Report: Classified Fall-off Could Quicken With 'Gutting' of Call Centers

By: E&P Staff Classified ad revenue could fall even faster if newspapers continue to shrink their call centers, argues a report issued Monday.

The report from consulting group Classified Intelligence (CI) found that two-thirds of the 45 call center managers surveyed said their staff had decreased in the past year. Just 7% increased staff, CI found.

"This is an absolute recipe for disaster -- even worse than the year-over-year declines that so many newspapers are showing in classifieds," said Classified Intelligence founding principal Peter M. Zollman. "Just when newspapers need more sales reps to sell classifieds, both print and online, they're reducing staff to save money. They may permanently cripple their classified advertising sales and make the current decline in classifieds accelerate."

Newspapers are "gutting" their classified advertising call centers at a time when they need more people to make outbound calling, the report says.

One reason call centers are shrinking is that call volume is decreasing, the report found. It said about 90% of call center managers reported volume was down -- some by as much as 40%.

The report was issued with the launch of a new CI consulting service, Call Center Optimization. The full report is available for a charge at classifiedintelligence.com.