Down to Business with…ESP
As most of you know by now, we are not able to hold the AAMP Conference 2020 this year due to the ongoing pandemic. However, our vendors are still a vital part of our organization, and we would like to keep you in touch with them throughout the year. In each e-newsletter, we will spotlight one of our vendors and what they can do for you. So without further ado, we bring you Stefan Beeli, newly-promoted CEO of Enterprise Subscription Processing (ESP)….
STEFAN BEELI, ESP
AAMP: Describe what ESP does and how you can help AAMP members.
STEFAN: At ESP, we pride ourselves in being a full-service and versatile fulfillment provider with a full suite of circulation and data services required for subscription, membership and product fulfillment. Our detailed and flexible database allows us to cater to both B2B publishers as well as the larger B2C conglomerates. In short, we provide all the services required for subscription fulfillment, from soup-to-nuts. (SEE MORE….)
From real-time data entry, file uploads, order processing, and customer service, ESP maintains an integrated, detailed, and comprehensive view of your customers. We can customize a fulfillment system for you, including product fulfillment. So yeah – we can help you with all of that.
AAMP: What is the profile of the typical client at ESP?
STEFAN: We have a diverse portfolio of B2B and B2C clients ranging from small to mid-size publishers, many with several titles and related products. Quite a few of them derive a large portion of their revenue from subscriptions instead of advertising, so at ESP, we pay special attention to paid subscriptions. In fact, our very first customer was an audited B2B publication with a daily frequency and a remarkably high subscription price. The demanding requirements of that first customer enabled us to create a responsive system that works well for both paid and controlled titles.
AAMP: What is the biggest challenge your clients are facing in 2020, and how are you able to help them over the hurdles?
STEFAN: Right now, clients are concerned about protecting subscription revenue, engaging and retaining their audience, and staying relevant in our ever-changing digital world. We provide the services to keep those subscribers on file, the reporting that shows you how your retention efforts and new customer promotions are working, and the programming services that work with all your 3rd party vendors. We know publishers aren’t just using one service – they’re using a plethora of different marketing, sales, and CRM tools to stay current and move ahead of the competition. Our easy web hooks and seamless API services turn what used to be a nightmare for some into a comprehensive, cohesive, and straightforward integration.
AAMP: What new and exciting services and/or technology are you working on?
STEFAN: Our dynamic development team has been customizing software to allow our clients to leverage some of the web’s open source packages to take advantage of things like customized AI chatbots, interactive digital editions, and multi-tenant custom product stores with shipment from multiple warehouses. We’ve also been working on a pilot project with WordPress to create plug-ins for our clients. For our smaller clients, we will be able to offer a custom solution that allows them to host their content and have full access and control of the design, layout, and look of their subscription pages simply by using the ESP fulfillment plugin, complete with gatekeeping and all the other bells and whistles that come with WordPress.
AAMP: And last but certainly not least, what is your favorite kind of pizza?
STEFAN: I’m a glutton. My favorite kind of pizza is a thin crust with lots of stuff on it. Sausage, bell peppers, pepperoni, onions, jalapenos, you name it, even anchovies and – horrors – pineapple. (EDITORIAL OPINION: Fruit was not meant to go on pizza. Ever.)