|
Contrary to some circulators' assumption, agent sources can also prove good candidates for renew calls, according to Love. "You want to pull these names for a phone effort as early as possible in the series," s e says. "The telemarketer can do some modeling to fin the most responsive names to call."
In companies where renewals and new business are bandied by different people, more communication might improve the bottom line. With additional phone efforts, a renewals manager may be able to replace negative-remit subs with subs that have a much more attractive cost-per-order, and will continue to renew, points out Love.
Develop business relationships with more than one telemarketer. In addition to the obvious advantages of volume and competitive bidding, the greater pressures of meeting circ goals have made it more critical than ever to have ready alternatives. "I rely mainly on two telemarketers, because I want the clout of volume and consistency for pricing and availability reasons," says the chief circulator for one multiple-title B-to-B publisher. "But I always make sure that I have a telemarketer to fall back on in case an unexpected change becomes necessary."
Also make sure that you pick telemarketers who know the auditing ropes, particularly in the more complicated arena of B-to-B. (Even then, it's still a good idea to get every campaign pre-approved by the audit bureau before rolling it out)
Where possible, solicit or renew for two or more titles, and upsell other products. Where titles have similar demographics or serve the same industries, it just makes sense to use the same call to try to sell or qualify both. And it certainly makes sense to try to renew or requalify two titles at once. A renewal call for one magazine is a perfect reason to ask a subscriber if he or she would like to take care of another magazine's renewal at the same time, even if that second subscription isn't due to expire for eight or nine months. (Note: With multi-title phone sales, BPA requires tape-recording.)
At Highlights/or Children, which is completely circulation-and product-driven (the title doesn't take advertising), telemarketing accounts for about 50 percent of renewals, according to senior VP, marketing Marilyn Fiske. And, Fiske reports, Highlights has found that using telemarketing at the beginning of its renewal series enhances its ability to effectively sell related products, such as books.
Keep scripts as focused and as short as possible. Brevity is increasingly important in successful telemarketing. Highlights--which, as noted, sells products when it makes renewal calls--nevertheless tries to keep the call as short as possible. "We used to take a more conversational approach," says Fiske. "But with so many working moms now, and so many who are barely able to keep up with everything when they are at home, we've evolved to a more to-the-point script."
"You have a very short window during which people are deciding whether to listen or hang up, so you have to concentrate on a single hook," stresses Zel. "If the core message is, 'Renew now so you'll never miss an issue,' you have to state that quickly. You don't have time to go into all of the editorial benefits. If you don't get the main selling point across quickly, you may never get it across at all."
There are exceptions. Some publishers make a conscious decision to prolong a call not just for upselling, but for gathering additional demographics for advertising purposes or researching renewal refusals. As long as clients understand the response trade-offs of requesting additional information, telemarketers are happy to comply.
Educate the vendor about your magazine and share lessons learned from recent campaigns. Telemarketers say that a publisher should always supply copies of the magazine, a description of its audience and editorial mission, and samples of recent direct mail. Nick Cavnar, VP, circulation and databases for HanleyWood LLC, also stresses the importance of conveying any unusual aspects of the magazine, a market or a campaign.
Back
Next
|
