Meet the Broker: Michael Kertelits
Today we meet Michael Kertelits, an account executive at RMI Direct Marketing Inc. Kertelits recommends lists for advocacy, health and humanitarian organizations.
Kertelits worked in marketing research before he got into list brokerage in 1994. He spent 12 years with Direct Media before joining RMI in the spring of 2006.
His client list includes the Arbor Day Foundation, Disabled American Veterans and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“It used to easier to keep donors engaged, before people were inundated with so much information all of the time. Now brokers have to do cause marketing; it’s not just direct mail any more,” says Kertelits.
Competition for donors’ dollars from more nonprofit organizations encourages more innovation. List modeling, e-mail lists and recently text messaging are increasingly on the agenda for many nonprofits.
“Nonprofit organizations have always been behind the curve, but now they’re dabbling more in e-mail and text messaging,” Kertelits says.
For some, changes are incremental, such as appending e-mail addresses to house files. Others are using statistical modeling extensively and even participating in cooperative databases.
The biggest shift involves depending more on transaction data and list selections for improved targeting, according to Kertelits.
“There are so many more data points available that provide a better picture of the people on files. I can remember when motor vehicle records and phone directories were all they used, he says.
His own data points include being married, a six-year-old son and a keen interest in sports—as he’s a baseball and football coach after work. Kertelits also volunteers for nonprofit organizations.
How else have list strategies changed?
Higher dollar selections and quarterly hotlines are becoming a more standard practice, according to Kertelits.
“Everyone wants a better ROI. A list with 12-month recency used to pull pretty decent results, but now that’s now the case,” he says.
What’s essential for a good client relationship?
Besides the obvious, like hard work, Kertelits says brokers must never overstep their bounds. “This means gathering all the information for clients and guiding them to a decision. Never make a decision on their behalf,” he says.
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