How dealmakers at an investment banking firm are winning new business and preserving existing revenue
By Ben Harrison
October 1, 2020
We all know that if there are fewer opportunities in the market, there is greater competition. Every single capital markets firm globally needed to contend with this fact when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. I watched as thousands of deal professionals scrambled to win new business and preserve existing revenue. For Scott Salpeter, president of Miami-based investment banking firm Cassel Salpeter, it meant integrating technology and remote capabilities into his team’s day-to-day workflow. The result? A single source of truth everyone in his firm could rely on for accurate, real-time information to support decision-making.
“Data is more important than ever,” he said. “The pace of change has dramatically accelerated; industries are being transformed. What was true yesterday, might not be true today, and that can be a challenge when we’re advocating for our clients’ best interests.” For many investment bankers and M&A advisors trying to stay informed in an ever-changing economic and geo-political climate, having access to data isn’t enough. They require a full, 360-degree picture of the client they are serving , the factors affecting the industries in which they operate, a historical view of transactions in that market, and so much more.
These needs and challenges are how I got to know Salpeter, his team of bankers, and thousands of other people who serve as trusted advisors to business owners and executive teams just like them all over the world. Without technology that centralizes a firm’s propriety data alongside third-party data, transaction advisory and other deal professionals dedicate time towards tedious and administrative tasks that could be better spent face-to-face (even on Zoom) with their clients.
Specifically for the team at Cassel Salpeter, the implementation of an industry-specific CRM solution (like DealCloud) across its staff of 14 created a central place for all client, deal, pipeline and relationship data. This allowed the entire team to be better informed, more accountable, and more productive on behalf of its clients.
“When the pandemic hit and we were all forced to work from home, I felt confident that our team had access to the data and tools they needed to support our clients,” said Salpeter. “Other firms that had not made investments into internal tools and technologies have to be struggling with communications and processes across their firms.”
With platforms like DealCloud, a project weekly status report that used to take Scott’s team hours to generate, now takes less than 15 minutes. His team no longer relies on spreadsheets and email. Data is no longer siloed across multiple databases. Cassel Salpeter was even able to create notifications and automate workflows, ensuring nothing slipped through the cracks. Now, Cassel Salpeter has an advantage over the competition.
Bankers like Scott are leading the way for their firm by being squarely focused on making Cassel Salpeter better, more efficient, and ultimately, more essential to its clients no matter what the future holds.
If you would like to learn more about how DealCloud can help your firm become essential to your clients, visit www.DealCloud.com.
DealCloud, an Intapp company, provides a single-source deal, relationship, and firm management platform to enable over 900 clients to power their deal-making process. We offer fully configurable solutions purpose-built for the complex relationships and structures of private equity firms, investment banks, private/publicly traded companies, debt capital providers, and other investors.
Ben Harrison is co-founder and chief revenue officer for DealCloud, which he developed after realizing the needs of alternative asset managers were not being met by one-size-fits-all CRM platforms. Harrison has 15 years of experience in capital markets and holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan–Flagler Business School.
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