Readers are now debating a former Gannett publisher's assertion that consolidating customer service at far-away call centers doesn't work. Consolidation is a key part of GCI's two-year-old strategic plan -- a point that CEO Craig Dubow (left) underscored in a message sent to all employees four months ago, announcing a new, centralized e-mail system."Centralization is a key aspect of our overall transformation as a company,'' Dubow wrote in that Nov. 6, 2007, message, a Gannett Blog reader says. "Not only is it more efficient and cost-effective, it also frees up our local units to concentrate on what is important: generating local news and information and selling advertising. You have seen it with our call centers and regional toning centers, now with e-mail. As we move forward, we must constantly ask ourselves: 'Is that the most efficient way to do business? Can't this be done better in one, two or a few places instead of more than 100?'"
BTW: The word transformation appears often in Dubow's rare employee communications; it showed up in his infamous Sept. 11 "this is the hard part" e-mail. That's a term I've heard used by pricey consultants that companies hire to help guide them through rough times. USA Today hired Gallup when I worked at the paper -- but that contract seemed like a huge waste of money to me.
What jumps out at me, in Dubow's e-mail message: "it also frees up our local units to concentrate on what is important: generating local news and information and selling advertising."
ReplyDeleteSeems to me that customer service, especially for circulation, is important, too. When did it become less important? And what's to prevent "generating local news and information and selling advertising" from being deemed less important, too?
Nothing.
ReplyDeleteMy email has been horrible since the centralization. Mail sits in my outbox for days on end, and email comes to me in spurts throughout the day, sometimes 10 at a time. IT has no answers for us other than 'use webmail' and 'blame corporate.'
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to start some sort of 'no confidence in Dubow' movement?
Hear is a local news story than Gannett papers can write about. GANNETT TAKING LOCAL JOBS AWAY AND OUTSOURCING THEM TO INDIA. I'm sure the local advertisers would love to know this because some of their former customers might Gannett employees that lost their jobs.
ReplyDeleteOur circ calls go to Louisville. Our photos go to Des Moines for toning. Neither is an improvement over handling it ourselves. It saves money, of course, but quality has suffered on both counts.
ReplyDeleteThe toning fiasco in Des Moines adds a ton of steps to what used to be the simple task of sizing a photo and sending it to prepress. Circulation is plummeting because of the "great customer service" provided at the Louisville Center of Excellence. And no, we didn't write about the layoffs of the art staff when their jobs were sent to India.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that turnover is high at the call centers. Anyone know if that is true for any or all of the locations?
ReplyDeleteGallup. Oy.
ReplyDeleteEvery e-mail Dubow has ever sent company wide has gone straight to my junk e-mail folder. Mind you, I didn't flag him to go there. The system simply deems that's where it should go.
ReplyDeleteI'm not kidding. The system randomly does the same thing with e-mails from fellow employees who sit in nearby cublices - once even to an e-mail I sent myself. However, I still get my share of "longer, harder and more erect" e-mails. Go figure.