Investment Managers Have No Windows
All credit for this blog goes to Eli Combs. Eli is one of the best fund raising specialists in the business: www.axisga.com.
It was Eli who coined the phrase, “investment managers have no windows” – it is a particularly appropriate analogy for the hedge fund industry.
He compares managers to car dealerships.
I am assuming pretty much everyone reading this, at one point or another, has walked onto a car lot. What happens? Within minutes a salesperson saunters up and starts a conversation. Good salespeople are fairly skilled at making a tactful approach. Unfortunately, many aren’t.
It is for this very reason that car dealerships have huge windows overlooking their lot. They want to be able to see when someone is interested in their inventory. Why? Because if someone is walking around your lot looking at your cars, they are probably a potential buyer. The dealership will sell more vehicles by approaching people in their lot than waiting until someone walks in their door and asks to speak to a salesperson, or sending their salespeople out to try to sell a car to a stranger on the street. Agree? Of course, it is so obvious that you almost feel foolish making the point.
Replace the car dealership with an alternative investment manager and the dealership’s lot with a manager’s website (or, God forbid, lack of a website).
Imagine how much an investment manager’s chances of securing an allocation would increase if they focused their attention on allocators that are paying attention to them (like perusing their website, watching their video, or reading their investment letters, etc)? Again, it is so obvious that I almost feel foolish making the point. Yet 95% of all managers haven’t built their websites in such a way that allows them to see who is “walking around” and where they are looking.
Therefore the phrase, investment managers have no windows, is quite fitting.
And for all those doubters who say that investment managers can’t have websites, I highly doubt Bridgewater, Two Sigma and AQR have been able to “slip” under the radar.
Investment Banker & Advisor to Investment Management Firms
7 年Great post. I use the car dealer analogy all the time. They don't try to sell to everyone...just those that show up in the lot!
Marketing / Brand / Sales - Consulting
7 年Thanks for the comment Mark. There are dozens of marketing automation platforms out there. Google will expose you to dozens, act-on, par-dot, hubspot, marketo, are all good. That said the technology is interchangeable. My post relates more to the fact that people "should" be doing this. Yes ... people really do this. It happens everyday across every industry. We talk about alternatives because we focus on alternatives. Does it work in our industry... absolutely. Recognize that you do need to be tactful. You don't call up and say, we saw you on your website. Instead you put that knowledge to work. You also need to understand when to automate and when to personalize. Not doing this because you feel you are going to "offend" is antiquated thinking. Honestly, it is what holds people back from doing what they should be doing in a modern world. You want online examples ... go to any retailer and fill out a form. Note what happens going forward. Don't hesitate to reach out if you would like to discuss some more. K
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7 年This article ended too soon! I was waiting for the narrative to feature how, with this or that software or email data provider, the sales person at the alternatives firm (and why focus on alternatives, actually?) goes through a list of people who have visited their website and contacts them. Isn't that what was coming next? Because I'm curious: do people really do that? How? I for one would feel a bit put off by someone at a fund management firm calling me up to tell me that "we've seen you visited our website recently and..." Or is my feeling unique? I guess most of us realize that websites we visit can track us and that website owners can follow that, but to actually contact people? The automobile lot analogy is old-school. Not an online example. When the car sales person approaches, the potential customer cannot feel offended or upset at being "accosted" while checking out the merchandise. Is there a Part-Two to this piece?