Basic, Expected, Exceptional: Where Does Your Catalog Land?

A few years ago, a well-organized product catalog was a real competitive advantage.

That advantage is gone. Not because catalogs stopped mattering. Because everyone has one now. The bar moved.

The Framework

A Framework Worth Stealing

Jennifer Horrocks, former CEO of VisAlign, described performance in three tiers: Basic, Expected, and Exceptional. She called it "Steppy Things" - the idea that you have to keep stepping up, because staying still means falling behind.

She built it for people. But it describes exactly where most manufacturers and distributors are stuck right now.

Tier 1 - Basic

You Have a Catalog

Companies at this level have a PDF, a flipbook, or a printed book handed to reps and trade show visitors. The information exists. It is just locked away.

A buyer who wants to know if you carry a 3/8 NPT fitting in three different pressure ratings has two options: call a rep and wait, or guess and move on.

Most guess and move on.

Tier 2 - Expected

It's Online

This is where the majority of mid-market manufacturers and distributors sit today. The catalog lives on the website. There is a search bar. There are product pages with specs and SKU numbers.

Better. But not enough.

Buyers in 2026 expect the site to work like talking to your best rep. They want to describe what they need in plain language, get a specific answer fast, and move to the next decision. A static web catalog gives them results. Not answers.

Tier 3 - Exceptional

A Buyer Can Talk to It

This is the tier most companies have not reached yet.

At this level, a buyer types "I need a stainless fitting rated for 500 PSI with NPT threading" and gets one specific answer in seconds. Not 400 results. An answer. With a quote option, a compatible substitute if the first choice is out of stock, and the ability to close the order without calling a rep.

A response in 30 seconds instead of 3 days. That is what Exceptional looks like.

The Shift

What AI Actually Exposed

Here is the uncomfortable part. AI did not create this gap. It revealed it.

For years, catalog complexity was a moat. Buyers needed reps to navigate thousands of SKUs. That dependency kept your team in the loop and your margins protected.

AI flipped that equation. Now a buyer can get 80% of their questions answered without human help. If your catalog is not built to support that kind of self-service, you are not in the conversation.

The companies winning right now are not the ones with the most SKUs. They are the ones where buyers get useful answers fast.

The ones coasting on catalog complexity are being exposed, one buyer at a time.

The Path Forward

The Good News

You do not need a perfect catalog to reach Exceptional.

Most mid-market companies have good enough data. PDFs, spreadsheets, ERP exports, a flipbook updated six times over ten years. That is enough to start.

The gap between Expected and Exceptional is not a data problem. It is an access problem.

When buyers can access your catalog the way they want to - by asking questions in plain language, uploading a photo of a part, or describing a problem they are trying to solve - win rates go up, rep capacity goes up, and sales cycles shrink.

The Question

Where Do You Land?

Basic, Expected, or Exceptional.

If you are honest about where your catalog sits today, the next step is clear. The companies stepping up right now are not waiting for perfect data or a 12-month IT project. They are going live in days. One line of code.

The question is how fast you want to step up.