A purchasing manager told us: "I buy from three steel distributors. Only one of them has sent me a product catalog. That one gets my first call on every new job because I can see exactly what they stock. The other two, I have to call and ask. If it is after hours or I am planning over the weekend, I go with the one I can look up myself."
A product catalog is not marketing material. It is a reference tool that makes it easier for customers to buy from you. The easier you make it, the more they buy.
What Your Catalog Should Include
For each product category, list every standard item you stock: the grade or specification, the available sizes (gauges, widths, lengths, diameters), the form (coil, sheet, plate, bar, tube), and any processing capabilities you offer for that product (slitting, shearing, cutting, drilling). You do not need to list every coil in inventory. You need to list the products you routinely carry so customers know what to expect.
Include a specifications reference section that shows the key properties of common grades: yield strength, tensile strength, elongation, and typical applications. Your sales reps know this information. Your customers' purchasing staff may not. Providing it positions you as a knowledgeable supplier, not just a material warehouse.
Include your service capabilities: processing equipment and capacities, delivery areas and schedules, quality certifications, and contact information for sales, customer service, and emergency after-hours orders.
Format Matters
A digital catalog (PDF or web-based) is more practical than a printed catalog for most purposes. It can be searched, emailed, updated easily, and accessed from a phone or tablet in a customer's shop. A well-organized PDF catalog of 15 to 30 pages covers what most service centers stock and can be produced for under $5,000 including design and layout.
Organize by product category (flat-rolled, plate, structural, bar, tube, stainless) rather than by grade or specification. Customers think in product categories: "I need some plate" not "I need some A572." Within each category, organize by size from smallest to largest. This makes it easy for a customer to scan the page and find the size they need.
Distribution and Access
Email the catalog to every active customer and every prospect in your database. Post it on your website for download. Have printed copies available for sales reps to leave with customers during visits. Update the catalog annually (at minimum) to reflect changes in your product line and capabilities.
The catalog creates selling opportunities by reminding customers of products and services they may not have known you offer. A fabrication shop that buys plate from you sees in your catalog that you also stock structural tube. Their next project that requires tube goes to you instead of a competitor because they saw it in your catalog. That single cross-sell opportunity can pay for the entire catalog production cost.