Q4 is well underway. Taking the Seinfeld “approach to time,” eliminating weekends and holidays, discounting the days preceding and post holidays, we have around 15 business days left in the year. The clock is ticking, and soon enough, the next time we’ll all be doing business will be 2016.
What every salesperson (or do I say marketing person in this part of the industry, a weird mix up of labels that has never been reconciled) wants to end the year with is a win. It caps things off and sends warm feelings across the organization, and starts the new year right, with fresh capital to deploy.
Having the right investment process, a strategy in favor and strong numbers is the price of entry into winning mandates. Luck, being attractive and articulate, and knowing a lot of people are all becoming less important than they were even two years ago.
Marketing and sales methodologies are today’s modern keys to success. As you know, getting the cash in the door is what really counts, and there is a proven path to achieving new allocations.
Do the math
How many finals are you in? How many due diligence meetings? How many fourth, third and second meetings with viable allocators, who are truly interested in your strategy are seriously vetting you?
Mastering the calculus and processes are the vital steps to consistent wins – and they’re new. They combine data science, marketing methodology and sales processes.
Data Science
The year 2015 has been a big year for data and its utilization. “Big data” became a topic of the past among innovators, as “predictive analytics” quickly overshadowed it as the year’s hot topic. Technology updates and innovation have brought us a plethora of data sources, in endless forms and depths, and they continue to grow. So now that lack of data is no longer an issue, what have you accomplished to leverage it? Where is your predictive model? You say you can’t use outside data because you cannot generally solicit. That does not propose a problem. You still have plenty of marketing and sales data to work with. Firms who have embraced the opportunities of data science to implement into their marketing processes have optimized their businesses, while those who haven’t are simply sitting on an untapped resource. Predictive analytics allows you to pull only what is required and actionable to your process.
Marketing
It is troubling that we continue to see firms who still interchange marketing with sales. To be undoubtedly clear, marketing and sales are two different professions, albeit intertwined when the strategy and execution are optimized.
Marketing, as we frequently describe to clients, is the process in which we lead the horse to water when they are thirsty. Many firms have impressive, beautifully-crafted collateral to display. A nice brochure doesn’t identify allocators who are ready to invest with your firm its strategy. Consistent inflow is predictable through process, and this very process is what we embody. The E5A platform is based on our proven methodology, which is customized (as it should be) per client, strategy, target investor group, influencers, etc. Your marketing methodology should consist of a process that is simple, clear, compelling and accommodates different kinds of prospects, all travelling through the process in their own way and pace. It allows you to identify the moment they are thirsty and want your water. Your decision tree, or well designed path, should provide efficient and effective use to your prospects’ time, and reflect your serious efforts. Once a prospect is identified as displaying “allocating” behavior, reaching a deeper level of your marketing process, then the table is set for the sales team to close the prospect.
Sales
If the marketing methodology is successful, prospects already know your company, its strategy (or products), and have demonstrated allocating behavior. They are ready to drink. With prospects having the right context and behavior, it is time to fully deploy the sales team. With each stage of the process, a clear goal should be established, each significant step or meeting should require a customized presentation deck to ensure the goal is attained. This is an effective way to show off your research, and express the message you want to embed, leading the prospect to the optimal conclusion for that specific meeting. A strong process is one where you can control what a prospect gets out of each interaction, creating a pipeline that will generate a consistent percentage of wins.
Moving Forward
Every manager, big or small, regardless of structure or style needs a process. In addition to its investment process, the sales and marketing process is essential for sustained growth and success.
The question is whether you want to embrace a modern process, control it and optimize it. Employing talented marketers is part of the winning game. Have your salespeople focus on closing and not prospecting. It is your job to know who is ready to allocate now.This is what industry leaders are already having us provide, and we will continue to do in 2016 and beyond.