Companies sometimes place low priority on well-written product information, but many people in your organization need it to do their jobs. Product information provides many benefits, from helping the sales team make their quotas to helping your company’s systems function properly.
Your company speeds up the time it takes to bring a product to market, decreases the time it takes to get new products placed in catalogs and websites, improves lead quality and increases revenue through high quality product information. Everyone from your designers to your customers need access to this information, so it’s critical to place a high priority on developing better product information for your business.
Here are a few ways access to product information impacts your organization.
Designers
Your graphics team needs product information to properly lay out catalogs. Once they create the catalog template, product information helps them strategically group related products, highlight your featured products and create appealing catalog designs. The product images, text and specifications need to fit into limited space, so receiving this information too late could lead to printing delays and other issues for the designers.
Sales
Your sales team have quotas to meet and need to effectively convey product benefits for customers. They need access to product information to go through your entire product selection, match customers to the right solutions and have the knowledge they need to boost sales. You improve your chances of converting potential customers if your sales team can answer any questions thank to easily available product information. Your sales team ends up with more educated prospects through widely available information.
Product Managers
Product managers’ job duties revolve around products, so they have a critical need for product information. They use this information to properly onboard products, describe the product’s applications and go through their features. If a product manager lacks product information, your company’s product development strategy could suffer. In addition, you increase the time it takes to introduce products to the market if the information is unavailable or lacking. By keeping your departments equipped with the critical data they need, they have the necessary tools to stay productive while increasing revenue. Your product information should be a top priority and a PIM system allows you to use it effectively.
Systems
Your websites, partner sites and catalogs depend on product information to function properly. They also need accurate pricing so your prices match on all channels. The product images and copy populate these websites and give affiliated partners the information they need to offer your product line. When you make it easy to offer your product, you can expand your distribution network. You also cut down on the amount of time it takes to load products into these systems, as most of the information is readily available. The sooner you take your products live, the faster you start generating sales.
Customers
Customers need to know a product’s features, benefits and whether it solves their problems before purchasing. Product information lets them see your products and provides useful information so your customers make informed buying decisions. You also cut down on pre-sales questions because your customers have many common questions covered in the images and copy. Your customers know the specific solutions your products offer, so they choose the right option for their problem instead of dealing with a mismatched product. You also want to deliver high quality product images to help customers visualize this product in their lives. Images are essential for online stores, but even retailers need great images to help set customer expectations prior to seeing products in-person.
Profitability
Your product information also improves productivity with the right system in place. A Product Information Management system, or PIM, helps you effectively use your existing product information. Ventana Research found businesses using a dedicated PIM improved customer service satisfaction by 85 percent and made 80 percent more product information available throughout the organization. These benefits lead to more orders, better customer retention and savings from reduced returns due to rich actionable product information.
In Conclusion
Product information has a significant impact throughout your organization. Here at Catsy, we realize this importance and have created some industry leading tools to help you succeed.
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