Project success story: Knight Ridder

Client:
Knight Ridder (Customer Care Center C3)

Internal Brand:
FOCUS

Duration:
9 months

Challenge: The Knight Ridder Customer Care Center (C3) in Miami, FL handles inbound calls for 22 Knight Ridder newspapers. Leadership at Knight Ridder has come to realize that the 4.5 million calls that this center receives each year should be seen as an asset and not a liability. They have engaged Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to help the company capitalize fully on this asset by teaching and coaching the C3 reps to follow a robust sales model.

Approach: RCDA's concept of a robust sales model is one that is new to the newspaper industry and seeks to leverage the results that can be obtained by having high quality conversations with subscribers. In addition to many other skills, RCDA trained the C3 reps in the importance of asking great discovery questions, communicating the compelling features of the paper, and creating bridges between the subscribers' desires and the paper's benefits.

Results: The FOCUS (Finding Opportunities in Circulation by Upselling Subscribers) project doubled the EZ Pay rate for C3. In addition, the saves rate for inbound cancellation calls has increased dramatically.