About Cathy Cater-Culp of Barrington, IL
Cathy Carter-Culp is a senior executive who has a background in sales management, sales, brand building, product development, and wholesale channel development. Cathy graduated from Utah State University with a double major in Business Marketing and Fashion Merchandizing, utilizing the knowledge that she gained through her education to forge a fruitful path within business. In 1997, Cathy Carter Culp founded the sales agency Cater-Culp and Associates where she currently serves as President. Within the over two decades that Carter-Culp and Associates have been in business within the greater Chicago Area, the organization has built a reputation as a leader in mass market sales and product development.
Currently, Cathy serves as the Chief Merchandising and Sales Officer of Dorel Juvenile as well as the VP of Dorel Juvenile’s Walmart Account. In this position, Cathy Carter Culp is responsible for sales and account management as well as helping the organization maintain effective processes and strategic vision.
Colleagues of Cathy Carter-Culp speak about how she is a results-oriented leader who has a reputation for building businesses with integrity, forging and maintaining strong working relationships with collaborators and clients, and exceeding expectations through a dedication to excellence and implementation of streamlined processes. Her people-first approach to business ensures that individuals within her workforce are supported throughout their professional endeavors, and Cathy excels at maintaining teams that are ready for any challenge. Notably, clients maintain that Cathy is immensely knowledgeable of her space and has a keen eye for detail.
Cathy Cater-Culp’s Skills and Areas of Expertise
Throughout Cathy Carter-Culp’s experience as a merchandising and sales executive, she has gained a wide variety of skills that better prepare her to streamline practices for businesses across industries. Below are a few of Cathy’s most notable skills and areas of expertise.
- Product Development
- Sales
- Management
- Brand Development
- Brand Management
- Business Communications
- Operations
- P&L Management
- Strategic Goal Setting
- Marketing
- Advertising
- Wholesale Channel Development
- Account Management
- Analysis
- Business Development
- Key Account Management
- Marketing Strategy
- Merchandising
Cathy Carter-Culp on Streamlining Product Development Processes
Due to Cathy Carter-Culp of Barrington, IL’s experience and expertise, she is consistently asked questions about product development by professionals looking to hone their processes. She maintains that product design can be a daunting concept due to all of its moving parts but ensures that there are a variety of ways to ensure that your organization can create innovative products that truly connect with customers. Here, Cathy Carter-Culp explores a few tips for streamlining product development.
Have Your Customer in Mind
While it sounds simple on its face, Cathy notes that failing to properly consider the customer is a common mistake that organizations make during the product development process. Products are created to be consumed, and one cannot discount the importance of developing with the customers’ wants, needs, and preferences in mind. There are a variety of ways that brands can consider their customers during the product development process. For example, many brands see success through communicating with their client bases through online platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Amazon. Feedback can go a long way towards honing your practices and design through the various phases of your product’s development.
Invest in Quality Market Research
Market research is a crucial component of product development after design models are complete. Typically, brands will want to perform market research through studies and focus groups that help ensure that the products properly connect to consumers. Cathy Carter-Culp speaks to how there are a variety of types of studies such as surveys, questionnaires, interviews, roundtable discussions, taste tests, and trial consumptions. Brands should aim to focus on the market research that best applies to its product or specific industry and make investments based on which will yield the most useful results. Remember that market research may lead to your brand needing to make changes to design or campaign goals, but this is an essential part of business.
Know the Numbers
To facilitate a smooth product development process, brands will need to have a clear understanding of the numbers. One of the most important numbers to have in mind is the prospective cost of both the development and producing the product. Brands should also try to get an estimate for how much money the product will make for the company as it is crucial for calculating expected ROI. Getting a grasp of the numbers is a surefire way to tell whether a product will be profitable.
Stay Patient and Keep an Open Mind
Most product development experiences do not go entirely smoothly as the process relies on many different people working in tandem, dealing with suppliers and distributors, different timelines and schedules, and a host of other moving parts. Because of the many things that can delay development, patience is a virtue. In the same breath, Cathy notes that it is important to keep an open mind as well. Being open to collaboration, brainstorming, and coming up with alternative methods to reach your goals can be a great resource should you face any obstacles along the way. Adjusting and adapting to rise to challenges is often part of the beast.
More from Cathy Carter-Culp of Barrington, IL
Cathy Carter-Culp recognizes that concepts such as sales, management, product development, and brand building can be difficult to grasp at first for people who do not have a formal education or relevant experience. She speaks to how senior executives have a responsibility to contribute to accessibility by contributing to conversations that drive innovation within their areas of expertise. Through resources that demystify her industry and core concepts, she hopes to inspire others to reach success within their professional endeavors by growing their knowledge base.
Future posts provided by Cathy-Carter Culp of Barrington, IL will discuss topics such as effective methods for brand building, the importance of business building with integrity, and strategies for building strong teams within your industry.
Are you interested in learning more about business development, sales, management, product development, brand building, and more from a veteran of the industry such as Cathy Carter-Culp? Check this site frequently for more insights from Cathy.