It's time to give up the “plop” factor.

That's the plopping noise your massive printed catalog makes when it hits the desk of a customer. And that's very likely the last sound it will make as it is moved to a shelf to sit mutely next to the catalogs of other vendors.

For years, maybe since the time of Mr. Sears and Mr. Roebuck, wholesale distributors have been grinding out catalogs. But while Sears long ago moved away from passive presentations via catalog, the method is still used in the W-D industry for marketing.

How much time and expense do you squander creating and printing your catalog, or using a private-label service to obtain one? How much money do you spend distributing your catalog to customers and prospects?

There are better ways.

Marketing your distributorship in the 21st century means promoting your company electronically in support of your field salespeople. Buyers are increasingly Internet–savvy, using e–mail as an everyday tool. Put both to work for you to increase your market presence, make additional sales, and save money doing it.

When choosing software, look for a company that gives you a complete suite of marketing campaign management tools. You'll want to automate, track and report on your marketing efforts, including e–mail, keyword marketing, direct mail and even print activity.

Electronic marketing lets you target decision makers with very specific offers.

Some tips from my experience:

• Keep it brief—one or two issues.

• Don't waste prospects' time with fluff. Give them specifics on how your products will make them more competitive and save them money.

• Have a defined system where you can “add one more item” to the order—such as a related product that supplements the original order.

• And don't forget to give them a “call to action” in your marketing.

Using the old printed catalog method of selling may conceal sales opportunities. The right software will bring up the names of specific customers and prospects, what they bought in the past and what they inquired about. This allows you to market directly to these decision-makers with specific offers.

It's called data mining, but if your “mine” is just a spreadsheet or, even worse, in your sales reps' heads, you'll never dig beneath the surface to tap its full potential. Get software that gives you data that are tangible, workable, targetable and reportable.

Your goal should be to give your customer an ongoing virtual tour of your product offering. If they can't come to you, you need to go to them.

When your marketing is successful and gets your customer to call you first, you need to be able to answer all of their questions, because potential customers who aren't having those questions answered will contact your competitors. Whoever gives all of the answers first will generally get the order. And be sure your sales team is aware of what you're sending out—nothing is worse for them than being asked about your campaign and not knowing the first thing about it.

Finally, remember that your customers are ahead of you in using the Internet to market—six out of 10 already use the Internet as a sales channel. They know how to use it to sell. They're comfortable with it.

So it's up to you to remake old marketing patterns to keep up with technology's impact on the marketplace. The right software and the Internet can be the warp and weave in your new fabric of success. And you won't have to hear that “plop” again.