WAN would develop a phased approach across the network to ensure any impact to Distributors and customers is minimal. The responsibility to recover all outstanding accounts at the time of the transition will remain with the agent. From that point forward WAN will take on this responsibility.

WAN has been working with a group of distribution agents since early 2012 to ensure the needs of the network are understood and represented.

It is expected that distributors and home delivery customers will interact via the self-service web portal. Additionally customers can contact either the distributor or WAN directly via phone and / or email, the important component being that the distributor will need to forward any information to WAN to allow the supplies and routes to be updated accordingly.  WAN expects that there will be an education process and that it will take time to familiarize all customers of the correct processes.

WAN will become the primary contact for customers and will expand its customer service area to accommodate the increased number of direct customer queries. Distribution agents will continue to provide support to ensure that customer delivery requests are actioned.

Much of the detail of the system configuration in relation to our market has not yet been finalized.  The WAN project team will work with a number of distributors on standard network requirements.

As with any change there is likely to be some risk. It will be important that the communication and process for switching customers is clear and easily understood. WAN expects that some customers with poor payment history are unlikely to be retained.

WAN would envisage joint communication by WAN and each distribution agent to home delivery customers. It is imperative that from a home delivery customers perspective the exercise is deemed to be simple and straight forward.

It is WAN’s intention to ensure that as many customers (if not all) are retained during the transition. Offers may need to be presented to home delivery customers to encourage them to move across quickly and onto direct payment methods.

WAN intends to develop a specification which it will make available to all current vendors including Mr News. This will allow them to prepare to receive data on a daily basis from WANs new circulation system. The information will likely be passed in a flat file which will be available via iServices or sent via email. While the system can and will operate as a stand-alone system, WAN recognizes that distributors will still need to manage other non WAN publications.

As communicated via the Distributor Committee meetings and in ad hoc discussions with individual distributors over the last 2-3 years, WAN’s current Circulation and Marketing System (CMS) is now outdated and obsolete. The system is in excess of 25 years old and while it has served the business well throughout those years it is incapable of providing the functionality to drive the business in the future. This change is part of a program of system upgrades across WAN’s entire business which has included editorial, advertising, finance and now circulation.

By taking on the billing of home delivery customers WAN will pay fees directly to distributors on a weekly basis. Fees will be paid irrespective of whether WAN has received payment from home delivery customers.

Where distributors have utilised WAN funds to improve their cash-flow an alternative source may need to be secured.  WAN do not expect to offer a credit facility to distributors

All things being equal, your business should be more profitable simply because the costs associated with administrating home delivery customers, writing off bad debt, bank fees etc will be significantly reduced.

WAN is hopeful that as a result of this transition those wishing to exit the industry will have more appealing businesses to sell and those wishing to stay in the industry and grow their business have an opportunity to achieve economies of scale through more streamlined operations.

As requested at the distributor forums a separate piece of work will be conducted to review future options in relation to the long-term structure of the network.

No - the current remuneration model and fee structure will remain.  WAN does not intend to reduce fees or create or pass on any administration costs to distributors.

The benefits available to WAN include the following:

• Increased visibility of who the home delivery customers actually are.
• More effective targeted marketing and campaigns due to a centralised database of prospects.
• Ability to employ direct debit programs to improve cash flow for both WAN and the network.
• Improved home delivery retention.

The benefits to distributors in WAN billing home delivery customers directly are as follows:

• Reduced administration estimated at approximately 10 - 15 hours per week.
• Elimination of bad debt.
• Reduced costs in relation to printing, stationery, merchant fees on direct payment methods etc.
• More time to focus on sales – home delivery and retail.
• The opportunity to scale up their operation easily to offset either static or declining circulation.
• Access to a fully automated system at no cost.
• Reduced customer service activity due to web based self-help services contained within the application and increased support from WAN Customer Support Service staff.
• Retention of existing fees and therefore margin.
• The potential to increase sales simply due to new system functionality – subscriber donation programs etc.
• Increased profitability.

WAN intends to migrate home delivery customers across to DTI and engage in a direct billing relationship in order to realise the many benefits to both distributors and WAN, including improved acquisition and retention programs. Small groups of distributors will be migrated over an extended period of time to allow for a tailored and detailed planning and migration process around each distributorship.

WAN have selected through a tender process Digital Technology International’s (DTI) ‘Media Plus’ Circulation System. DTI are a US based company and have over 500 newspapers on their system globally.  In Australia they have also been successful in winning both Fairfax and News Ltd’s circulation system upgrades.  

An added attraction for WAN is to essentially purchase an ‘out of the box’ solution which has already been modified and reconfigured for the Australian market. WAN believes that there is more to be gained by using a standard system that continues to have regular system reviews and upgrades based on ongoing input from all publishers, which are likely to reflect the changing market conditions.   

The objective of selecting and installing a new system is to give  WAN and its distributors the opportunity to grow their business through increased sales; better retention of existing customers and improved operating efficiencies, thereby saving businesses time, which would be better spent on acquiring more sales.  The other key component to installing the system is to facilitate the more efficient exchange of customer information between WAN and Distributors and vice versa to remove double handling and poor customer service.