PC Connection: "Rejection is very rare." (David Beffa, VP of marketing) (Interview)

David Beffa, vice president of marketing at PC Connection, has spent more than a decade in the trenches of a channel with perpetual identity problems. He's argued with publishers who refused to sell product through mail-order outlets; he's defended PC Connection's turf against highly selective boutique catalogs that nibbled away at lucrative niche markets. But these days Beffa's company commands plenty of respect. PC Connection (along with its MacConnection subsidiary) has become a $200-million mail-order powerhouse with a blue-chip reputation for service-- the "L.L. Bean of computer catalogs," according to many customers.

Unlike boutique catalogs (most of which have faded from the scene), Beffa points out, PC Connection doesn't try to build a distinctive collection of non-competing titles. Instead, PC Connection simply sells advertising space on its pages. This model--which now prevails in most of the major mail-order catalogs--leaves the publisher largely in control of product selection, pricing, and sales messages. Beffa offered a few observations on how PC Connection implements this model:

* On product selection: "we always want to bring in new products, but it's really the software companies that decide what's in the catalog. The only time we ever decline something is if it's a bad product--for example, if MacWorld gave it a poor rating--becaUse if a customer isn't satisfied, that reflects poorly on us. But it hasn't happened that we've rejected a product in a long time. It's very rare."

* On pricing: "We can't advise a company on pricing, because that's a tricky legal issue. But if a company has a title they've priced at $249 and all the other products in that category are around $49, we will ask if they think their customers will pay the extra $200."

* On exclusives: "If there's a hot product out there with a deal around it, we'd love an exclusive. We might push for an exclusive if someone wants to test the mail order channel with a new product and offers an extra incentive for our customers. But sometimes for the good of the developer the product should be in all the large catalogs, and we'll say so."

* On cross-selling and bundling: "Our ads frequently offer bundles-- either several products from one company or products from multiple companies. I think catalogs make it easy for a developer to upsell or cross-sell off the page, and our telephone reps also sell over the phone. When they take your order they'll tell you about other products in the category--if we think the customer will benefit from those products."

* On product positioning: "We almost always have the vendor approve any ad copy we write. That's our preferred way of doing business. We don't want to be promising anything that the product doesn't deliver. That causes problems with our customers."

David Beffa, vice president of marketing, PC Connection, 18 Bradco St., Keene, N.H. 03431; 603/355-6100.