Implementing a Fit-for-Purpose Private Equity CRM System to Fuel Growth

The Situation

As part of a broader technology transformation, Lionpoint was engaged to lead a CRM for private equity selection and implementation.

A private equity firm approached Lionpoint with a very specific requirement: to implement a CRM system that would serve as a single firm-wide solution for Deal Pipeline Management, Fundraising & Investor Relations, Vendor Management, and Talent Management.

The client had been using a well-known CRM system but it was underutilized and providing little value. This was primarily due to a lack of accountability, and the firm not institutionalizing any process around compliance, user adoption, and how the solution should be used. The firm didn’t produce any of its reporting out of the system and was therefore unable to view its investor relationships, fundraising, or deal pipelines.

Collaboration across teams was difficult without a mechanism to share individual interactions and the firm lacked a talent repository for tracking potential executives at portfolio companies. Without a single source of truth for information, contacts, and talent planning, the firm was missing out on the chance to optimize its tremendous growth and success opportunities.

The Approach

Lionpoint guided the selection and implementation of a CRM system with sharply defined processes across the entire business.

Lionpoint took a methodical approach to understanding the needs and expectations of the various stakeholders by interviewing team leaders, and documenting their requirements, pain points, and principle challenges.

Given the issues around user adoption, we guided the client through the selection of a CRM system that was essentially a ‘plug-and-play’ solution that didn’t need much customization and configuration to get it up and running. We collaborated with the solution vendor, DealCloud, on design, data migration, report development, and training to ensure total coverage of the client’s requirements, and defined the data strategy for data points that overlapped with existing systems: Preqin, Investran, and Data Exchange.

To overcome the issues surrounding user adoption, we developed training guides, process flows, and a brochure to market the CRM internally. Additionally, we initiated contextualized training sessions for different parts of the business to promote exactly what value each team would get out of using the system.

The Impact

A single source of truth for deals, contacts, and interactions across the firm has enabled scale and rapid growth.

The new CRM offers senior management an instant view of the updated deal and fundraising pipelines, with a single set of robust contacts and interactions built out and shared across the teams, enabling a more coordinated contact management strategy.

On the investor relations side, the system offers a holistic view of investor relationships spanning co-investments, discretionary, and non-discretionary investments, enabling our client to view each investor’s profile individually, and in one location. On the deal side of the house, the “single source of truth” capability of the system offers insights into the best and worst deal sources, allowing the deal team to quickly understand the relationships that they want to invest in.

The new CRM system has allowed our client to scale its processes, add more deal teams, and build out the organization. New funds have been launched and assets under management have grown significantly, propelling its growth by a factor of three.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Private Equity CRM Software?

Technology has completely transformed how private equity firms operate, and one of the critical areas that has seen a massive shift is customer relationship management (CRM). As anyone who works within the industry knows, successful customer relations is crucial for success. Modern CRM for hedge funds and investment management solutions allow companies to better manage client relationships and provide the best services possible.

CRM for private equity is an integral tool that allows firms to streamline various parts of their work and improve daily operations. Capabilities include centralizing investment tasks, helping teams become more efficient, and serving as a single place to monitor results and deliver comprehensive reports to clients.

Today’s leading equity firms face increasingly-complex and sophisticated challenges when managing client accounts. And because of that, tools like investor relations CRM can help companies stay on top of their relationships with clients and provide a superior experience.

Maintaining strong relationships with clients is the foundation of every successful private equity form. Utilizing a CRM for investment management means that your team will have a better chance of nurturing those relationships, keeping clients happy in the process.

What Are the Advantages of CRM for Investors?

There’s a reason why many private equity firms are looking at ways to enhance their client relationships through investor CRM solutions. This robust software comes with a range of powerful benefits that becomes increasingly impressive each year.  

Let’s look at a few of the main benefits you can expect from a CRM for private equity.

Powerful Integrations

The best CRM for private equity should offer powerful integrations. In a process that’s as complex as nurturing relationships with clients, minimizing the need to use multiple apps and navigate various tools is a huge advantage. A unified solution means your team can spend less time keeping track of different platforms and more time serving clients.

You can merge email communications, utilize horizontal integrations crucial for everyday processes, and take advantage of solutions that provide full-blown system integration. For instance, you can build on an enterprise CRM system, enhancing it to offer investment tracking, capital market management, and other powerful features that are crucial for any private equity firm.

Communication Enhancements

Communication is a critical part of a private equity firm’s operations. This is why you need a CRM for asset managers that can seamlessly integrate with the current communication systems, make them more convenient, and provide a consistent way for teams to share information about clients.

The leading CRM for private equity solutions available today offer a variety of ways to communicate and ensure that each team member knows exactly what needs to be done next.

Reporting

Finally, since reporting plays a significant role in the relationship with clients, a quality CRM for investment management should also make reporting easy and convenient for all team members.

A good solution enables you to generate organized and informative reports quickly, saving your team wasting time and increasing client satisfaction in the process.

Why is Private Equity CRM Software Important?

For a long time, CRM software solutions weren’t well-suited for the needs of a typical private equity firm. But today, that’s no longer the case, as a range of options can be customized to fit the firm’s needs and provide the maximum impact.

By consulting experts on how to best implement a private equity CRM solution for your firm, you can discover the unique features and identify the best vendors to make the implementation simple, quick, and practical with minimum disruption to your workflow and performance.

Once the system is up and running, you can not only expect to provide better service to your clients — you’ll also discover a path to scaling the way you operate. And that will allow you to serve more clients and realize the potential for growth without sacrificing the quality of the services or the outcomes for clients.

At Lionpoint Group, our experts can provide you with all the guidance you need, taking the time to learn about your needs and working with you to find the best solutions to your specific CRM challenges. We are committed to improving your strategy, technology and operations consulting services using our years of experience in the investment world. Contact us today to learn more!