Choices for your life, opportunity for your business

Monday, August 25, 2008  by Susan Julien-Willson
Category: sales, selling, sales literature, customer, catalogs, retailing, business

Well, it's in your hands now. The new Choices Catalog. The big book. It holds the whole kit 'n kaboodle of what we offer. It's your product directory.

More good things are coming your way in 2009.

There are even more sales tools and lit on the horizon. Have no fear, we're behind you 100% when it comes to building your business through sponsoring, using products yourself, and our favorite topic on this blog, SELLING!

So, what do you think of the new Choices Fall-Winter Catalog?

How do you use it in your business?

What would you like to seem more of? (Tina already let me know that comparison charts are important!)

What would you like to see less of?

Do you hand out Choices Catalogs to customers or do you just let them peek at it? (CJ says he shows them the catalog and impresses clients with the depth and breadth of product we offer.)

What kind of product lit pieces would you like to hand out to customers? (Cards, brochures, mini-catalogs?)

Please share your ideas and suggestions.

We're planning communications to help you sell more and be a success!

Be a part of our brainstorming by commenting here.

 

Comments

# CJ said on August 25, 2008 7:12 PM:

As I said before, this new Choices is the best it's ever been in my opinion. Again, I wish it would also incorporate the personal accents line of jewlery and fragrances as well as 1)highlight which items in the catalog are available for ditto delivery and also 2) a page dedicated to really explaining the ditto delivery program to a client and making it such an awesome program that they want to inquire about it (which goes hand-in-hand with comments from other folks like E.rod and Bridgett that the overall Ditto Delivery online experience for clients needs a complete facelift to make it client friendly). But overall, I absolutely love the fact that everything is in one catalog.

Along with Tina, I am surprised at the amount of comparisons that aren't "illustrated" in the catalog like the glister mouthwash which yields 100 uses which is equivalent to the big bottles of mouthwash in the store along with other items such as LOC. It's the concentration that seperates us from other brands in the marketplace and gives us a competetive edge.

Susan and all, keep up the good work!!!

# rdknyvr said on August 26, 2008 8:12 AM:

Thanks Susan, still waiting to get it here in Canada. :)

# Jared said on August 26, 2008 9:17 AM:

Susan,

I agree with CJ and Tina!  Comparisons, comparisons, comparisons!  We have to show our potential customers why they need to buy our products over others.  The Switch Catalogue was great, but I don't see that available anymore.  I was looking at the last one and realized what a valuable tool that was, but since I was so new (and I still am new) I didn't realize the value in that publication.  Also, placing the red free shipping tag next to products in the catalogue would be great.  I’ve found out that paying shipping may be a show stopper for some customers.

# GirlPower said on August 26, 2008 1:15 PM:

Hi CJ,

I'm pretty sure that all of the items in the catalog are available for DITTO delivery. Though why someone would want the same pair of shoes every month is beyond me.

And speaking of shoes, I'm pretty disappointed w/the shoe selection this time around. I'm hoping for a much better selection in the next Spring/Summer catalog. (Other than that, I really like the new all-inclusive Choices!)

# CJ said on August 26, 2008 4:41 PM:

Hi GirlPower,

I guess to be a little clearer, the main focus would be placing the Ditto Delivery symbol next to the consumables in the catalog only (Nutrilite, Artistry, Ribbon, SA8, diapers, etc, not everything. You're right, I don't think folks would want the same pair of shoes every month or the same dress.

# visioneer said on August 26, 2008 10:50 PM:

Susan,

One more in agreement with CJ, Jared, and Tina.

1. Comparisons are easier to show than to just talk about it.

2. An easier way to explain which items qualify for free shipping.

Thanks for asking for our input! You guys at Amway Global are the best!

# Kevin Z said on August 27, 2008 2:16 AM:

I love the new Choices. I especially love the size.  Perfect. I would like to see the Kahve coffee brand featured as a premier brand.  It's all about coffee right now. If the idea is for people to read the catalog as a magazine, then there should be more testimonials and one page stories to support the product or the shopping experience.  Otherwise, the a lot of the text needs to be removed because it's too much to read. I would also like to see a few pages devoted to all the partner store brands and what they are about. But overall a big step forward over the other two magazines.

# Susan Julien-Willson said on August 27, 2008 8:05 AM:

To all,

Thanks for commenting! I am pleased to read so many positive remarks. Many of your ideas and suggestions are helpful and I will be sure to share your feedback with the Choices Catalog team and brand marketers.

# visioneer said on August 27, 2008 4:32 PM:

Dan,

Where can I find customers like you?? Just kidding :)

Kind of....

# Jason Brady said on August 27, 2008 4:47 PM:

Susan,

I like the smaller size and layout. I sometimes pass these out to customers, but my business is primarily focused on the L.O.C. and SA8 products so I would rather see a separate catalog for those items. Or a separate catalog for each Quixtar brand.

I also market to small businesses. The B2B flyer only has a few items and I have to scan and print pages from the Choices catalog to present to prospective customers. I would like to see either the separate brand catalogs or a new B2B catalog containing cleaners, paper products, coffee, tea, laundry and current B2B items (anything most small businesses most often need). The full Choices catalog isn't appropriate for this market.

Believe it or not, I would like to see Amway sell fewer products! Get rid of all the Fashion and Decor items. Instead, concentrate your resources on the core Amway brands. I think people are overwhelmed and it overlaps too much with partner stores and other retail establishments. The "one-stop shopping" concept just isn't compelling enough nor a competitive advantage in my opinion. Focus on what the company does best, in other words.

Lastly, can we have shopping bags with the Quixtar/Amway logo? I purchased a product from a friend in another network marketing company and it was delivered in an attractive company-branded bag. For me, I have to deliver our products in re-used paper supermarket bags! A reasonable selection of company-branded bags would present a professional image and reinforce the company brand. I could purchase my own bags and attach stickers, but I would rather buy official company-branded material.

Thank you.

# Tina B said on August 27, 2008 6:05 PM:

I personally, haven't even had time to flip through the entire catalog!  LOL!  However, as I stated earlier:

1.  More Cost & Usage comparisons

2.  Love the idea of the "Ditto" tag

3.  I LOVE Kevin's ideas of having product testimonials as well as shopping testimonials.  

For example, when we first switched our shopping to quixtar.com, I gathered all of my receipts for a months worth of purchases (receipts from Target, Walgreens, SuperAmerica, etc.) These receipts were for basic consumables & non-perishable food items as well as some basic clothing (jeans).  We were saving $100-200 per month at the very least after just the first couple of months.  

Now, we are up to about 500PV - 600PV per month as we purchase Nutrilite, Artistry, SA8, LOC, Body Series, etc. through our own business.  So, our savings of money and TIME are even greater!  

What was cool was to be able to show people the receipts from 'discount' stores and convenience stores vs. buying from their own store.

# Tom said on August 28, 2008 11:09 AM:

These are all great comments.  The closest to home for me is the Ditto program.

I agree that the customer interface of Ditto should be more user friendly and easier to understand for new customers.  This would also make it easier to promote with customers and IBOs alike.  It's a little techie for most new people and I believe this creates some of the hesitation and uncertainty in the minds of new people.

Yeah, sure some IBOs are great at explaining the process and benefits of the program but, it's still difficult to do when we can't actually sit at the computer with the new IBO or customer.

Ditto is such a great business builder and money management tool.  I think that it could even be a personalized site of it's own like our other retail sites and of course include the Quick Product Checklist.  This way, creating promotional tools for the program would be even more useful for IBOs.  

Most of us are still cautious about simply sending prospective IBOs or customers to Quixtar.com or soon AmwayGlobal.com.  There is no tracking there for us and the signup process is still confusing for the new person.

Having customized Quixtar or AmwayGlobal web addresses similar to our personalized retail sites would alleviate this issue rather simply.  Then, we could include that address on literature we hand out or simply give it to a prospect to simplify the process for all of us.

As it is, a prospect can't even see the Ditto area without registering.  Then, they have to figure out how to register if they can't get in touch with the person who referred them.  The odds are that they will find it too complicated and then be reluctant to continue with the process or with the IBO.

So, having the Ditto area more user-friendly and easier to access could have a great impact on all of our businesses.

Thanks for asking.

-Tom

# Leroy Brown said on August 30, 2008 2:42 PM:

I would like the have a website online retail store with products,prices etc. with pictures/photos along with them to id each product! I understand that your personal websites are under construction? can this be done at all?

# Phil Goscienski said on September 1, 2008 12:06 PM:

Thanks to the corporate planners for having only one catalog but how much of the design was IBO-aided? The previous comments about price comparisons can't be overstated. Why not a price comparison on every page? How many IBOs know that items such as food wrap and zip-lock bags are great buys? There is not a single price comparison between pages 106 and 126, which include Body Series, Satinique and Glister, products that are used up every month.

# Jeffrey said on September 4, 2008 2:56 AM:

I have found out the hard way that the catalogs and websites usually do not sell products. You have to do your own cost comparisons and give out a lot of samples. I gave out samples last week to 2 people that, through conversation, told me about a challenge they were having, and I gave them product samples that could solve their problem. When I followed up with them, the first person placed an order for $37.00 and the second person placed an order for $92.00. These are brand-new customers that have never ordered before. If you want to go Platinum (and I seriously do), you just have to do the legwork. But it pays nicely at retail.

# Dan said on September 6, 2008 12:11 PM:

I've seen various product testimonials on the Quixtar site.  But only from IBOs though...not a single one from a "real" customer.  A bit biased.  

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