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Jumbo catalogs — not unlike telephone books — are best used for (rank the following):

1. Doorstops.
2. Children's seat cushions.
3. A substitute for exercise equipment.
4. Actually getting sales.

I mean, really — why go to all the trouble to produce an 800-page wonder when today's customer can just pop on the Web?

The answer is (contrary to what you often see in business publications), not everybody loves the Web. Take yourself into the purchasing section of many companies and you'll find the same office setup that was there 50, or maybe more like 100, years ago. If you're expecting to see a computer on every desk, think again.

Jan Baiden, director of marketing communications for food service supplies distributor Edward Don & Co., says: “A significant factor about our industry is that many purchasing people don't have access to a computer.” Even if they do, a well-organized paper catalog is often more user-friendly than the electronic version, as that “doorstop” is designed for super-fast, absolutely non-intimidating reference.

How do you give this antique real value in today's world? For starters, don't change it. OK, you can tweak, add new, exciting goodies for sale and include timely editorials, but familiarity breeds orders. Moving basic elements around in a big catalog is like moving the light switches in your house — it shouldn't happen, because the basics need to be where you expect them to be.

Leave those all-important color tabs — you know, the ones your art staff constantly wants to update — alone. Buyers get to know the colors that relate to the areas in which they do the most business. When the latest big book arrives, they instantly open to the sections they're familiar with — the ones that hold the products that are right for their business.

Of the seven big books I've received recently, only two forgo the use of colored category headers or fake tabs. One of these two doesn't even divide its 332 pages by categories. How would you like to try to find something in the Yellow Pages without being able to search by category? The offender, Global Industrial Equipment, also neglects another must-have — a table of contents. To shop Global, you have to flip through hundreds of very dense pages on flimsy paper, then hope you'll spot what you want.

It might work, as every company has its own customer requirements, but most business-to-business catalog orders are based on a known need, not an impulse purchase. Known-need catalogs should be organized by the most exacting person on your staff. Impulse catalogs almost always have far fewer pages, making a flip-through fun, not a chore.

Viking Office Products uses little tabs that run down the side of the catalog. Cute, but relatively useless, as they do not contain the category name. Yes, customers often know the color of the categories they check out most often, but let's not assume that everybody knows all the categories. Viking can be forgiven, though, as the last few pages of the book contain a very thorough index in type big enough for even older users to read without glasses.

Seton uses standard short tabs at the top of the page. These all line up with the edge and give a visible color line at the head of the pages when you view the closed book from its side. Seton smartly matches the colored tabs with corresponding colored bars in a “Quick Index” on page 2.

Office Depot, though, shows how you can incorporate an important functional feature in a big book, while still keeping it familiar enough to keep its audience comfortable. Its tabs are in unusually light, somewhat fruity colors (think Florida or California) as opposed to the traditionally dark tones used by most.

Tabs run horizontally along the outer edge of each page and contain the category, subcategory and page number. Like Seton, Office Depot's front page contains an “Index-at-a-Glance,” but it goes a step further. Opposite the index are eight cheery-red peel-and-stick tabs; the heading, “The next time you find it, flag it, order it, reorder it” is super smart.

Showing a bit of humor, Office Depot calls its 1,056-page tome “Big Book” on the spine…then forgets to display the 800-number here. Spine must-haves are: company name, issue date/number and toll-free number. Users want to reach for a particular company, know the issue they have is price-relevant and what number to call. The rest is just dressing.

The lowly index is one of the most important sections of the entire catalog. Office Depot's devotes an impressive 24 pages to it. Think you have a great index? The only way to know is to check it repeatedly. Have newcomers, friends and visitors look for something in the catalog. Talk to customer service reps for feedback, as they have heard customers' stories of struggles or pleasures associated with your index. Office Depot, like many others, lists items by brand and type.

Baiden states, “[Edward Don has] an index by word and one by number, since some people know the item number but don't necessarily know what to call it. We also request input from the sales force and customer service on alternate names. For instance, we include ‘fish bowl’ in the index, though we don't sell fish bowls, because bartenders often use this term to describe a large cocktail glass.” Learn how your customers search for items — your Web search data can help — and make sure your index is smooth as silk.

The big book isn't going anywhere but on your buyers' desks — that is, if you keep its overall organization comfortable and complete.

KATIE MULDOON is president of DM/catalog consulting firm Muldoon & Baer Inc., Tequesta, FL.