Why Newspaper Job Ads are Dead pt. 4: Poor Customer Service

As a veteran of the job posting wars of the 1990's and 2000's I just wanted to jot down my thoughts, because back then the newspaper recruiting classifieds were the biggest method there was to find a job besides networking. I helped chip away at that big rock, until now that same job section is about two pages. Here is the fourth part of this article. To read the others click the links below:

pt. 3: Not Local
pt. 2 Revenue and Pricing
pt. 1: A Local Perspective

Lets review a couple of points from the other articles first:

Why were so many companies trying the internet and taking budget away from the newspaper? The internet boom was on! Remember all the DotCom companies that were popping up? The fuel they provided for the economic boom of the late 1990's? Now days we look back and wonder how did we ever live without our internet connections? Companies were searching for other ideas to reach job seekers. There was a talent shortage going on (and still is). Companies were willing to try anything to find the employees they needed.

Price was another factor. Internet ads were usually $100-$300 with full color and were unlimited in size. You could ad color, pictures, logos, anything that could be placed in the ad. The same money might buy you a 15 line classified ad. No pictures. No color. Placement on the website didn't usually matter as much as in a newspaper. Small companies with small budgets were treated the same as large companies with large budgets. A small retail store could compete equally with a retail giant chain because the cost of getting thier ads noticed with additional services like homepage logos and featured ads were affordable to all.

Both of these lead to another reason why newspaper ads died, poor customer service.

Poor customer service was a problem. A big chunk of the clients I sold in those days were fed up with the mistakes in the layout or billing. The mistakes they could have forgiven if they were given an ounce of cooperation by the paper, however since the newspaper had always been the recritment advertising industry leader they were very inflexible with package price and "make-good ads." They thought they would always be the big player in the room and they could do whatever they wanted and always be profitable. Customers would often tell me horro stories of trying to get someone on the phone, only to not have calls returned or be passed on from one person to the next and never seeing their corrected ad run. With job boards the customer could change the ad almost instantly if they made a mistake when they posted it themselves, or were able to call someone local if they needed help to correct an ad.

The fact that customer service was located nearby also helped. Companies liked the fact that if they had a problem they could call "Ev" who was located in the same city just a few minutes away. They got to know "Ev" as a face of the company. 'Ev" took them to lunch, met with them to follow up on their results, and became a consultant or friend that valued who and what they are as a company and what they were trying to do. As long as what "Ev" said made sense and they liked who "Ev" was as a person and salesman they were willing to give the job board a try.  Snotty customer service reps locally for the newspaper or anonymous customer service reps for bigger newspapers who didn't know or care about local company "X" except to get them to pay their bill so the rep would get their commission.

Longevity of account reps was also a factor. I stayed in the industry for 13 years. Clients and prospects knew who I was. I was that old pair of shoes in the closet that may not be the fanciest, but sure were comfortable and looked good. Others stayed in the industry for several years too. Newspaper reps, not so much. More and more companies switching over to online ads complained that they never know who their rep was. Couldn't get in touch with them when they needed to buy ads or make changes to an existing ad, but always heard from the rep when the rep needed to make their monthly goal. Clients see through that very fast. Then all you become is a commodity and no one wants to be treated like that.

So if you have read the other articles, here are the three big reasons newspaper job ads are dead:

1. Pricing
2. Not Local
3. Poor Customer Service

Maybe this is great insight or not.   
I don't know. 
It is just the view of someone who was there and helped make it happen.

Thanks for reading!

Ev

A Heck of A Nice Guy