Every private equity professional wants deal alerts to appear in their inbox. What if that desire wasn’t a pipe dream?
You’d also be hard-pressed to find a capital markets professional that hasn’t had a strategic off-site or other meeting where the investment thesis is aligned and agreed upon, just to have it forgotten weeks later. The reason this phenomenon is so common amongst private equity and other investment professionals is that very few firms implement technology in a way that helps them clearly execute on their strategies and goals. Even fewer implement technology in a way that enables day-to-day success.
According to KMPG’s recent report, The digital transformation imperative, “a growing number of private equity firms are utilizing and/or looking to digital transformation and the effective use of [data and analytics] to give them an edge in terms of making portfolio acquisition decisions, driving revenue growth, and also streamlining and enhancing internal operations, record keeping, and regulatory reporting.” In this article, we will explore three email notification configurations we recommend for private equity firms looking to better leverage data, analytics, and technology through private equity CRM software.
Deals closing in the “strike zone”
One of the most commonly seen alerts that our clients leverage is an email notification triggered by data that shows the deals that close in their “strike zone” during the week prior. By receiving this notification, the manager can glean whether or not the deal was seen by the key relationship manager as well as who intermediated the deal. This alert keeps teams action-oriented because it provides an easy reason to get in touch with a banker, establish a relationship, and increase the likelihood of closing a deal together in the future.
New intermediaries entering the market
Another great way for private equity professionals to stay active throughout the day is to set up alerts in their private equity CRM for when a new intermediary enters the already crowded marketplace. In the U.S. and Canada, a new intermediary is the lead on a transaction every second business day – meaning, in a given year, your firm could be adding as many as 180 new bankers to its rolodex. After receiving the notification, private equity professionals should hop on the phone, get to know the bankers’ industry specializations, as well as get an understanding for their experience and deal management style.
Lost deals that never closed
The third alert that we recommend private equity firms set up takes “broken” or otherwise “dead” deals into account. Let’s say a certain amount of time has passed on a transaction in which you weren’t the winning bidder on. If your firm really liked the deal, and it still hasn’t closed, it’s important that certain people be in-the-know. By equipping yourself with the right data sets, you can configure alerts and notifications that align with your firm’s strategies. Once these are enabled, your team will be better equipped to circle back and re-enter the conversation if what was once broken can be fixed.
Conclusion
Dealmakers are always on-the-go, and it’s important that they have the details they need in order to execute at any time. While there are and there are many ways to achieve that goal with technology and data. We recommend arming yourself with a deal and relationship management platform that comes equipped with a mobile application that allows you to access deal and relationship information right from the palm of your hand or straight from your email Inbox. By equipping yourself with DealCloud’s powerful technology, Sutton Place Strategies’ data, all combined with your proprietary processes and data, your private equity software can help your firm take action on deals and relationships more regularly.