Meet the Broker: Elliot Danziger

Today we meet Elliot Danziger, director of e-mail marketing services at ePostDirect Inc. He’s been in the list business for 11 years.

He found his first list job at Edith Roman Associates Inc. soon after graduating with a degree in marketing from the University at Albany/State University of New York.

Danziger spent four years managing postal lists there before transferring to the company’s then-new affiliate ePostDirect in 1999, where he learned the art of e-mail list brokerage.

“It was the right time to make a change when everything exciting and new was happening during the dotcom heyday,” said Danziger.

Although he does some consumer work, his specialty is brokering business-to-business e-mail lists for information technology companies. His clients include Oracle Publishing, Enterprises Florida and Programmer’s Paradise.

Danziger is recently married and a new homeowner. To keep fit he works out at the gym and occasionally plays basketball and softball. He enjoys dining out and visiting museums in New York City. His favorite sedentary pastime is playing poker.

How has the e-mail list market been changing and what do you anticipate for the future?

Danziger is seeing more e-mail databases with data combined from multiple sources and more individual e-mail files coming on the market. “Larger universes and more segmentation are positive things,” he said.

He expects e-mail list prices will decline over the next five to 10 years as the market continues to grow. Substantial new growth will come from consumer e-mail list owners, he said, following in the footsteps of larger B-to-B e-mail list owners already in the market.

Danziger expects to see greater availability of response e-mail lists. This means there will be more to choose from than merely compiled files and lists sourced via Web site registrations. His most optimistic expectation is that cooperative e-mail databases could one day become available.

How should brokers prepare for meetings with clients?

“It’s important to go in with good reasoning behind your list recommendations,” said Danziger. “A good broker summarizes and organizes everything for the client in an easy to read format.”

Such preparations should include negotiating pricing in advance, he said, with options based on the volume of names for orders.

Business relationship styles vary widely. Some clients will want to make all the list decisions, while others need extensive list planning, right down to the broker picking out the selections, he noted.

Danziger added that it probably isn’t a sign of good communication if the client spends a lot of time fumbling through data cards, rather than interacting with a broker. The number one thing is listening, he said. “You have to listen and identify a client’s needs and find solutions to problems. The name of the game is to maximize response.”

Know someone you’d like to suggest for Meet the Broker? E-mail [email protected].