One-stop DM provision

Overseas consolidators like BTB Mailflight are trying, with some success, to reposition themselves as direct marketing solution providers – a one-stop shop. The polywrapping and mailing operation is still and will remain their core business but increasingly growth is seen to lie in the provision of value added services – with data and fulfilment being the key areas.

Before I met up with Lindsay Deardon, Sales & Marketing Director at BTB, I pledged that I would not let the word "polywrap" pass my lips and see how long the conversation lasted. What emerged was a whole raft of services being offered to publishers. And BTB are not alone – others big consolidators are travelling down this same path.

So what then apart from polywrapping can companies like BTB offer? Well, lots apparently!

For instance, over the past four years BTB has taken on some of the customer service functions for one of their main clients: Guardian Weekly. Specifically they have been given responsibility for handling all delivery complaints and also, crucially, the flexibility to take corrective action. This process involves investigating the complaint – a task which starts with checking the original data feed provided by GW and can end with actually talking to the postman. Once the problem has been identified, the subscriber will be contacted and, if necessary, switched to an alternative delivery method. Actions taken are all reported back to the GW. Current levels of complaints run at less than ten a week which isn’t bad for a very demanding overseas circulation of 25,000. Although there were no figures to hand BTB feel that the level of complaints has definitely diminished – a direct result of them being given the flexibility to deal directly with the problem.

Another service, increasingly being offered by consolidators is back issue fulfilment and mail order processing. BTB has recently invested in the MailBrain software (from Sanderson) and it this investment that has allowed them to offer these services. They store and despatch back issues for a number of Elsevier titles including The Lancet and the "Trends" and "Current Opinions" series of titles. They also handle the fulfilment of the The Economist’s Premia Diaries.

One of the best examples of these value added services is renewals. BTB handles the renewals for a wide range of titles including Guardian Weekly. The expertise (and storage space!) provided by BTB has allowed the marketing team at GW to put together highly complex renewal series. The process starts with a weekly supply of data from the GW fulfilment department. This is run through BTB’s data processing system to generate the appropriate letter versions – currently there are well over 50 different variants! These are then printed out and along with any relevant literature enclosed and despatched under one of the twelve different mailing services used for GW.

One of the most exciting developments in the pipeline is a new "local payment" service that BTB is looking to develop for The Economist. In a possible tie up with the Swiss Postal Service, this would give European subscribers the option of paying for their subscription over the counter at their local bank or post office. Assuming the back office side of things can be sorted out, this would involve turning the remittance advice into a giro, with appropriate details lazered on depending on the address of the recipient. There is still work to be done, but BTB is hoping to be able to start offering this service during the first half of 2004.

These services are all very exciting but Deardon feels there is room for improvement. Specifically a more direct line of communication between BTB and the subscribers themselves could lead to substantial improvements in customer service. But publishers are wary of losing control and all of the services mentioned above involve the publisher at some stage of the process. Guardian Weekly complainers contact Manchester first, back issue requests for The Lancet are forwarded from Elsevier and requests for Premia desk diaries come via The Economist. There is real potential for improved turnaround times and reduction in duplication of work if the subscribers were encouraged to deal direct with BTB. There is no sign yet that publishers are prepared to relinquish control and perhaps it is up to BTB and other consolidators to further build confidence and process transparency - because the potential for improved customer service is obvious.

There - done – and not one mention of polywrap.