Kannon’s client is a daily newspaper with a Sunday circulation of over 200,000 owned by a privately held media company. The client has been conducting advertiser satisfaction research for over 20 years to solicit feedback from key advertisers and agencies concerning the newspaper’s sales organization, products, pricing, support and customer service. The newspaper partnered with Kannon Consulting in 2006 on an innovative Advertiser Satisfaction Study designed to identify opportunities to serve advertisers better and to grow the business.
In 2004, the client newspaper was part of a company-wide Sales Force Effectiveness Initiative. The Initiative identified the need for newspapers to become more client-centric, and major changes in the way advertising departments work were implemented. Since then, client has been modifying its advertiser satisfaction research to become more actionable in identifying and meeting advertisers’ needs and increase satisfaction.
Kannon partnered with the newspaper in 2006 to design a new Advertiser Satisfaction Study, beginning with a review of the original survey instrument to ensure that the most actionable questions were being asked and that the right mix of advertisers and decision makers were being surveyed. Kannon then designed and fielded a new satisfaction survey and planning approach. A prospect database of over 1,100 advertisers across multiple industries was built; prospects were recruited via an introductory letter and an email invitation. Completed surveys were analyzed, with an emphasis on uncovering strategies and tactics to grow the business and to support corporate initiatives. Kannon also designed a process to build action plans that would have a measurable impact on the business.
In addition to including a Net Promoter® Score (NPS) metric to identify what really drives customer satisfaction and business growth, several broad areas emerged as top priorities for the newspaper, including pricing, reach, production/execution and invoicing. Based on findings from the newspaper’s own Initiative and the Kannon Advertiser Satisfaction Study, the client implemented changes to its sales force across four major areas: structure, accountability, training and recognition.
The newspaper has also begun a series of NPS studies among top advertising customers. For customers defined as Detractors (those with the lowest rates of repurchase and referral), or who do not understand or appreciate the full strength of the medium, the client created a series of Value Proposition presentations and sales tools designed to overcome objections. “We definitely believe in Kannon’s innovative approach and analysis to NPS,” says the newspaper’s Advertising Director. “It is something that we talk about all the time and that we are starting to execute on. Not only are we conducting similar studies on advertisers, but we are also conducting them on readers and our own employees as well.”