CDS Global and Rodale Inc. Expand Relationship with Customer Service for Print and Digital Magazines


Friday, September 06, 2013 by CDS Global

CDS Global, a leader in end-to-end business process outsourcing, announced that it has expanded its business relationship with Rodale, publisher of some of the best-known health and wellness lifestyle magazines, including Prevention, Runner's World and Men's Health, and books, such as the "Eat This Not That!" series, to include customer service for the publisher's brands.

Rodale will rely on CDS Global's customer service representatives to handle close to two million calls and upward of 200,000 inbound emails annually. The publisher will also count on CDS Global's intelligent up-sell and cross-sell platform to drive additional revenue, by presenting subscriber-specific offers to customers calling in for service. This proprietary intelligent software has generated tens of millions of dollars in additional revenues for CDS Global's clients and turns the call centers, traditionally viewed as a business expense, into profit centers for many companies.

CDS Global has built a suite of customer care services, including live agent phone and email support, interactive voice response capabilities, call monitoring and level-one technical support for subscribers accessing digital content on tablet devices, such as the iPad.

"Rodale is pleased to expand our long-time relationship with CDS Global and to bring our customer service offering back to the US," said Maria Rodale, Chairman & CEO, Rodale Inc. "We're looking forward to providing customer service for our audiences that is as efficient, accessible and as user-friendly as possible."

"CDS Global understands the importance of premier customer service and is honored to fulfill Rodale's customer service needs," said Debra Janssen, chief operating officer, CDS Global. "The customer experience has become the critical differentiator in today's marketplace. The CDS Global call center is a front-line extension of Rodale, and we look forward to delivering high-quality service to their consumers."

In addition to customer service, CDS Global currently provides a full suite of services to Rodale's magazine brands, which includes circulation and order management, fulfillment of print and digital editions, mailing services, e-commerce capabilities and in-depth reporting. The magazine circulation operational partnership is particularly noteworthy because CDS Global provides dedicated staff that operates as part of the Rodale team.

"CDS Global and Rodale have nurtured a rich business relationship that has lasted more than 20 years," said Janssen. "Onshore customer service is a logical expansion to the suite of services we currently provide for Rodale. We are proud to serve one of the country's elite media companies and to support Rodale's ongoing print, online, tablet and mobile publishing strategy from every angle."

To address Rodale's customer service needs, as well as the incoming customer service business from a second large client, CDS Global has hired a combined 135 customer care representatives at its Des Moines and Boone, Iowa, facilities, which the company announced in April.