As an independent rep, which would you rather:

• Go though the annual process of approaching each of your principals to request a supply of updated product catalogs?

• Under your banner and on your website, have each of your manufacturers provide and constantly update electronic product catalogs?

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If there’s no immediate answer, consider for a moment the traditional and time-honored way manufacturers and reps have worked together to ultimately place product catalogs in the hands of customers. Annually manufacturers compile product information. They then input that information into catalog format, send to a printer and print x-number of copies of the catalog for their reps and distributors. Annually reps and distributors put in their requests for catalogs to help them do their jobs in the field. The catalogs arrive emblazoned with the rep’s or distributor’s company name and are then circulated to customers.

This all sounds simple enough and when you consider that’s the way it’s been done for years, everyone involved became fairly adept at the process.

Saving Time and Eliminating Waste in the Process

What’s missing from the above scenario, however, is a discussion of the time, cost and waste involved in the process. Consider for a moment:

• The man hours involved in compiling and updating information to be included in the catalog.

• Then there’s the expense of printing and mailing thousands and thousands of these publications

• Finally, how about the frustration experienced by manufacturer product managers when they see these expensive, unused and undistributed catalogs lost in the trunk of a rep’s car or gathering dust in the corner of a distributor’s counter area?

There’s no better time for Agency Sales magazine to continue the discussion of the subject of change — and especially how change has impacted communications — than to consider how this time-worn scenario of producing and distributing product catalogs has changed.

To engage in that conversation, it’s necessary to speak with Bill Floyd, who handles marketing for The ElectricSmarts Network (www.electricsmarts.com), a unit of IndustrySmarts, Inc., an independent web-based media company in Glastonbury, Connecticut. According to Floyd, change has provided for a different and more cost-efficient way for manufacturers and reps to get their arms around those coveted product catalogs.

As he views the traditional method of producing catalogs, Floyd emphasizes the cost and logistical problems that accompany that process. “Prior to what I’m going to describe, it costs manufacturers millions of dollars to create and print catalogs. Then there are millions more in expenses when it comes to mailing and distributing the publications. And finally, it’s hardly unusual that when the catalog finally gets out in the field, it’s outdated before it even arrives.”

The Problem with Supplements

He adds that the problem of updating a catalog theoretically can be solved by circulating supplements, but that carries its own set of problems. “The supplements arrive as printed sheets and should be filed in binders. But I know from my days as a distributor that it’s hardly unheard of that the supplements will arrive and sit in a tray on someone’s desk for who knows how long.”

The eCat process allows manufacturers to add everything electronically — all under the rep’s banner — thereby allowing the rep to distribute information electronically to their customers. Thus the need for reps to print material at their own expense is eliminated.

Cutting through all of the historical logistics, Floyd describes what ElectricSmarts is doing to get catalogs into the hands of the people who need them as quickly and in as cost-efficient a manner as possible. “We’re working with manufacturers who see the benefits of the electronic Internet presence and recognize it as the most productive way to get product information into the hands of their reps, distributors and customers. That’s why we developed the SMART eCAT.

“Our goal at the beginning was to work with maybe half a dozen manufacturers. Well, very quickly we’re already at 30 manufacturers. All they have to do is send us their pages and updates. We configure their data and

they’re immediately up to date on multiple websites — including those of manufacturers’ reps and distributors.”

Rep Maintains His Brand

Floyd continues that in addition to the obvious benefits to manufacturers, independent manufacturers’ reps reap the benefits of having the catalogs appear on their own agency websites. In other words, it’s appearing under the rep’s brand.

“With the advent of the Internet,” he explains, “customers have traditionally been sent to a manufacturer’s website when it comes to product information. The beauty of the eCAT is that the product catalog remains under the rep’s banner, thereby allowing the rep to maintain contact and control of the customer. Add to that the fact that all the catalogs operate the same,” he continues. “Let’s assume a customer is looking to build a bill of materials. Instead of individually visiting a number of manufacturer websites (which operate differently and don’t talk to each other), he can build his order in one stop under the rep’s banner. An obvious attraction for the rep is that it’s the manufacturer who’s paying for this, not the rep.”

In addition to the more than 30 manufacturers working with ElectricSmarts, Floyd says more than 250 distributors are making use of the SMART eCAT project. “We have been concentrating more on the manufacturers and distributors, but the several reps we’ve been working with have immediately seen benefits.”

For reps — and others — interested in the SMART eCAT, Floyd refers them to a web link: www.electricsmarts.com/smartecat/c/home?coID=19542.

“Once there, a narrator directs them as to how the program works and provides answers to frequently asked questions.”