The printed newspaper has all the value it needs to win back old customers—and win over the Internet generation

By Bob Davis

A few days ago my wife, Kim, and I were standing in the checkout line at a grocery store. The clerk asked the middle-aged woman ahead of us if she had any coupons.

“I wish I had some coupons,” said the woman, who was shopping with her two grown children. “But I canceled my newspaper subscription, and now I don’t have any.”

Kim asked, “Do you mind if I ask why you canceled your newspaper subscription?”

“I stopped it two weeks ago because they were just piling up, but now I miss it and I am going to order it again,” replied the woman.

“What do you miss most?”

“Besides the coupons, I miss the entertainment section.”

We then turned our attention to the two grown children, who told us that they don’t read the newspaper because they read online, to which their mother chimed in, “I hate reading the paper online. I miss my paper, and I am going to get a new subscription.”

People who read the paper love doing so. For them it is a visceral experience that is as addictive as the morning cup of coffee. And I learned years ago that when you get people talking about what they value in the paper, they are passionate about it and sell themselves on keeping their subscriptions going.

Despite the Internet, I believe that if non-print readers were to experience the daily routine of reading the printed newspaper for one month, they would be as addicted to the physical newspaper as the generation before them.

Bernard Baruch was an advisor to five Presidents, a self-made multi-millionaire, a leader in his church, and a leader in his home and community. When asked the recipe for success, he included his advice to “read the newspaper every day.” In the newspaper business, our noble cause is to bring that ingredient in Bourke’s recipe for success to as many people as possible.

I am writing this article on a Sunday afternoon, after spending a couple hours with the day’s newspaper. I read an op-ed piece about Congressman Paul Ryan from Wisconsin and the tax reform bill that he has introduced into Congress designed to reform our tax code while addressing the pressing issues of health care reform and keeping social security solvent. Now, I surf the web as much as the next person, but I have to admit that before I read about Paul Ryan in the paper today, I had never heard of him, and the format of the print version helped me discover him and become a better informed citizen.

In the same issue, I learned through paid advertising that the acclaimed musical “Mama Mia” opens in my city this week. And I discovered that the Leonardo Davinci “Hand of the Genius” exhibition is at a local museum. The print newspaper continues to deliver valuable information that I would have missed online, and I believe that the newspaper industry owes the citizens of this country the opportunity to stay informed in ways that only print can provide.

Many in our industry are asking, how do we turn the trend of declining print circulation around? How do we get the Internet generation reading the paper in print every day? It all starts with a belief that we can do it—we must believe that:

• If we can just get them to try it, they will like it and benefit from it.

• We offer a key ingredient Bourke’s recipe for success, and if we don’t get the next generation to read the paper, we are doing them a disservice.

• Our product has high value for the price. I pay less than 70 cents a day to get a world-class newspaper delivered to my driveway and filled with enriching information—plus coupons to save me money. Even if I paid a dollar per day, it would be a steal.

• Our online presence is an extension of the newspaper, not a replacement of it.

Once these beliefs are firmly ingrained at every level within the newspaper, we are ready to start turning things around.

Then there’s education. We must reinvigorate our newspaper in education (NIE) programs. We need to partner with high schools and colleges where they use our newspapers every day in the classroom. Ideas include:

• Sponsoring current events classes that require students read the paper.

• Running school contests with great prizes and scholarships students can win by reading the paper.

The bottom line is that industry wide, we need to start selling the paper based on its demonstrated value, not with the latest discount or promotional gimmick. The newspaper is at least as much a bargain today as it was 100 years ago—and probably more of one.

With this kind of approach, I believe we’ll win back subscribers like the woman we met at the grocery store. And as long as we focus on value and experience, we’ll win over the Internet generation, too. It’s a challenge, but we’re up for it.

Bob Davis is the president of Robert C. Davis and Associates (www.robertcdavis.net). He specializes in creating custom programs that deliver measurable results for the newspaper industry. Bob is also co-founder of Surpass (www.surpasscalls.com), an outsource call center serving the needs of newspapers across the country.

Newspapers Doing More With Less: Boost Retention at a Lower Cost by Outsourcing

By Bob Davis

Now more than ever, circulation managers are being asked to do more with less. I’m sure that as you have done and redone your budgets for next year, you have looked for every possible nickel to save yet even more savings are required. So let me suggest a great place to look to cut costs while actually increasing your output. Outsource your retention calls.

Now I know that when ask retention managers how things are going, they’re likely to tell you that the reps are doing a great job, but beware. I’ve found several common problems exist even when reports are positive.

Bad timing, wrong strategy
Most in-house retention teams spend way too many hours calling during daytime hours, not a very productive time to try reaching your customers.

Chances are that your retention team is calling way too early in grace. More than 50 percent of your early-grace subscribers will pay on their own. Calling too early gets sales that the newspaper would have received anyway by just waiting a week or two for the check to come in the mail.

And in-house retention teams try to save subscribers with a discount strategy instead of using a quality conversation approach to sell value over price.

The best way to boost your subscriber retention is to call deep in grace, or more than two-thirds of the way into the grace period, and to have quality conversations centered on value, not price, with every subscriber you contact.

The robust call flow
Having a quality conversation requires a robust call flow. This begins with a world-class greeting. The first 15 seconds of a call determine how the rest of the call goes, so the greeting must convey enthusiasm, assurance of help from the very start, plus clarity of purpose.

Next is discovery. We need to understand the subscriber’s wants, interests and needs as well as the true reason he or she has fallen into grace. We discover these variables by listening, restating and assuring help, drawing out hidden concerns, isolating primary concerns, finding areas to add value, and bridging to a solution.

We have to present a solution that strikes a chord with the subscriber. If we’ve done a good job at discovery, the solution will present itself. This is the essence of consultative selling.

Next, if we have provided a solution that adds value and addresses the subscriber’s wants, interests and needs, the subscriber is ready to respond positively to the offer—but it, too, must be presented correctly.

Then comes the assumptive close. If the call flow is handled correctly, closing the sale with an assumptive approach will, time after time, win the save.

The quality conversation:
A robust call flow provides five actionable steps to improve your in-grace calling


The problem is that many newspapers don’t have the resources, especially these days, to provide the training and coaching needed for their teams to master the quality conversation.

Comparing performance
Now that you are looking for every possible way to cut costs and boost revenue, conduct a test. Find a quality retention outsourcer and split your records for two or three weeks between the outsourcer and your in-house team.

I predict that the outsourcer will do the calls cheaper and better. And with today’s budgetary demands, it’s worth finding out whether or not I’m right.

###

Call center expert Bob Davis is president of Robert C. Davis and Associates, a training, coaching and consulting company specializing in the newspaper industry. He is also co-founder and managing partner of Surpass, an outsource call center handling customer service, retention, telemarketing and advertising sales calls for newspapers and other companies. Both companies are based in Bedford, New Hampshire. More information is available at www.robertcdavis.net and www.surpasscalls.com or by calling 603.472.9705.

Transforming the customer service center

Don’t settle for expense when you can have profit

By Bob Davis

Your customer service department does not have to be an expense. It can indeed be a profit center. Yes, you read that right -- a profit center! I will explain how in a minute, but first let me tell you a story.

I got a call last Monday from my father. He and my mother spend their winters in Florida and they were packing to make their migration north when he gave me a call.

“Bob, you have got to come down here to Florida and help this [expletive deleted] paper.”

“Why?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I had to call them seven times to get my paper put on a temporary stop.”

“What happened on the first six calls?” I queried.

“Well, you know I don’t hear well,” he said. “The first six times I called, I could not understand a word they said.”

“So what happened on the seventh call?” I asked.

“My neighbor had the number for the office downtown, a number that doesn’t go overseas, and I called them,” he said. “The lady who answered was very nice. She says she gets a lot of calls like this. I’m keeping her number!”

When we do the math on why a customer care department here in the United States can be a profit center, we won’t count the cost of multiple calls to your overseas outsourcer. We won’t count the costs of the hundreds of calls a day that now come to the few people still answering the phone stateside. We will, however, count the value of doing an excellent job.

Consider these facts about cancellation calls:

• One of the performance differentiators between an average customer service operation and an excellent one is the saves rate on cancellation calls. With good effort, an average operation can get a 20-percent saves rate. An excellent operation can get a saves rate of more than 40 percent.

• Ten percent of all calls coming into the typical customer service operation at a newspaper are cancellation requests. In a paper with circulation of 200,000 customers and 600,000 calls a year, that’s 60,000 cancellation requests. An extra 20 percent on the saves rate means an extra 12,000 saves per year. That's 12,000 fewer paid in advance orders you will need to write. At $40 per order, that adds up to $480,000 per year.

Now let’s look at EZ Pay conversions:

• Industry statistics say that a subscriber on EZ Pay will keep the subscription going twice as long as someone who is not on EZ Pay. So every EZ Pay sale is worth $40 to the paper (one less order to write).

• The average customer service operation converts less than one percent of call volume to EZ Pay. An excellent one gets more than six percent. An extra five percent in EZ Pay conversion on call volume of 600,000 calls per year means an extra 30,000 EZ Pays per year. At $40 each, that’s $1.2 million dollars to the enterprise.

Assuming it costs you $1.50 per call to take calls with excellence, your cost of operation is $900,000 per year for 600,000 calls. Your income from just the cancellation saves and EZ Pay conversions is almost $1.7 million—more than $780,000 in profit!

Is it easy to get these kind of results? No, but I have seen it done in top-performing newspapers around the country.

The question I put forth is this: At a time when the economics of the newspaper industry are so challenging, why settle for your customer service department being an expense when it could be a profit center?

High return on investment

Newspaper with growing circulation points to the value of follow-up on service errors

Recently I’ve been working in the customer service department of a large newspaper that holds the distinction of growing circulation. Sure, it has the benefits of a growing market and a good product, but the same is true for many newspapers with declining circulation. So what makes the difference? This newspaper might be considered downright fanatical about following up on all service errors, except that the results make their emphasis on follow-up quite rational.

Missed paper? A replacement arrives within 30 minutes. Same time the next day, a rep calls the subscriber to make sure that day’s paper arrived.

If a subscriber cancels for poor service, the district manager follows up to solve the problem and win back the business.

The newspaper empowers its customer service reps to make sure every problem gets fixed. They can call carriers themselves. They follow up personally on each service error call to make sure the issue is resolved.

Every district manager rides with new carriers for the first full week of delivery and for the first two Sundays.

I run a call center that makes outbound retention calls on behalf of newspaper clients to subscribers who are late in grace. By the time we get the records and make the calls, theses subscribers have made up their minds that they are going to quit the paper. It is our job to win them back. I listen to several hundred of these calls each week. Here’s what I hear regularly:

• “I got a new subscription and it was delivered OK for two weeks and then it stopped. When I called to complain, nothing was done. If you can’t deliver the paper, just never mind.”

• “I got a bill that was wrong, I asked for a corrected one, it never came. I refuse to pay this incorrect bill.”

• “I paid for a year in advance, and you have not given me credit for the payment. Now you have stopped my paper. If you can’t keep things straight, I don’t want to deal with you.”

• “We moved, but we never got the paper at the new address. You seem to be able to mail a bill to my new address, but not my newspaper! I have called three times, and still no delivery.”

Every one of these problems and hundreds like them would be solved—relatively easily and inexpensively—with a service error follow-up call. Yet newspaper executives tell me daily that their team members just do not have time or resources to follow up with subscribers to make sure their problems were fixed.

In response, I point to the newspaper I have cited here that requires its staff to make the time and invest the resources. Without a doubt the apparent returns to their bottom line and circulation figures have far exceed their investment of time and resources.

With the right approach, outsourcing customer contact works

The key is to partner with vendors in focusing on the behaviors that drive desired results

Demand for outsourced call center services is rising fast in the newspaper industry. The Newspaper Association of America reports that 60 percent of all newspapers outsource at least some of their sales efforts. While outsourcing has been common in sales for some time, the industry is turning increasingly to outsourcing for customer service. Most recently, newspapers who have outsourced to McClatchy Company’s soon-to-close C3 call center are seeking new customer contact partners. But can newspapers manage outsourcing effectively enough to get the top performance needed in today’s competitive media marketplace?

Newspapers that have formed true partnerships with the right outsource vendor answer that question with a definitive yes. But before they form such partnerships, the newspapers that are the most successful with outsourcing are doing their homework.

Key indicators and behavior management
Newspapers most successful at outsourcing customer contact determine key performance indicators in advance of the outsource partnership by benchmarking based on their in-house operations and industry research. Then they figure out how to manage the behavior that will drive those results.

The best way to explain this is to use an analogy. Imagine a baseball player in a tight game. The team manager could focus on the desired result by yelling, “We need a hit! Drive in that runner!” But it is far more effective to manage the behavior by saying, “OK, now stand a little farther back in the box and choke up on the bat!”

By the same token, if the newspaper wants to save 40 percent of its subscribers who call in to cancel, the rep needs to hear more than, “We need a 40-percent saves rate.” The effective call center supervisor will say, “OK, on the next call you need to ask more discovery questions to get the subscriber’s true reason for cancellation. Then you’ll know how to present a solution that addresses the subscriber’s wants, interests and needs. You’ll be able to win the save based on the newspaper’s value to the subscriber.”

But by and large, vendors need help implementing this behavior-based approach.

So the best outsource partnerships begin with clear agreement between the newspaper and the vendor on the behaviors that will drive the key performance indicators and desired results. Then, the newspaper takes a hands-on approach to helping the outsource partner practice those behaviors consistently.

Owning the numbers, calibrating the calls
What strikes me most about newspapers who do well with their outsource partnerships is that not only establish a system for managing the behavior of their outsource vendors, but they also own the numbers. They set aside time in advance to get the current numbers, study them and prepare to discuss them thoroughly with the outsource partner. The comes the behavior management—the weekly call calibration.

Call calibration means that the newspaper and the outsource partner—independently of one another—monitor the reps and score them on the agreed-upon behaviors including a consistently applied, robust call flow. Each week, they meet and compare the scores to make sure that the outsource partner is evaluating the reps’ behaviors properly and consistently. They not only communicate but over-communicate to ensure that the outsource vendor continues to buy into the key performance indicators and behavior that drives them.

Remote monitoring and coaching
I have found that it is critical for the newspaper to dial in and listen to reps without the outsource partner being able to select reps for evaluation, and to make site visits regularly. These steps increase the likelihood that the newspaper will hear lower performers on the phones and then take steps with the vendor to correct problems.

Recently I saw that monitoring alone by one newspaper increased its outsource vendor’s performance by 40 percent!

The most effective outsource vendors have their supervisors doing side-by-side coaching. This involves much more than wandering around and observing. The supervisors are experts at the call flow and desired behaviors. They model these processes and behaviors for reps and do one-on-one coaching between and during calls. They listen to calls on the spot and guide their reps to mastery. By all accounts, outsourcing works best when the newspaper has chosen a partner who has the resources to provide this type of coaching—and a proven track record for doing so effectively.

Indeed, outsourcing customer contact can have a dramatically positive impact on the newspaper’s bottom line. It works for all types of calls—from inbound to outbound, from customer service and retention to new subscriber sales. But like everything else in the realm of communicating with customers, it boils down to having a quality conversation, building rapport, and offering solutions. It means setting goals and delivering value. It’s about behaviors!

Based on what I have observed in the field, outsourcing is producing stellar results given the right approach—managing behaviors, owning the numbers, and working in real partnership with the outsource vendor.

By putting effectiveness before efficiency, newspapers grow top-line revenue

As newspapers strive to protect their bottom lines, I hear a lot of talk about efficiency. Should we centralize our operations? Can we outsource call center operations at a lower cost than we can handle it in-house? Should we send our work overseas? Yet I believe we should focus on growing top-line revenue—on effectiveness instead of efficiency.

Let me give you a few examples.

Call abandon rates versus top-line revenue
For newspaper classified call centers everywhere, the call abandon rate is a key measure. However, it is too efficiency-minded to manage the call abandon rate with head count alone.

A better approach is to examine call center effectiveness by asking what the call center can do to grow top-line revenue. Find out how many outbound calls your people are making in their extra time. In my experience working with classified departments across the country, the problem is that reps often cherry pick instead of calling all current prospects and advertisers. Nationwide, I see tremendous room for improvement in this regard.

Cost of winning new customers
At most newspapers, the number of subscribers who call in to quit each year represents at least 20 percent of circulation. That number climbs to 30 percent or more at some newspapers. At the same time, the industry saves only 17 percent of these subscribers from canceling. When it was cheaper to win a new customer than to keep an existing one, maybe these numbers were OK. Today we can and must do a better job retaining subscribers.

Significant improvement is well within reach for virtually any newspaper. After all, other subscription-based industries achieve 50-percent and even 60-percent saves rates regularly. And by focusing on effectiveness instead of efficiency, top-performing newspapers are earning 40-percent saves rates.

Say you have a circulation of 300,000 and receive 100,000 cancellation calls in your call center each year, and that you save the industry average of 17 percent of these calls. The efficiency-based measure would be talk time, and our work has shown that it takes an extra 30 seconds on the phone have a quality saves attempt.

Yes, spending 30 seconds more costs the paper around 50 cents. However, the extra effort will drive your saves rate up by 23 points. This means 23,000 fewer subscribers you will need to replace at $40 or more apiece, adding up to almost a million dollars per year. It’s a great example of how effectiveness beats efficiency hands down.

Online advertising expertise
Here is another example. Most newspapers have only a handful of online advertising experts. The sales force relies heavily on these experts to help them sell online ads. This is an efficient way to handle it, but is it the most effective? To answer that question, look at the amount of online revenue you receive today from existing advertisers. If it is not as much as it should be, maybe the efficiency model is not working well for you. To boost effectiveness, train all your sales reps to sell online ads effectively so you can maximize this revenue source.

When market conditions present challenges such as circulation decline and technological changes, the natural result is pressure to be more efficient. But in my experience in the newspaper industry, organizations that resist the pressure and focus instead on effectiveness see dramatic improvement in customer service, customer retention and sales. The return far exceeds the investment.

Viable strategies for success

Newspaper Next produces excellent foundation for action

When the American Press Institute undertook Newspaper Next to research and test new business models for our industry, the overall goal was to find ways for newspapers to survive the “strategic inflection point”—the recent period of disruptive changes including declining circulation, rising costs and downward revenue trends. This well conceived, thorough initiative has produced excellent strategies for leadership and transformation within the newspaper industry. Now it is time for us to execute those strategies in the most effective and sustainable way.

Driving deep
One of the key components of Newspaper Next is to think of “jobs to be done” versus products. This is akin to the story of the drill bit salesman who sells the value of quarter-inch holes instead of quarter-inch bits. This kind of thinking must occur from top to bottom in today's newspaper organizations and marketplace. So how do we get there?

To follow the lead and direction established by Newspaper Next and other positive initiatives, newspaper organizations must empower themselves to do what they are capable of doing and, in fact, must do to survive. Specifically, every newspaper organization should develop a leadership program that drives deep, one that will take publishers and their direct reports out of their offices and into the company and community to drive top-line performance.

Let’s look at some actions to take through such a leadership program based on the ten competencies outlined in Newspaper Next.

1. Vision – Prepare publishers and their direct reports to leave their offices twice per week for a leadership walk. Over about one hour per walk, they should have one-on-one conversations with employees to address concerns and share vision for strategic goals, innovation, creativity, learning and accomplishment.

2. Customer Focus – Enable publishers and their direct reports to call on advertisers who have not advertised within the last six months. Imagine how impressed a car dealer will be to look up and see your publisher in the dealership working to understand and address its advertising needs. Additionally, publishers and their direct reports should listen to an hour of customer service calls each week. In all cases, they should be focused on opportunities to fulfill the wants, interests and needs of existing customers and new ones.

3. Championing Change – People will not change unless they are encouraged to do so. The newspaper’s leadership team must develop and commit to using new skills with their people. Emphasis should include the need for positive attitudes, embracing change and taking personal responsibility. As leaders use their new skills and adapt to the new paradigm, they will master those skills—and it will make a tremendous difference.

4. Driving Results – We must focus on top-line business. For example, each newspaper call center needs, in plain view of everyone, a scoreboard with target results. When leaders update the scoreboard, they should do so with fanfare and positive reinforcement for top achievers. Using these kinds of tactics will set high expectations, measurable goals and accountability in an atmosphere of persistence, positive thinking and recognition.

5. Interpersonal Communications – Publishers and their direct reports should receive coaching to improve their ability to communicate in a compelling way with their people. Ideally, a class or seminar should be organized that uses public speaking as the vehicle for driving change. Set goals to ensure that any representative of the newspaper can establish good rapport and communicate effectively inside and out.

6. Relationship Management – Obviously human relations skills are critical in meeting goals, working collaboratively and understanding the needs of internal and external customers. One suggestion is to establish a program that gets publishers and their direct reports to pick one human relations skill per week that needs improving, and then work on it during that week.

7. Coaching and developing – As a top priority, leaders must master the skills they need to coach and develop their direct reports on work-related competencies and career growth in a highly effective, sustainable way. It’s hard work and likely requires outside help to implement, but just think of the positive impact this will have on top-line revenue!

8. Integrity – It is my belief that a leader either has integrity or does not, and adults cannot be taught integrity. However, leadership must make it clear that integrity is an absolute within the organization. It is critical to reinforce the value of working with integrity on every level and at every step.

9. Business acumen – Every leader has certain strengths. It is critical to assess and tap the talent of leaders and their teams. Do so under the premise that everyone must first understand general business and financial concepts, and then be able to coordinate and put to work specific competencies for maximum positive impact on the organization’s business.

10. Learning agility – For an organization to have learning agility, its leaders must look constantly for ways for its team members can improve. This is essential in adapting continuously to the newspaper marketplace and maximizing individual and organizational performance.

Meeting the challenges
Without a doubt, Newspaper Next has been a highly valuable and essential initiative for the industry. It has put the ball in play and in our court, and newspaper organizations must react by retooling themselves so they can maximize the Newspaper Next competencies—a comprehensive ten-point framework that will help us meet the challenges of the 21st Century.

Listening before you leap

A problem truly understood is already half-solved

When subscribers call in with a cancellation request, the most common reason they give is that they don’t have time to read. In many newspaper call centers, reps hear subscribers give this reason and then immediately jump right on the fix—usually a downgrade in the frequency of delivery or a drop in the price. But they’re jumping far too soon.

The real reason
We have found in our extensive work with newspaper call centers that it is critical to begin a robust discovery phase on the call as soon as a subscriber tells us why he or she wants to quit. Why? Because very often, the first reason a subscriber gives isn’t the real one.

In a robust call flow, our first response to the subscriber not having time to read should be a restatement:

“So if I understand you correctly the reason you want to leave us today is that you don’t have time to read. Aside from that, are there any other problems with you newspaper or its delivery that would cause you to want to cancel today?”

More than 40 percent of the time, subscribers give a second reason that turns out to be the true problem that led to the cancellation call. So on almost half the calls we handle, jumping on the fix doesn’t address the true cancellation reason.

Lower cost, higher profit
It follows that if we find out the true cancellation reason and address it instead of papering over a problem with a quick-fix or a discount, we will have higher customer satisfaction, better retention, and a more profitable organization. After all, it costs much less to keep an existing customer than to go out and win a new one.

We have found that many subscribers don’t call in with a service and billing issue until it has happened numerous times, or they’ve called in previously but the problem hasn’t been corrected. In either type of case, many subscribers don’t reveal the real issue until we complete discovery by restating and assuring help, asking about additional concerns, and then isolating the true reason for calling.

Selling value
Finally, another common reason for canceling is the end of promotional discounts. This occurs when a subscriber gets a high bill for renewal and calls to quit but doesn’t reveal the real concern until we follow the robust discovery process. If we know that price is the issue, we can begin a value discussion with the subscriber that focuses on features and benefits. When we get the subscribers talking about features they enjoy, suddenly price becomes less of a concern because they recognize the value of the newspaper!

The bottom line is that we can’t solve a problem unless we know what it is. We don’t always know the problem unless we ask for more information. There’s an old adage that says a problem well-stated is half-solved. By engaging in robust discovery, we’re helping the subscriber state—and ultimately solve—the problem. We’re helping the subscriber see value. We’re winning loyalty and retaining our most profitable customers—the ones we already have.

Universal lesson: How Xerox turned a $273 million loss into a $978 million profit

Five years ago, Xerox was facing possible bankruptcy. Revenue and profits had declined, cash was going down, and debt was increasing. The company faced angry customers and defecting employees. On the day Anne M. Mulcahy (pictured at right) was named president and COO of Xerox, the company had lost half its share value. Looking back today, how Xerox changed its fortunes under Mulcahy’s leadership carries lessons for virtually any industry—including the newspaper business.

You can read the whole story in an article* by Mulcahy in the January 2007 issue of Leadership Excellence magazine, but here I want to emphasize several of her key points and how they apply to our business.

Mainly she covered five winning strategies Xerox used after deciding to focus on customers as the top priority in turning the company around. Let me paraphrase them and relate them to specific facets of newspaper industry.

Strategy 1:
Listen to your customers and determine their wants, interests and needs.

This may seem obvious, but I want to focus on the importance of newspaper circulation executives—not just call center reps—being in touch with subscribers. Leaders who make their offices adjacent to or in the midst of the call center can monitor easily and tend to be in tune with how well calls to and from subscribers are handled. This helps them understand things from the subscriber’s perspective and equips them to make informed decisions that serve subscribers more effectively.

One hour per week, every executive within the newspaper organization should listen to customers and the way customer service people talk to them. One easy way to do this is to record these calls and burn them to a CD that executives can play in their cars while commuting to work. Give these recordings to the whole executive team so they can spend time with the customers every week.

And while we are on the subject, it’s a good idea to get an hour’s worth of calls from your telemarketing vendors every week to hear what potential customers are saying about your product.

Strategy 2:
Invest in innovation.

Facing circulation decline, many newspapers argue that they don’t have the money to invest in customer service right now. Many push for outsourcing and reducing costs.

Yet according to Mulcahy, companies that retain an additional five percent of their customers will grow bottom-line profits by 25 to 50 percent. Furthermore it costs five times as much to win a new customer as it does to keep an existing one.

These views are consistent with what I have seen in decades of working with newspaper organizations on customer service, sales and retention projects. Newspaper companies that invest in proven, innovative customer service and retention training programs are earning a substantial return on such investment.

Strategy 3:
Make it every employee’s job to add value.

Xerox achieved its dramatic turnaround largely because it made sure that every customer interaction with employees—from top to bottom—was made positive by having meaningful person-to-person interaction and a genuine desire to help. This cannot occur without buy-in and support of value-based customer service and retention efforts at all levels of the organization.

Strategy 4:
Don’t sell quarter-inch drill bits. Sell quarter-inch holes.

How do we add value? Sell solutions. If you go to the hardware store to buy a quarter-inch drill bit, the assumption is that ultimately you want a quarter-inch hole. In my work training and coaching in newspaper call centers, one question rises to the top as a conversation-starter that has led to a six-fold increase in EZ Pay sales:

“What is your favorite section of the newspaper?”

We’re not selling newspapers. We’re selling the experience, the relationship, the part of the day subscribers enjoy with their newspaper. Asking them about their favorite section prompts them to remember the true value of their subscription. And it makes a dramatic difference in winning the save.

Strategy 5:
Exceed customer expectations.

Mulcahy cited data showing that 75 percent of customers who quit say they’re satisfied. She goes on to say that customers who say they’re very satisfied are six times more likely to stay on than those who are merely satisfied. And, she says, only 40 percent of customers who consider themselves satisfied buy again.

This confirms findings in a Harvard Business Review study showing that customers must be not just satisfied but very satisfied at the conclusion of every customer service contact to build loyalty and stability. According to the study:

• A customer who is merely satisfied resides in a “Zone of Indifference” where he or she has neither positive nor negative feelings toward the organization.

• By contrast, a very satisfied customer resides in “Zone of Affection” where he or she remains loyal to the organization and promotes it to others enthusiastically.

No matter what business you’re in, findings like these mean ‘good enough’ just isn’t good enough anymore. Effectiveness trumps efficiency. Value sells better than discounts and other gimmicks. We’ve got to dazzle them with service.

* Read Mulcahy’s article, “Customer Connection: You win when you listen to customers” in Leadership Excellence magazine, Vol. 24, No. 1. January 2007. Executive Excellence Publishing, www.eep.com.

Straightforward approach pays high dividends

I was delighted to serve as a major source for this trade article on InlandPress.org and was quoted extensively on the subject of how “Improving customer service starts at the top and pays huge dividends.”

No 'magic' – just commitment to serve
Wednesday, March 07, 2007 By Randy Craig | Editor, rcraig@inlandpress.org

Jon Louder, circulation director at the Mitchell (S.D.) Daily Republic, believes in the power of customer service. He shares a familiar axiom uttered by many over the years: A newspaper might boast Pulitzer Prize-winning news, but if the service is lousy, it will lose circulation. The converse is also true.

"You can have a mediocre paper, but if you have really great service, you'll probably gain circulation. This should magnify to everybody how important customer service is," he said.

Louder said the Republic is not perfect, but service has been good enough to keep the 12,000-circulation paper growing in a shrinking market. No magic bullets exist, he admitted. But years at the Republic have provided him some insight.

"There's no magic. Just focus," he said. "You have to focus on improving customer service every day. It's just getting employees and carriers to buy into it."

Louder's approach illustrates much about newspaper customer service. Everyone understands customer service is important. But how many realize its tremendous impact on readership and, potentially, circulation?

The most exhaustive examination of the effect of customer service on newspapers originated in the Impact Study of Newspaper Readership published by the Readership Institute in 2000. The study, which surveyed 37,000 consumers across the United States, determined that the greatest potential for improving newspaper readership came from raising customer service to the "exceptional" level.

Broken down, these service factors rank highest in terms of their impact on readership:

* condition and completeness of the paper
* quality of paper, ink and typesize
* when and how the paper is delivered
* accuracy of the bill
* cost of home delivery
* overall customer service

A newspaper's customer service strategy does not have to be complex to be effective. The primary element of any strategy is commitment. The initiative has to be ingrained in the culture.

Louder said customer service starts at the top with Publisher Noel Hamiel. Everyone at the Republic from Hamiel on down understands they are there to serve the customer. Of course, this attitude must be instilled in carriers, Louder said. District managers must clearly outline expectations.

"It may be time-consuming, but it's a necessity," he said.

Commitment must be to the right thing, warned Bob Davis, a circulation consultant based in Alpharetta, Ga. He said the overriding customer service mistake newspapers make is confusing efficiency with effectiveness.

Davis, whose clients have included Morris Communications properties, USA Today and the Miami Herald, said newspapers should not obsess over call time. Instead, they should concern themselves with metrics based on quality, not speed-metrics such as inbound saves rate, first-time resolution, service error followup or conversion to EZ Pay.

"There should be a drive toward having a quality conversation rather than a quick, get-them-off the phone conversation," he said. Commitment also involves training, Davis said. Customer service reps need to continually refine their skills with training and feedback. Motorola conducted an internal study that found that every dollar spent on supervisors coaching customer service reps returned $33 to the enterprise, according to Davis. At most newspapers, the employee charged with supervising customer service reps has as many as 22 tasks to perform any given day and spends only about 30 minutes engaged with the reps.

"Yet, (supervisors) readily admit that their No. 1 priority is coaching," Davis said. "But with all these other things they have to do, they end up with 22 different hats to wear."

One simple step trainers can take, Davis said, is to analyze how reps respond to a call. More than half of all customer service calls to newspapers are complaints. Yet, almost no matter what customers say, the first words they hear from a rep are "May I have your phone number please?" The first step must be to show empathy and issue an apology, Davis said.

"Start developing a rapport," he said. "We've become so task-oriented as opposed to people-oriented."

The payoff for coaching can prove tremendous. Davis said anywhere from 22 percent to 45 percent of a typical newspaper's circulation will call in to cancel over the course of a year. Newspapers should be able to recover 50 percent of these requests for cancellation, he said. The industry average for saving stops is around one in five, according to Newspaper Association of America. Part of the difficulty is determining the real cause for the cancellation. The top complaint is delivery problems. The No. 2 complaint is the familiar "no time to read." Davis said reps need to drill down past this excuse. He said in 53 percent of these cases there is a second reason prompting the cancellation. And in 80 percent of those cases, the second reason is the real reason the customers want to cancel.

Newspapers can tackle incremental changes in customer service like these or they can consider changes on a grander scale like the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.

After moving to a distributor-based system, the paper found that complaints dropped significantly, said Leon Barrineau, administrative manager in the circulation department. Instead of handling more than 500 carriers, the newspaper just had to deal with 20-plus distributors who hired their own delivery forces. Complaints wentto the distributors, not the paper, and carriers were divorced from bill collections.

With the lack of service calls coming in, the customer service department came to be overstaffed, Barrineau said. The paper decided to completely outsource its customer service.

As employees left through attrition, none were replaced. For those that remained, management found them other jobs at the paper. One employee left voluntarily.

The Post and Courier then contracted with the McClatchy Co.'s Customer Care Center (C3) located at The State, Columbia, S.C., to handle customer service calls.

Since the Post and Courier pays C3 on a per-call basis, the newspaper benefits from decreased call volume. To keep call volume down, the paper drives as many complaints and service requests as possible to www.charleston.net, its Web site. Customers can manage subscriptions here thanks to some basic tools found in the paper's circulation software from Data Sciences Inc. (DSI).

"The more Internet activity you have, the more automatic drafts that you do, the better customer service in the field, the better relationship distributors have with the customer-all of that plays into decreasing the phone volume," he said.

While the Post and Courier tops 95,000 circulation, Barrineau believes its strategy can work for both smaller and larger papers.

The online account access for subscribers is a "no-brainer" that can improve customer service at any paper, he said. But to substantially improve customer service, newspapers would likely need more people working more hours. Newspapers have to determine if they can generate enough business to justify the additional staffing, Barrineau said. If they cannot, then outsourcing might be an option if the transition is made with care.

"If you don't do it right, it can be gut-wrenching and can really upset your organization. But if you do it right and handle it tenderly, it can be a real success story," he said.

Outsourcing customer service remains a more complex solution than others. Louder at the Republic prefers attitudinal adjustments over anything else. Customer service is one of the things he can control at his paper. He can't control the news or what inserts will appear. But he can control the service customers receive.

"I've realized that in my years as a circulation employee, when it comes down to it the only thing you have complete control over is service," he said. "So that's what you focus on."

Contacts:
Jon Lauder, (605) 996-5514
Bob Davis, (678) 455-6812
Leon Barrineau, (843) 853-7678

Quick Tips: Customer Service Tips

* It might go without saying but when given a second chance, a newspaper must make good on its promise. Re-delivery must come through without mistakes.

* After a circulation problem has been resolved, offer the subscriber a coupon good for 5 days' credit the next time they renew their subscription. Include a personal note from the district manager or circulation manager. Show your concern.

* Don't be afraid to replace ineffective carriers.

* Always find out exactly what the problem or issue is with the subscriber. Always ask if there are other issues.

* Subscribers are more likely to respond favorably to a customer service rep if that rep shows a genuine interest in the subscriber. Ask the caller what his of her favorite section is. By tapping into the reader's emotional attachment to the paper, this question can shift the tone of the conversation toward the positive.

© 2007 Inland Press Association/Inland Press Foundation

Discovering higher profits

When you're on the phone with customers, it pays to ask questions

By Bob Davis

Newspaper customer care centers across the land today have an opportunity to mine real gold by asking subscribers the right kind of questions with every contact. In my work with major media companies in the U.S., I have proven time and again that asking these questions consistently-which means adding a discovery step early in the call flow-will lead to a dramatic boost in sales and customer retention.

The right message

For starters, when reps ask follow-up questions, customers get the message that they're on the phone with someone who is interested in them, wants to listen and cares enough to be truly helpful.

Let's say a customer calls in to report a problem and says, "I didn't get my paper today." With a discovery step in the call flow, the rep responds with enthusiasm, helpfulness, sympathy and interest in learning more:

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm glad I got your call because I can help you with that today. Tell me, is this the first time this has happened or have we disappointed you more than once?"

When customers call in with a complaint such as this, they are annoyed. The first benefit of this discovery question is that psychological studies have proven when people talk about something that upsets them, they become less emotional and more logical. Getting a customer into a logical frame of mind increases the likelihood that you'll be able to solve the problem. Then it's time for another discovery question:

"Again, I'm sorry to hear that. I know how important the paper is to you. By the way, what's your favorite section?"

Selling themselves

This is where the second benefit of discovery comes in. When customers talk about the value they receive, they sell themselves and become more receptive to the solution. If the customer answers, "You know, my coffee just doesn't taste the same if I'm not reading the Sports section," you're in a strong position to ask for a chance to fix the problem. The chances are much better that the customer will accept the solution and respond affirmatively to an offer. This comes in especially handy when customers call in to cancel. They sell themselves, and you get more saves!

The discovery step carries a third benefit when a customer calls to cancel. Studies have shown that as much as 50 percent of the time, customers don't give us the real reason for cancellation initially. Again, asking discovery questions get customers talking about their problems so they're less emotional, more logical and more likely to accept your solution and stay with you as a subscriber.

What's more, everybody reads a different version of the same paper. Some subscribers might jump right to the Arts and Entertainment section, world news or the community page. Others check the sports scores each morning as part of their daily routine. One reader may be searching for a new job and checks the classifieds before the headlines. Another zeroes in on business news. Another reads stories in the fitness and living sections first. The bottom line is, the paper is a valuable part of their lives. When customers start talking about the paper's value in response to discovery questions, they sell themselves.

Quarter-inch holes

It's all about relating features to benefits. Last year, there were probably a million quarter-inch drill bits sold in the U.S., but nobody really wanted the bit, just the quarter-inch hole!

One of the most common reasons for cancellation is when subscribers say, "Well, the papers just pile up. I'm too busy to read it." That's your cue to discover. If you understand what's keeping them so busy, you are better prepared to point things out about the paper that improve their lives. Does the customer work two jobs and can't find time to read the paper? Mention the employment classifieds as a good source for a higher-paying job so she wouldn't have to work two jobs. Is the subscriber too busy to read because he's searching for a house? Mention the Real Estate section. Are you talking to a working mom? Mention the Food section's quick-and-easy recipes. The reader says he can't afford the subscription? Talk about the value of Sunday's coupons. Chances are that the customer will respond, "You know, now that you mention it, that is worth it for me. Go ahead a renew my subscription." And you have the save.

Well worth checking

It pays to ask. In fact, I have seen discovery add millions of dollars to a company's bottom line. My advice is to take a half hour and visit your call center, listen in on a few calls and ask a few questions of your own. Are your reps reaping the benefits of discovery? If they are asking questions, are they the right kind? Could your call center be generating millions more in sales and saves by asking a few good discovery questions? Could be. At minimum it's worth a listen.

Untying Their Hands: Free Up Your CSRs to Solve Subscribers' Problems

Published September 13, 2006 by the Newspaper Association of America
By Bob Davis, president of Robert C. Davis and Associates

Recently a circulation director asked me how to get CSRs to apply more common sense to solve problems on calls. My answer is that CSRs by and large have plenty of common sense. They simply need more room to apply it.

Over the years I have found three reasons that CSRs are not able to provide what seems to be an easy, logical solution to a problem. First, they've been disempowered. Second, they are just the messengers. Third, the call center has a staffing and overflow capacity problem. Let's go through these issues one by one.

Disempowerment

The first reason is that CSRs are disempowered because they do not have enough authority to solve problems that they are capable of handling.

For example, let's say a CSR at a major daily newspaper has the authority to give only three days' credit. Yet many problems require more than three days' credit. Let's say a one-week vacation stop is not entered properly and the papers get delivered anyway. Perhaps someone with an ongoing delivery problem has missed a total of more than three days. Maybe a new start doesn't begin until a week after it is supposed to. The list of potential problems goes on and on.

In this situation, if more than three days' credit is required, CSRs would likely put in a remedy report that goes to an accounting clerk who decides whether or not more credit is warranted. The CSR never hears another thing about it. Why would a clerk in accounting be more qualified to apply credit than the person who has talked to the customer directly?

Additionally, I have seen CSRs with no authority to correct billing problems. Let's say a customer calls and wants to extend the promotion. Or perhaps the bill the customer received does not correspond to the promotion they thought they were getting. The CSR's only course of action in these scenarios is to print the screen and give it to the supervisor. Not only is the CSR disempowered, but this policy creates unnecessary work for the supervisors. CSRs are capable of fixing these kinds of issues themselves-they need only the authority.

Finally, when the situation calls for it, CSRs should be able get off the phones to fix problems and then call customers back. For example, if the customer threatens to quit unless delivery improves, the CSR should get the customer's contact information, call the carrier to clear up the problem, and then call the customer back to report what has been done. Taking the time to do this will not only please the customer, it will make the CSR and the carrier feel better about their jobs!

Just the Messenger

Often I hear exchanges between CSRs and customers that could be handled much more effectively if the CSR was more than just the messenger:

Customer: "This is the third incorrect bill I have received!"
CSR: "I will be sure to tell my supervisor."

Customer: "If you can't deliver my paper every day, than just cancel it."
CSR: "I will send another note to the zone manager."

Customer: "You said you would redeliver my paper over an hour ago. Where is it?"
CSR: "I will send another note to the carrier."

It would be much more powerful for the CSR to say, "Mr. Jones, do you have a pen and paper handy? Please write this down. My name is Susan and my extension is 8431. I am going to fix your problem myself. And if you ever have any other problems with the paper, I want you to call me personally so I can take care of it for you!"

Staffing and Overflow

Call centers often receives several calls to fix one problem for a subscriber because the issue doesn't get handled with the first call. Constant pressure of the next call coming in is leading the CSR to think, "I don't have time to fix this problem with all these calls coming in. I will file the report, hope for the best, and take the next call." Clearly, this problem indicates the need to examine staffing and include automatic overflow capacity for unexpected spikes in call volume. This way, CSRs will be able to take the time required to fix each problem once and for all on the first call.

In my experience, CSRs have as much common sense as anyone I know. They are tremendous asset for a newspaper company and can be of even greater value if you take the right steps. Empower them to do what it takes to satisfy the customer. Let them complete the feedback loop so they're more than just the messenger and know whether or not a problem has been solved satisfactorily. And last but certainly not least, allow them enough time to fix it right the first time.

EZ Pay, EZ sell

Boosting sales and retention through EZ Pay is just what the name implies if you take the right approach. And the results are dramatic.

By Bob Davis

It's no secret that EZ Pay promotes subscriber retention. The latest research shows that EZ Pay customers are two times more likely to keep their subscriptions. The question is, how many of your subscribers can you sign up for EZ Pay?

I believe 60 percent is a very realistic goal. Now on the first take that may seem to be a high number, but not if you remember the advice of Jim Collins in his book Good To Great. "The enemy of great is good," wrote Collins. In my experience, most newspaper organizations are doing a good job - but not a great one - of selling EZ Pay.

Moving from good to great in this regard is definitely worth the effort. First, it is much cheaper to boost your retention than go out and win new subscribers over and over again. Imagine what it would mean to your organization in terms of higher revenue and lower churn if 60 percent of your subscribers were on EZ Pay. But is this really possible?

Absolutely. Based on my experience in working with newspaper organizations across the country, I believe you can achieve a home delivery EZ Pay average of 60 percent or even more by adopting a more robust call flow for every customer contact.
Five winning steps

Winning EZ Pay subscriptions - and consequently higher sales performance and subscriber retention - is not magic. Rather, it requires having a quality conversation with every subscriber on every contact. The quality conversation occurs when reps use a robust call flow that incorporates five winning steps:

Step 1 - Greeting. Deliver an outstanding greeting with a great voice tone and the exchange of names, showing a sincere interest in the subscriber.

Step 2 - Discovery. Understand the issues of concern to the subscribers. Find out one-on-one what subscribers are interested in, such as what sections they like best, how often they read the paper, and how the newspaper adds value in a way that applies to their lifestyles and their wants, interests and needs.

Step 3. Solution. Make a connection with subscribers that the newspaper is a valuable solution to the wants, interests and needs you learned about in the Discovery step. The key is to add value by telling them about features they may not be aware of. This is the essence of value-based, consultative selling.

Step 4. Offer. EZ Pay, as the name implies, gives subscribers an easy way to pay for the value they receive from the newspaper. We need to offer EZ Pay in a compelling way. If the first three steps have been handled correctly, the subscriber is likely to be very receptive to the offer.

Step 5. Close with an assumptive approach. Ask the subscriber how he or she would like to pay for EZ Pay - credit or debit card, or check-by-phone?

Selling value, not discounts

Additionally, using the robust call flow sells value and eliminates the need to sell at a deep discount. When customers examine the value proposition and the price, they are highly likely to realize that the typical newspaper subscription - even at full price - is one of best values for the dollar in America today.

Selling EZ Pay in and of itself adds value for subscribers and obviously benefits the newspaper. The bottom line is that reps should make a compelling EZ Pay offer on every call.

Overcoming objections to EZ Pay

Sometimes subscribers will have objections to putting their charges on EZ Pay. We do not want to pressure them, but real selling does not even begin until you have gotten an objection! The robust call flow includes a contingent process for overcoming objections. The call flow should be written around the idea that we can't accept the first no. Reps must work by a three-no's-and-a-go philosophy.

Achieving dramatic, sustainable results

Newspaper organizations that have implemented a robust call flow that includes the EZ Pay offer and assumptive close have achieved dramatic, sustainable results. For example, one of my clients - a major daily newspaper with national distribution - achieved a four-fold increase in EZ Pay sales. Another paper is now signing up 50 percent of its retention saves on EZ Pay.

Every conversation - whether it is a complaint call into customer service, new subscription contact, or retention call - is an opportunity to sell EZ Pay.

Without a doubt, the robust call flow and EZ Pay offer create a strong bottom-line impact on sales results and customer retention. The decision to put this approach into place would appear to be, as they say, a win-win proposition for newspapers and subscribers.

Reversing Circulation Decline

By selling the value proposition instead of discounts and by becoming world-class sales organizations, circulation departments can turn the tables on an alarming trend

By Bob Davis

Newspapers across the country have been struggling with declining circulation, but it doesn't have to be that way. The solution is for every circulation department to become a world-class sales organization.

The industry has maintained single-copy sales for the most part, but many organizations have outsourced new subscription sales. The problem with outsourcing is that the paper is paying for bill-me orders instead of prepaids because outsourcers find that bill-me orders are the easiest sales to make. The problem is that they also make it easy for someone who has no intention of paying for the paper enjoy a free subscription for a while.
A missed point

What's more, newspapers are being sold in two ways today - with discounts, and with deeper discounts. When the telephone or kiosk rep is selling a discount with a free umbrella or gift card, subscribers aren't thinking about the value they will receive from the newspaper. It's all about the deal.

In crewing situations, the representative is also selling the discount. Often, however, the prospect buys because he or she wants to help the young person who is standing on the doorstep almost begging for some help. The value of the newspaper remains a missed point.

In my work as a consultant in newspaper sales, retention and coaching, I have seen many newspapers turn circulation decline into circulation growth by selling the value of the paper instead of a discount or giveaway offer. In fact, when representatives tie the subscriber's wants, interests and needs to features and benefits of the paper, they not only get the sale but also get a prepaid order.

Building rapport

It all comes down to developing and using a consistent, robust sales process that allows representatives - whether they're on the phone, at a kiosk, or on the doorstep -to build rapport with subscribers instantly.

This sales process, when applied consistently, makes a real difference in winning long-term, prepaid subscribers who understand the value of the newspaper; subscribers who go in knowing they're getting their money's worth. That's a powerful proposition.

The process starts with an enthusiastic greeting and name exchange that builds rapport with the prospect. Most importantly, it involves a discovery phase. The rep asks key questions that help prospects sell themselves on the value of the paper by talking about what they like about it:

• "How often do you pick up the paper?"

• "When you pick up the paper what is your favorite section?"

• "Do you use the coupons in the Sunday paper? How much do you figure they save you each week?"

Prepaids and the assumptive close

Almost before the rep knows it, prospects are listing all the reasons they would benefit from a subscription. They see the value and are ready to respond positively to the assumptive close we use in this sales process. The result is a prepaid order through EZ Pay!

Now it is true that the Do Not Call Registry has changed the landscape for telemarketing by making 70 percent of our prospects unavailable by phone. However, the remaining 30 percent represents a large segment of the population. Selling the value proposition to this segment of the market through a robust sales process will produce a significant number of new subscriptions. In the crew and kiosk sales channels, the process will boost numbers dramatically as well.

The bottom line is that the circulation department and the entire newspaper organization must own the sale of its products and services instead of outsourcing. It requires the circulation department to be filled with telephone, crew and kiosk representatives who can sell the value of the newspaper.

I urge today's newspaper executives to take some time to visit your call center or outsourcer, accompany your crews, and stop in at your kiosks to listen to how your product is being sold today. Is it a source of pride as you listen, or is it time to implement a new, more robust way of selling your newspaper?

The best value in America

When you stop and think about it, your product is already the best value in America today. Why should you discount it? Using the value proposition, I have helped major newspapers go from declining sales to increased circulation. If everyone in our industry did the same, we would turn the declining sales trend on its ear.

Make selling a core competency

Why selling papers should be second nature for every newspaper organization

By Bob Davis

I was at the customer service center recently for a major metro newspaper. The center was working on a project designed to increase the number of saved cancellation requests. A few days earlier, the newspaper had sent out invoices to hundreds of new subscribers who had been brought in by an outside vendor. Call after call came in:

"I never ordered this paper."
"I wasn't told the paper would cost this much."
"I was told the paper was going to be free."
"The paper I ordered was supposed to be $20 for the whole year, and you are charging me $56 for 13 weeks."
"I order Sunday only and I am getting billed for seven days per week."

Unfortunately, this scene plays itself out daily in customer service centers across the country. What's more, this situation will persist so long as newspapers continue to outsource what should be the primary business of all companies-selling their own products!

New subscription telemarketing is not dead

Many newspapers have done themselves a great disservice by outsourcing the job of selling their product. Yet even when telemarketing is performed in-house, it is often executed poorly. I have urged many publishers and circulation directors to schedule an hour to listen to what their telemarketers are saying to their friends and neighbors in the community. The leaders usually emerge from this experience embarrassed by the low quality of the conversations they heard.

As a result of the prevailing culture of poor sales practices, many in the newspaper industry feel that telemarketing for new subscriptions is a dead practice. I disagree completely! Low sales volume does not mean that telemarketing is an ineffective sales channel. It simply means that the people doing the telemarketing are not doing so effectively.

The first step toward effective telemarketing is believing in the value of the product being offered. Reps must believe that having the daily newspaper delivered to one's home is, even at the standard price, the greatest bargain available in America today. It is clear to me that most reps are not taught to believe this.

Discover the value

Right now new subscriptions are being pushed on customers at deeply discounted prices. Reps are not discovering the unique value each subscriber would find in the paper. If we ask the right questions to uncover a prospective subscriber's wants, interests and needs, and we then explain how the newspaper can add value to the prospective subscriber's unique situation, there would no need to sell it at a discount!

Selling a newspaper based on its value also makes it much easier to sell the subscription on a paid-in-advanced basis. We pay our phone and cable bills in advance, why not do the same with our newspaper subscription? The common practice of signing up customers with merely a promise to pay generates unnecessary expense. If subscription sales were made based on value, customers would pay in advance just as they do for other products and services they value.

A similar argument holds when considering subscriber retention. According to the NAA, subscriptions generated through telemarketing are the least retained order source. This may be due to the fact that telemarketers often push subscriptions by using attractive introductory offers. When the offer expires and the subscriber is asked to renew at the standard rate, the typical subscriber is unwilling to do so because he or she has never had a quality conversation centered on the value of a standard subscription.

Sell value in every channel

Many in the newspaper industry are wringing their hands over declining circulation. Yet circulation could grow again if newspapers started selling the value of the paper through each of their sales channels. Companies must also use industry best practices for each sales channel. For example, there are newspaper-owned crewing operations around the country that consistently turn in two sales per hour per rep while other newspaper companies have been unable to make crewing work. The same is true for kiosk sales.

Selling the newspaper needs to be part of every employee's job. Each of your employees should take it personally if they have a neighbor who does not get home delivery. The cable industry is having great success with annual "Meet Your Neighbors" campaigns. These campaigns are a company-wide contest among employees to sign-up as many of their neighbors as possible for cable service. I know of one newspaper whose publisher had the same idea, and in just one week, the campaign generated an average of three subscriptions per newspaper employee. Imagine what would happen if you got the same results from each of your employees once or twice per year!

Envision higher circulation

My vision is for every newspaper in the country to have a circulation sales operation that is world-class. This includes telemarketing, kiosk, and crew sales channels that are producing more than enough paid-in-advance sales to grow circulation numbers month after month. This circulation sales group should also use strategically placed single copy inserts and marketing that actually grow circulation.

How does a newspaper achieve this vision? By going back to basics and product a core competency of the organization!

Stimulating Conversations

When it comes to communicating with your subscribers, quality beats efficiency

By Bob Davis

Recently, as I watched a newspaper publisher listening to the robotic way his customers service reps were dealing with subscribers, his eyes got wider and wider. Within 15 minutes he was on the phone to his customer service manager, asking astutely how rep effectiveness was being measured.

The answer was call time. The manager was looking for calls at 75 seconds or less.

Like so many leaders in the newspaper industry today, this publisher recognized that the efficiency model is outdated.

An effectiveness model, one that is based on having quality conversations with subscribers, is the way to drive dramatic improvement in EZ Pay sales and subscriber retention numbers. I've seen it work wonders in my experience with clients that include Morris Communications, USA TODAY, Knight Ridder, and America Online. What's more, I have observed that quality conversations are only possible when you combine training on a robust call flow with follow-up coaching.

I heard a joke recently about a call center interaction in which a subscriber calls in and says, "Your carrier just shot my wife!" The telephone representative replies, "Ok, may I have your account number please?"

While extreme, the joke contains some truth. We know that reps often have a robotic approach. They tend to ask for a customer's account number or telephone number too soon. Instead, we should greet subscribers with enthusiasm and exchange names right away. It leads subscribers to conclude they're on the phone with someone who cares and can help.

However, the greeting is just one vital step. In many customer contact centers, I have found that reps are not doing anything to discover what the subscriber values in the newspaper. The process of discovery enables reps to make a compelling offer based on the subscriber's needs, desires and preferences. Reps should be asking well-phrased discovery questions that elicit positive responses and help subscribers sell themselves on the value of the paper.

Here's an example. A subscriber calls to say the paper didn't arrive today. The rep apologizes, exchanges names and gets the subscriber's phone number. While the computer is pulling up the account information, the rep asks questions, perhaps starting with, "What is your favorite section of the paper?"

Most subscribers have an emotional attachment to the newspaper - a place, a time, a ritual. They may also have strong feelings about certain features or sections. A subscriber is much more likely to respond favorably to an EZ Pay offer or an extended subscription term if the rep shows a genuine interest in the subscriber and targets the offer to the subscriber's expressed needs, desires and preferences.

Quite simply, newspapers that ask their subscribers discovery questions have better conversations, more accurate data and greater understanding of what makes the subscriber tick. Ultimately, discovery equips us to serve and satisfy.

An enthusiastic greeting and full discovery are critical, but these skills do not come naturally. They require consistent practice via follow-up coaching. In fact, coaching is the most critical step in producing dramatic sales and retention results. It ensures consistent and excellent adherence to the call flow.

Most training programs are ineffective because new skills evaporate quickly when they are not reinforced over extended periods of time. Studies have shown that without follow-up coaching, average trainees forget much of what they learn:

* 25 percent forgotten within an hour
* 85 percent forgotten within a week

Repetition is the only way to make learned skill stick. An average adult needs 21 attempts to develop a pattern of employing a new skill. However, it takes 100 or more attempts for the individual to draw upon the skill routinely, or habitually.

Studies by Motorola found that consistent on-the-job coaching returned $33 for every dollar invested in training. My company has seen similar staggering results time and again with our clients.

It is critical that customer service and retention supervisors perform on-the-job coaching. Yet many efficiency-driven newspapers overwork supervisors to the point where they can provide little or no team coaching support. To generate unprecedented results, supervisors must be master teachers of the call flow and spend half their time on the floor coaching reps and inspecting what they expect.

A Harvard Business Review study showed that customers must be not just satisfied but very satisfied at the conclusion of every customer service contact to build loyalty and stability. According to the study:

* A customer who is merely satisfied resides in a "Zone of Indifference" where he or she has neither positive nor negative feelings toward the organization.

* By contrast, a very satisfied customer resides in "Zone of Affection" where he or she remains loyal to the organization and promotes it to others enthusiastically

Indeed, a quality conversation is well worth the effort because it is the key ingredient to creating a very satisfied subscriber who is stable and loyal. And with recent changes to how the newspaper industry is allowed to telemarket, retention is critical. Now more than ever, it is much less expensive to retain current customers than to go out and win new ones.