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In our roundtable, brokers definitely weren't shy about speaking their minds. But what's on the minds of the people who really matter, the clients? Direct talked with several mailers to find out what qualities they think matter in a list broker.

Wendy Miller, deputy director of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF catalog, says she looks for two things in a list broker: performance and a good working relationship.

Miller works with Kathy Duggan-Josephs of D-J Associates, who is not only a broker to UNICEF but a consultant as well. “She has institutional knowledge of our business,” says Miller. “I really feel she's a partner.”

Likewise, Jane Mitchell of Title 9 Sports says she values the way brokers she deals with at ParadyszMatera understand her catalog's business.

Are clients loyal to a particular brokerage firm or a specific broker?

Miller sees her personal loyalty to the broker she works with, not the brokerage firm the broker is employed by. “There's a whole bunch of trust there,” she says.

Mitchell agreed, noting that she followed a broker to ParadyszMatera when he left Direct Media. Sherry Fisher-Georgi, senior new business manager at Advance Publications, said when she left her former employer to join Advance, she kept the same broker she had been working with at Millard Group.

What makes a good broker “depends on what you're looking for,” notes Fisher-Georgi. While some people want only list selection from brokers, others rely on them for additional marketing services, she says, adding that having a broker who works well with list owners, finds new and timely lists and creates reports in a fashion she can work with are among her top considerations.

She too places her loyalty with the individual. “You have the one-on-one relationship with the broker,” Fisher-Georgi. “You know how they work and their abilities.”

Ellen Church, group director of fundraising agency CMS, on the other hand, says that while she does feel loyalty to specific brokers, she probably wouldn't follow one if they left her brokerage of about a decade, American List Counsel.

A knowledge of markets beyond fundraising, such as consumer and publishing, is key for CMS.

“We look for diversity,” says Church, who points out that she also values good modeling programs. “And of course,” she adds, “there's chemistry.”