Letters to the Editor
[Re: Necessities, Family and Comfort Motivate Anxious Consumers: Yankelovich, Direct Newsline, April 23, 2003]
First, cocooning. Now hiving. To paraphrase Elephant Man John Merrick: I am not an insect!
Larry Laiken
Senior Writer
MRM New York
[Re: Database Directors Earn Biggest Bucks in DB Field: Crandall Direct Newsline, April 21, 2003]
I read with interest the salary survey released by Crandall Associates on the compensation ranges for database marketers. As a recruiter who has focused almost entirely in database marketing for the past twelve years, I deal with database marketing salary data all day, everyday.
I’d be interested in learning more about the sample that was used to arrive at some of these numbers. While it’s true that many database marketers are earning more than their non-database brethren, some of these figures simply don’t reflect the reality of the marketplace. The survey states that “novices, those with up to three years in the business, are pulling down $106,700 to $125,000.”
While that may be true in some of the highest cost of living markets, that does not align with what I am seeing nationwide. I have placed candidates this year with as much as eight to 10 years of experience in that range. The survey also states that those with four to seven years are in the $117,000-$142,300 range. For $142,000, I can get a highly skilled database marketer with 10-12 years of experience. I just placed two of them in major metropolitan areas.
The survey also says nothing about sample size. Average in a top salary of $210,000 with a small sample of database directors, you’ll end up with an inflated salary range. Over the years I’ve been asked regularly to help define salary ranges for database marketers and analysts. Accomplishments and achievements, cost of living considerations, educational degrees, management experience and incentive compensation all factor into the equation. I have found that it is much more useful to share data on recent placements with comparable backgrounds in the same geographic location versus salary surveys that can be easily skewed by flawed sampling.
Jerry Bernhart
President, CEO
Bernhart Associates Executive Search
Owatonna, MN
