Finding the Right Telemarketing Service Bureau

Circulation Management, Dec, 2001 by Patricia Odell

More publishers are using telemarketing than ever before, but that hasn't made it any less challenging to determine which telemarketing service bureaus can best serve your titles' needs. Here's some sound advice from circulation and telemarketing pros on how to make a wise selection.

Use of telemarketing by publishers, and all direct marketers, has been growing steadily for well over a decade now. And that momentum has never been stronger than it is today, thanks to a host of factors, including declining direct mail cost efficiencies; dwindling volumes from other traditional sources; increasing competition from other media; and shrinking B-to-B universes. Publishers increasingly sophisticated use of source analysis and of database marketing--which enables assessment of a customer's total lifetime value, rather than simple comparisons of short-term renewal versus new-subscription costs-has also shed more favorable light on telemarketing's true costs. Always valued for its ability to reach elusive prospects and customers and its high response rates, telemarketing's economics have become more and more attractive in the context of the rising costs of other media, as well as automation and technology that's done much to control costs in the telemarketing industry.

By some estimates, more than half of all B-to-B publishers, and up to 80 percent of all consumer publishers, now use telemarketing for one or more applications including renewals/requlifications, new business, gathering demographics, and collections.

Even for the seasoned circulator, however, finding the right match with a telemarketing service bureau (TSB) can be a demanding, time-consuming process. As with all thriving industries, new telemarketing vendors are continually entering the field, even as consolidations subsume other, longer-term players into larger organizations. With that in mind, CM asked experienced circulation executives, consultants and telemarketers with publishing expertise to share their tips on streamlining the TSB search process and ensuring a successful, ongoing partnership.

REPUTATION AND FIT While vendor reputation and the correct fit with a given title's needs should always be weighed as seriously as GPO in any supplier selection decision, circulation executives stress that these factors are particularly critical in the telemarketing arena, where one mishandled phone call can literally put the entire relationship with a prospect or customer on the line.

"Reputation is very important, and if everybody else likes [a TSB], then there's probably a very good reason," sums up Bridget Wells, director of partnership marketing, agency and ABC reporting for Hearst Magazines, who uses telemarketing primarily for renewals.

As with other suppliers, networking with colleagues and a TSB's clients is the most reliable way to evaluate reputation, say circulation marketers. In fact, some say that they will not consider using a TSB that is unwilling to supply a complete client list, or at least a complete list of publishing clients. Long-standing relationships with clients are, of course, one excellent indicator of a quality firm. Initial research with clients (and former clients, if possible) and the telemarketing bureau should focus on whether the TSB has a solid track record not only in magazine circulation telemarketing, but in the B-to-B or consumer sector, and, ideally, in markets with dynamics similar to those served by your own titles.

Other factors to consider in sizing up the match:

* Corporate profile. Is the vendor set up as a corporation, or a partnership, or is the company solely owned? While there are certainly smaller, independent operations with excellent credentials, some users say that they feel most comfortable if a bureau has indicated commitment by investing in incorporating.

* Thorough knowledge of, and a proven track record of adhering to, audit bureau regulations. Ideally, the TSB should be a member of the audit bureau to which you belong, or of both major audit bureaus.

* Experience in handling the specific types of applications and sources you'll be telemarketing. Do they specialize in paid or controlled, outbound or inbound, renewals or requalification, cold calling, demographics collection? Are they experienced in converting agency- or sweepstakes-sold subs?

Many publishers use more than one TSB to tap the specific areas of expertise of each supplier, as well as to ensure adequate coverage and cost competitiveness. "It's not a good idea to have all of your eggs in one basket," says Hill Felder, circulation director for Farm Journal, who reports having used four to five telemarketers simultaneously in his previous position at Cahners Business Information.

For high-volume controlled requalification jobs, it makes sense to choose a large TSB with hundreds of telemarketing sales reps (TSRs) who can spend thousands of hours calling over several weeks. On the other hand, if the job is renewing a few hundred high-priced weeklies, a smaller, closely managed TSB may be ideal.