well, here’s the bottom line: By not having an electronic catalog, your products simply will not be specified by the dealership community. Furniture dealers of all types are standardized on using industry-leading software programs, and if your products are not available within these programs then they cannot integrate them into their projects. Meaning, you will miss out on potential business!
Long gone are the days in which a designer will open a physical binder of manufacturers product looking for pricing, sku #’s, material options, etc. Instead, they utilize software programs from Configura, Cynly, and My Resource Library, to name a few. It’s these programs that store manufacturers’ data and symbols for designers to utilize for space planning and specification purposes.
Having a catalog in a software program opposed to a physical one allows manufacturers to respond quickly to the ever-changing market conditions. They can update pricing and remove disconnected product/materials with the click of a button while pushing the updates instantly to their users. Manufacturers can also highlight any new product offerings that their customers may not be aware of.
It’s crucial from a sales and marketing perspective that manufacturers have their products in electronic format for the industry to use. To achieve the desired results, it does mean an investment in time and money, but it’s one that does have a high return on that investment.
We’ve discussed why manufacturers should have an electronic catalog, but we haven’t addressed why a high-quality one is so important. We’ll address that next time.
Creating an E-catalog can be a very daunting task. Let RSC’s team of experts create and maintain your company’s E-catalog for you. We work with office furniture, lab furniture, and school/classroom furniture manufacturers, amongst others. Contact us to learn more about our services.