Project success story: Landmark Communications

Client:
Landmark Communications
(News & Record in Greensboro, NC)

Internal Brand:
WIN The News & Record Way

Duration:
12 months

Challenge: The News & Record, like many US newspapers in mid-sized markets, was experiencing substantial circulation decline. Unwilling to accept the consequences of this decline, leadership at the News & Record hired Robert C. Davis and Associates (RCDA) to train and coach their inbound and outbound reps to apply a robust sales model with the goal of generating more EZ Pay conversions and cancellation saves.

Approach: Leadership at the News & Record understands wisely that converting subscribers to EZ Pay is a key element to retention success. RCDA trained and coached reps to apply the robust sales model to effectively position EZ Pays. In addition, the reps were trained and coached to have quality conversations with subscribers with the goal of boosting over-the-phone collections. RCDA has found that making calls early in grace is an ineffective use of resources since many of these subscribers fully intend to renew their subscription. Prior to this project, the News & Record had eight reps making calls to subscribers early in grace. We changed this practice so that the reps only made calls to subscribers who are deep in grace. The reps then used the extra time to make outbound calls aimed at selling new subscriptions.

Results: As a result of this project, The News & Record experienced a ten-fold increase EZ Pay conversions. Additionally, the retention reps were able to increase their individual production from an average of one collection per hour to three collections per hour. The cross-trained reps also had much success selling new subscription as evidenced by a remarkable 60-percent pre-paid order rate on new subscription calls. This quality approach to new subscription sales has led RCDA to believe there are huge opportunities in the newspaper industry to improve the way it currently sells new subscriptions.