Meet the Broker: Cindy Dunhill

Today we meet Cindy Dunhill, operations director at Dunhill International List Co. Dunhill has been working full time for the family-run firm since 1982. She started part-time working during school breaks.

“I’ve pretty much worked every job here, answering phones, filing and accounting. The majority of my work now involves brokerage,” she said.

Dunhill deals mostly with seminar companies and investment newsletter publishers. Her clients include Shepherd Investment Strategist, MIT Financial, Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs, University of Alabama and the Church of Scientology.

List brokerage, she pointed out involves more than researching and recommending lists. She’s developed a keen broker’s eye after looking at data cards for more than 25 years, so her intuition comes second nature.

She becomes suspicious whenever she sees unrealistic high counts, for example. If a list in a particular market category has a count significantly higher than similar files in the category that raises a red flag.

“You just know sometimes when you look at a data card because you have a feeling, and then you have to investigate further,” Dunhill said. “You cannot believe everything you read on a data card.”

She recalled rejecting an unusually large list that purportedly identified sufferers of a particular ailment. The count by far exceeded statistics on the estimated number of people afflicted.

Dunhill has just recently returned to work from a honeymoon in China. She keeps fit playing golf, tennis and swimming, and enjoys yoga and boating. Her daily routine includes taking a 30-minute walks at the beginning and end of each day.

Dunhill is bi-coastal, living and working in Florida and California. Her Maltese dog Noodles is her constant companion. “He comes to the office and flies with me on the plane under my seat. Noodles loves to travel — he’s a frequent flyer,” she said.

What case can you make for using compiled lists?

“Compiled lists are getting much more accurate, with verified telephone numbers, appended SIC codes and e-mail addresses available for probably 20% of [the records], Dunhill said.

Compiled files are being updated more frequently, in some instances monthly. Market coverage is greater with compiled lists compared to response lists, and more demographics and psychographics are becoming available, largely due to the growth of the Internet as a data source, she continued.

Another advantage compiled lists have over response files is the turnaround time for orders — typically 24 hours, according to Dunhill. Sample mailing pieces are not usually required to rent compiled data. Many companies include compiled lists in the mix with response lists, she added.

Tell us about a recent unusual brokerage deal.

Dunhill said one longtime client has decided to significantly increase the amount of list segmentation used to mail five separate campaigns simultaneously. Compiled and response lists are being used to find enough names to meet segmentation criteria.

Each campaign involves 50 lists and multiple segments. The process includes profiling and creating some customized segments, which at times requires staff to handpick some names.

“Everything has to be verified,” she added. “It’s for a very expensive mailing piece.”

The amount of targeting and segmentation is what makes this unusual and it’s taking months to organize everything, compared to a regular campaign with compiled data that can be in the mail in a matter of days, Dunhill said.

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