How to choose a subs bureau

So you want to find a subs bureau? You’re either managing your circulation fulfilment in-house and are suffering from nervous exhaustion or you are with a bureau already but are cheesed off with them. The first thing you shouldn’t do is set off on a mission to find the "best" bureau – because there is no such thing. There are about 10 serious players in the bureau field and they all have their strengths and weaknesses; the task is to identify your requirements and then find the bureau that gives the closest service match. The bad news is that this involves a bit of work. The good news is that if you adopt a thorough meticulous approach you can easily avoid disasters. The centrepiece of your approach must be a checklist.

What are you?

The first step is defining what type of publishing company you are. You should define yourself in terms of the following:

* consumer / b2b
* domestic / international
* paid subs / controlled circulation
* high volume / low volume
* high value / low value

So you’ve worked out that you are a consumer / domestic / high volume / low value / paid subs type of publisher. Make a note of that. The next step is to establish the approximate size and worth of your business from the bureau’s perspective. You will need this information when you make your initial call. Remember there will be some bureaux that will not touch you if you are too small and there are some bureaux that will not be able to handle you if you’re too big. Typically the bureau will want to know: how many titles, what frequencies, total number of paid records and total number of controlled or free records. It would also be useful to have at the back of your mind a ball park figure of what you are currently paying for the work.

I’ve got a little list

No two publishers will produce the same checklist. The only items which should be on every publisher’s checklist are "like minded other clients" and "acceptable costs". Everything else depends on the way you manage your business. So unfortunately I can’t give you a definitive list. Compiling an effective checklist is not an easy task: on the one hand you need to make it long enough to be comprehensive, yet you also need to make it manageable. I recommend you divide your list into the following five areas:

1. Data
Identify all the different types of data you capture and hold (eg source codes, demographics) along with any special requirements about the way the data is managed (eg multiple response fields). As part of this you should make some consideration of size and field length. For instance you might collect hundreds of different demographic responses and your source codes might be 10 characters long.

2. Outputs
Can the way you output your issue labels, invoices and renewals currently be exactly replicated by the bureau? For instance is your renewal series heavily segmented (eg first time renewers get one offer, agent orders get another, students in Uzbekistan get another etc etc) and if so, what is the basis on which the file is segmented? Can all the data variables be replicated by the bureau?

3. Customer Service
Who will be fielding customer calls and emails? Are you going to handle it in-house or at the bureau? If it is the bureau, then do they have the proper staffing and facilities?

4. Marketing offers and circulation types
Identify all of the different types of marketing offer you use (free trial, discount, 14 for the price of 12, incentives etc) and put each one on the list. Better still take actual examples to the bureau and ask how they would handle them. Also list each of the circulation types you use: paid subs, society / association, controlled, non-controlled.

5. Payment methods and currencies
List all the ones you use and put them on the list. Beware especially the definition of multi-currency. When talking about multi currency you need to be clear about your requirements. There are two sides to it: ability to receive payment in different currencies and the ability to hold rates and prices in different currencies. They are two very different things.

When compiling the list, you need to put down everything you currently need and also everything you think you might need in five years time. Also identify those items on the list that are "must haves" as opposed to the "nice-to-haves".

Drawing up a shortlist

If you already have some knowledge of the market you will probably have certain pre-conceptions of each of the main players. Be careful, because things do change and what might have been a strength two years ago might now be a weakness and, of course, vice a versa. I would recommend calling round each of the main players, talking to them and visiting their web sites. There is no definitive list of bureaux, although by happy coincidence four of the main ones are advertising in this issue: Customer Interface, Quadrant Subscription Services, Tower Publishing Services and WDIS. Using your list of "must haves" you can do a preliminary screening on the phone. Keep at the back of your mind that definition of who you are. One key question is "who are your clients?" Get them to send you stuff, including their client list. From this you should be able to whittle it down to a shortlist of three. Once you have done that go and visit them – don’t be all macho and insist on dragging them up to your office. Seeing them in situ is a key part of the process. If you trip over a stray box of registration cards on the way in then that will tell you a lot about their workflow management.

The demo

You’ve got your list of three bureaux. Now decide who is going to visit them. There are two things to say at this point. It is best to send at least two people – one of which should be the most database savvy person you have on your payroll. The second key point is that once you have decided on your team to visit the bureaux, make sure they all visit each of the bureaux. Don’t whatever you do, send Rita to see X, Sue to see Y and Bob to see Z – it will all end in tears. Rita, Sue and Bob too should all see X, Y and Z – otherwise you are going to end up with a very confused picture.

It is a very good idea to send your checksheet to the bureau first – as a kind of tender document. This will help them to prepare for the meeting and will make the session all the more productive.

Your checksheet should form the basis of the meeting. Work your way through it and only move onto the next item when you are satisfied that you have the full answer. Take detailed notes, because there is no way that you are going to remember everything a week later. Remember the devil is in the detail and the checksheet should not be seen as a series of yes / no questions. Each of the items should require detailed explanation. Hopefully the bureau will have set up a terminal in the room and you will be able to see data records and set up screens. A lot of what you will be discussing will be theoretical, but where possible you should try to see examples on screen. It is probable that you will need to make a second visit to one or two of the bureaux and it is also a good idea to seek clarification, in writing, of any grey areas arising from the demo.

And the winner is …

After the demos it is probable that you will have a pretty good gut feeling about who you should appoint – resist it. You’ve been a model of professionalism up to this point so don’t get sloppy now. Using your checklist, whittle all your requirements down to a list of 10 key must-have criteria. The first criteria should always be "existing client profile" and the second criteria should be "budget match." The other eight will depend on your business. Now, for each of the criteria, give each bureau a mark out of 10 (10 being a perfect match, 0 being a total mismatch). Total it all up and your new bureau is the one with the highest score – it’s as simple as that!

If the above process seems like an unbelievable amount of hassle then just pause and try to quantify the costs of getting it wrong. Moving to a new bureau is a big decision and will result in a lot of short term upheaval. The key to making sure that the medium and long term prospects look as bright as possible is to be as meticulous and thorough as humanly possible. If you follow all of the above steps, I can guarantee that you will be just fine.