Broker Roundtable: Improving Operating Efficiencies
Welcome to Broker Roundtable, where each week we ask list brokers to give their opinions on issues that matter to the marketing community. This week’s question: How could the list industry further improve operating efficiencies?
Our panel includes Leland Kroll of Kroll Direct Marketing Inc.; Pat Leone, of Leon Henry Inc.; Stefanie Pont, of Pont Media Direct; Jay Schwedelson of Worldata and Herb Torgersen of DirectInnovations Inc. Would you like to be considered to be a member of our roundtable? Contact Larry Riggs ([email protected]).
Leland Kroll, president, Kroll Direct Marketing Inc.:
This is a very interesting question that the Direct Marketing Association’s data innovator group has discussed and wrestled with for many years. As industry leaders we have yet to come up with the magic bullet on how to operate more efficiently. We are and will continue to be in a labor-intensive service industry. We need vital information from one another in order to service our clients. It’s virtually impossible to provide a high level of customer service and possibly decrease staff in order to improve operating efficiencies. For decades, the list industry has prided itself on providing a wealth of knowledge from both professional list managers and list brokers to their clients, the mailing community. There is a tremendous amount of phone calls and correspondence not to mention the fiduciary responsibilities associated with each transaction. Our business has gotten and will remain very complex. Clients seek our advice and recommendations every day in order to remain competitive and profitable. In today’s multichannel environment, there are numerous “data jockeys,” “data slingers,” and “data renegades” which undermine the credibility of our industry. If anyone has any ideas and recommendations on this challenge that faces all of us let me know.
Pat Leone, senior account executive, Leon Henry Inc.:
My pet peeve is datacards that do not contain what I believe is basic information. Since most of us use NextMark or Standard Rate and Data Service it should not be too difficult to add detailed counts such as source, recency dollar amount and gender to datacards so that brokers don’t always have to call or email for specific information they need. Suggestions might also be included on how to accurately estimate additional counts based on information provided.
I realize that all that information needs to be updated on a regular basis and that it is tedious to have to input. But I believe the managers would receive far fewer count requests if this information was available on the cards.
Stefanie Pont, managing partner, Pont Media Direct:
After all these years, we’re still hand adjusting invoices to reflect nixies and net names and everybody is still on a different ordering system. It’s a waste of valuable time and money, but I’m not hopeful that standardization will suddenly hit the list and data industry. I don’t think the roadblocks are technical as much as they are personal. For some reason people seem to take a certain comfort in the fact that their purchase orders and invoices look different from everybody else’s. With the rampant consolidation, maybe it’s one of the few comforts left! I’m not as bothered by orders and invoices as I am by file formats coming from service bureaus. Those myriad variances cost money, because files need to be standardized before processing. If the data output companies could move to a more homogenous format, it would be a real stride forward.
Jay Schwedelson, CEO, Worldata
Even the term “list industry” is antiquated. Those firms who still call themselves list companies likely are not truly thinking about efficiencies for the long haul but rather just trying to hold on for the near term. The tools already exist to provide state of the art methodologies for the delivery of data-related programs. Our role as data service professionals is to work with marketers to understand how data is used within the organization. This can’t be limited to a campaign or a single prospecting project. Nor can it be limited to a single channel. Data service professionals need to educate themselves on the latest customer relationship management systems, lead nurturing tools and the various data delivery options that are available. The role of a list broker has always been as a resource of knowledge. This knowledge cannot be limited to list availability but rather should focus on overall solution options. This is what is expected of us.
Herb Torgersen, president, DirectInnovations Inc.:
The database/list industry has come a long way in how business is conducted. Today database/list order transactions are mostly entirely conducted electronically which has lowered some operating costs. Further improvements can be made to boost the security of electronic data transfers. I also think some improvements can be made to the search capabilities within electronic datacard library services so that they are more accurate in pulling up files that truly reflect the search parameters. The only roadblock I can see is how willing a company is to becoming an early adaptor
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