Meet the Broker: Shirley Schoevaars

Today we meet, Shirley Schoevaars, who serves as director of marketing and brokerage at Name-Finders Lists Inc. in San Francisco. Schoevaars has been with Name-Finders for the last two years and in the list business since 1989. She spent much of her earlier career working with Direct Media and American List Counsel.

Schoevaars started out as a postal list broker working with consumer files, but before long she broadened her reach to business-to-business lists. She currently splits her time about equally between working with fundraising lists and with consumer postal and e-mail lists.

“I like working with clients, testing, planning and offering ideas and suggestions to get them to think outside of the box, says Schoevaars. I love teaching people and I think that’s the key to success in brokerage.”

One thing that never changes for brokers is the need to always be on the lookout for new business, making cold calls and sending out mailings.

“Unless a broker has huge clients, a broker is always prospecting for new business. Really that’s where I’m at now