* 62% of consumers claim that their decision whether to renew their magazine subscription or not is influenced by the quality of the subscription service they receive.
* Yet only a quarter of magazine readers who experience a problem with their subscription actually get round to complaining about it.
* At the same time, consumers are becoming more critical of the subscription service and more ready to air their complaints.
These are some of the key conclusions from what is claimed to be the largest magazine customer care survey ever undertaken in the UK, involving 330 titles published by 40 consumer magazine companies and generating over 68,000 consumer responses. This cross-industry project was organised by fulfilment bureau Dovetail, but includes a range of Dovetail and non-Dovetail clients from among the biggest names in publishing. As such, it provides a unique insight into magazine subscriber customer care.
Julian Thorne, Dovetail Managing Director (pictured): “Customer care really matters. If there was ever any doubt about that, this survey dispels that doubt. It also highlights that our customer service departments are dealing with only the tip of a massive and very dangerous iceberg. Even though readers may not always complain, eventually they will vote with their feet and fail to renew. In the current economic climate, no publisher can afford to let that happen. Best-in-class customer care has to be a joint effort between publishers and their fulfilment operations in order to streamline every process from beginning to end.”
Key highlights from the survey include:
* The recession is hitting subscription sales. Renewal intentions have slipped by 1.5 percentage points year-on-year with “cost” being the most common (and growing) reason given for lapsing.
* Two service areas are noticed in particular by readers. There is a real sensitivity to the whole renewal process (repeated renewal reminders and the expiry date not being shown in renewal communications are two clear irritants). The first few contacts in the subscription relationship are critical (a long wait for the delivery of the first issue appears to have a lasting impact on eventual renewal intentions).
* The single most common problem is the late delivery of an issue which affects 16% of subscribers (down from 20% in the previous year’s survey). Yet only 19% of those with this problem report it. Complete non-delivery has affected 12% of subscribers – here complaint rates soar to 45%.
* Free gifts and supplements have become standard offerings in both the upfront acquisition and the ongoing subscription service. Yet they are seen as “nice-to-have” add-ons rather than a core part of the subscription offer. However, more subscribers will complain about a damaged gift (16%) than a damaged magazine (9%).
* Online self-service functions, allowing readers to manage their own subscription, are highly rated by consumers, but too few people know about them (only 56% of subscribers are aware of their existence).
* Overall satisfaction with the core subscriber service is high with satisfaction levels edging up year-on-year across the industry. Yet the consumer is becoming more critical and ready to complain with complaint rates rising.
Julian Thorne: “The economy is tougher and the consumer more unforgiving. Our industry’s challenge is to identify the issues that matter, track them relentlessly and improve them constantly. Otherwise, the customer service failures will drag our industry’s sales down. Yet the positives are that consumer satisfaction levels are rising year on year and that publishers are working more closely than ever with their fulfilment operations to create real and lasting service improvements.”
A copy of the full report is available at a cost of £50. Contact julian.thorne@dovetailservices.com
About the survey:
A random selection of 547,000 active subscribers was taken across a range 330 titles produced by 40 publishers (both clients and non-clients of Dovetail), across a wide range of market sectors and circulation sizes. Subscribers were contacted to complete an online questionnaire. 68,930 questionnaires were fully completed, a response rate of 13%, making it the largest magazine customer care survey ever conducted in the UK. A copy of the full report is available at a cost of £50. Contact julian.thorne@dovetailservices.com
About magazine subscriptions:
Subscriptions account for 27% of monthly magazine sales and 10% of weekly magazine sales (Source Jul-Dec 2008 ABC), with both shares growing year-on-year as retail sales become more volatile.
