When your customers start talking, your catalog should start changing.
In the distribution world, assumptions can be expensive. Nowhere is that more evident than in SKU management. For glass, ceramics, and refractories distributors, the pressure to carry “just in case” inventory—exotic glass laminates, custom ceramic dimensions, obscure firebrick compositions—can lead to inflated product catalogs and buried capital. The antidote? Voice-of-Customer (VoC) data.
VoC refers to structured input collected from your actual customers about their preferences, usage patterns, unmet needs, and product pain points. It’s not just about running surveys. It’s about gathering usable insights through interviews, support logs, purchase behavior, and even returned materials data. For SKU decisions—whether adding, cutting, or modifying products—VoC is a powerful directional tool.
Consider a mid-sized glass distributor in Ohio specializing in insulated glass units (IGUs) and low-emissivity coatings. For years, their team stocked multiple low-E variations in bronze and green tints, citing “customer preference.” But a closer look at order history, coupled with a few direct conversations with recurring clients, revealed something different: most orders defaulted to neutral or clear low-E. The tinted versions were originally stocked for one-off architect-driven jobs that hadn’t repeated.
Using that VoC, the distributor cut four underperforming tints from inventory and shifted them to special-order only, freeing up warehouse space for IGU spacer bars that were frequently delayed due to short supply. VoC helped reveal that the perceived need didn’t match actual demand.
In the ceramics sector, VoC can also guide technical evolution. A Quebec-based distributor servicing sanitaryware manufacturers found that a spike in returns of alumina liners was linked to improper dimensions—not a supplier defect. Customers weren’t using them as intended. The distributor’s follow-up calls uncovered that end users had changed tooling specs but hadn’t communicated it upstream.
Armed with this VoC, they didn’t create a brand-new SKU; they repurposed an existing one, modifying it slightly to match the altered use case. This not only salvaged a misaligned item but turned it into a high-velocity seller for a specific customer tier.
So how should distributors collect and use VoC for SKU decisions?
Sales Conversations
Train your sales teams to probe for usage context during order taking. Why did they choose SKU A over B? What was missing?
Returns and Complaints
Each returned ceramic tube or cracked firebrick isn’t just a logistics issue—it’s feedback. Analyze patterns over time.
Customer Surveys (But Targeted)
Don’t blast a 30-question form. Send five key questions to your top 20 customers focused on product gaps and frequency of substitution.
Quote Conversions
Track which SKUs are frequently quoted but not converted. If a quote is consistently skipped, the product may not align with market needs.
Post-Sale Interviews
After large orders—particularly for complex or new product types—schedule a debrief. What worked? What didn’t?
VoC ensures your catalog evolves with your customers. It can help uncover hidden winners, prevent misfires on product launches, and avoid wasted investment in SKUs no one really needs anymore.
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Voice-of-Customer data isn’t just a marketing tool—it’s a SKU management asset. In a sector driven by technical nuance and project variability, understanding the “why” behind your customers’ choices leads to sharper decisions, smarter catalogs, and tighter inventory. In today’s volatile distribution climate, your best SKU planning software might just be a phone call away.
